Freezer Meals

I've lately gotten into the craze of making freezer meals.  This is a great way to stretch your dollar and to save time!  This way you will have meals on hand for those days you just don't feel like making dinner, saving you money by not eating out.

There are different ways to go about this:

1. When you make a meal, double it and freeze the extra.  This is by far the easiest, requiring little extra effort.
2. Join or form a freezer dinner group exchange.  Each person makes one meal for however many families are in the group and you exchange.  Nice for new recipes.
3. Have a big cooking day about one day a month, preparing several meals at once.  This works well when you have certain meal themes, such as chicken recipes.  You can stock up on chicken when it's on sale and then prepare several dishes at once.  This also saves money by consolidating cooking your chicken all at the same time, rather than on each day you are having chicken.

Some tips: 

• Freeze most meals in Ziploc freezer bags.  By laying them flat on a cookie sheet in the freezer, you can stack them easily, conserving space.
• Buy extra casserole dishes at garage sales, thrift stores, etc. so all your casserole dishes won't be tied up in the freezer.
• Use adhesive labels to attach to each dish, listing contents, date made, and directions for reheating.
• Keep a paper near the freezer to list the available meals and their dates.  Be sure to cross the meal off once you use it.

Thanks to all my friends who have taught me how to do freezer meals!!

Teach Them While They're Young

It's never too early to teach your children the basics of thrifty economics.  You will save them so much heartache later if you teach them now, while they're impressionable.  From early on, my kids have learned I won't buy anything they ask for at the grocery store, unless it's on my shopping list and I have a coupon and/or it's on sale.

My eldest (age 7) is learning the financial pressure of debt.  He really wanted to buy a certain toy.  When he discovered he didn't have enough, I encouraged him to wait until he had saved up enough to buy it.  However, if he still wanted it, I would buy it for him, but he would have to pay me back the loan amount plus interest after the grace period.  I know it seems harsh, but it has been a valuable lesson for him.  He has realized his purchase wasn't worth the stress he feels to earn the money before interest starts accruing.  I figure it's better for him to learn this lesson now over a few dollars than it is for him to learn it when he's older and facing a much bigger monetary amount!

What do you do to teach your children money-saving skills?