Thursday, June 26, 2008

Frugal Friday


I know.......not another beans and rice tidbit! My husband and I have a favorite new lunch that's cheaper than and just as convenient as going through drive-thru. We buy the Goya black bean soup ($1.09 for 15 oz. can) and a bag of the frozen Birds Eye microwavable brown rice ($1.59 for 10 oz. bag). We microwave the soup and the rice separately and then mix them together. One can of the soup and one bag of the rice feeds the two of us! We sometimes add cheese if we have any on hand. This is cheap, fast, filling and rather healthy! Plus, using the microwave is economical and it doesn't heat up our kitchen during the summer like using the stove top does.

Now about pepperoni.......half of our family likes pepperoni on their pizza and half of us don't. Sometimes I serve frozen pizzas for dinner and sometimes I make homemade pizzas. When I buy the frozen ones, I purchase pepperoni pizzas. Prior to baking them, I take the pepperoni off one of the pizzas. I put the pepperoni in a baggie and place it back in the freezer. The next time I make homemade pizzas, I put this pepperoni on one of them!

By the way, I'd love to hear from you all regarding paying your children an allowance. This has always been a stumbling block for my husband and I. Do you tie it to chores or not? How much do you pay at what age? What sorts of things do you expect your children to use their allowance for? (Clothing, tithing, gifts, going to the movies, etc.?) Thanks for your help!

Frugal Friday is hosted by Crystal at http://biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm.

5 comments:

Nearest and Best said...

Great meal ideas and a good source for pepperoni, also! I've also found that buying a "handful" of pepperoni from the deli counter at the supermarket (versus buying it prepackaged) is a huge savings. I often pay about 25 cents for this quantity of deli pepperoni, and I worry that the prepackaged would go bad in the fridge before I could use that quantity!

Niki Jolene said...

We haven't started yet, but we will expect our son to save half the money and the other half can be for something he would like to spend it on.

And yes, there will be simple chores!

This is so important for learning the value of money. My parents increased my responsibilities and allowance as I got older. By the time I was in junior high I did a good bit of cleaning, taking out garbage, etc. and used my own money to pay for my activities like going to the movies, carnival, etc. and for buying myself things at trips to the mall.


:)

Anonymous said...

I love beans and rice tips, they are always healthy and yummy!
As for allowance we don't do it. If you are a part of our family you work for free! Of course they receive money at birthday's and Christmas, and my older ones have worked for others (baby sitting, pet sitting, yard work).
We cover all our kid's expenses, clothes, extra curricular, food, etc... but they are still young. I imagine as they get older that might change!
Toni

Brenda said...

Can't wait to try your easy black beans & rice recipe! You are smart about saving the pepperoni - I either just eat the half or put it on the other half before cooking.

I have an 8 & 4 year old and I make a chore chart each week at http://www.dltk-cards.com/chart/. I pay them 10¢ for each chore completed on the chart & pay out on Saturday mornings.

Chores include feeding the dog, empting the trash, making their beds, setting & clearing the table, etc. The 8 yr old does have more chores than the 4 year old.

eva said...

about paying kids for chores...my husband and I have a chore chart for my 4 year old daughter and 2 yr old son. It has a number of things they can do each day then at the end of the week we give them a nickel for every spot that is filled in. I change the chores periodically as they get into the habit of doing something...so I'm paying them for the new chores but not the habits that have been formed. We feel it teaches them to work, builds habits, and gives us a chance to teach about money and how to use it.