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Read on to hear about MY EPIC DINNER FAIL (well kind of fail?) that saved our family $35.
(Clearly we survived.)
Several weeks ago, I had one of those nights where I really, really, really didn't want to cook.
Heading out to eat just sounded easier (and yummier!), but we had leftover grilled pork in the fridge, and I HATE HATE HATE food waste, so I decided to suck it up (buttercup!) and turn some leftover grilled pork into sweet and sour stir fry.
I had some some frozen veggies in the freezer, a little lettuce and spinach that was about to head out to the trash if it didn't get eaten up fast, and a bottle of leftover orange sauce way down deep in my fridge.Â
I sautéed the pork.
Added the orange sauce
Popped the veggies in the microwave.
Scrounged up a little rice from the pantry.
Made an Asian salad with that almost-thrown-away lettuce. (I found some sliced almonds, a can of mandarin oranges and some Ken's Asian Sesame dressing in the fridge. Success, right?)
And served up dinner to my bunch.
I was soooooo ready to hop onto my Facebook and Instagram accounts and tell you how I'd rocked my meal.
But the truth?It tasted pretty bad.Â
One of my kids loved it (she loves Chinese food!), my husband lived through it, but I didn't like anything other than the salad much at all.
(Oh. And my And my husband hated the salad even though I worked extra hard to make for him bc I'm pretty happy with plain old spinach. Oh well.)
BUT WE SURVIVED.
Our bellies were fed.
We saved $35.
So after it was all said and done with, I peeked around our pantry, fridge and freezer.
Knew there had to be a way I could redeem myself.
And found just enough frozen peaches, flour, butter and sugar to pull together a happy fast Peach Cobbler.
WOOHOOO!
Here's the thing.Sometimes pinching pennies is no fun.
Watching everyone else do all the fancy things in all the world online when you're trying to stick to a budget?
It can sometimes feel pretty stinky and taste plain old awful some days.Â
But it. is. worth it.
I promise.
Â
For the first twenty (yes, TWENTY!) years of our marriage, I scrimped and save for every single penny.Â
I got creative. Baked bread. We ate oodles and oodles of spaghetti. And I could eek out a $3 meal like nobody's business.
It was worth EVERY SINGLE BIT.Â
I love knowing today that we probably could have spent $35 on dinner last night if we chose to, but I also am a strong believer in the whole “waste-not-want-not” concept and want to make sure my kids see that modeled loud and clear at our house.
Can I just encourage you today?
If you're on your 3rd can of rice and beans this week?Â
You are a rockstar.
If you've skipped $4.99 beef for $1.99 chicken again?
You are doing it just the right way.
And if you're sick and tired of watching the whole wide world seem like they're buying all the things when you don't feel like you can today?ÂYour choices today are the smartest and will carry you much farther than you can ever imagine if you decide to stick to it.Â
Choose today to only spend only what you truly need to.
BE THE MOST RESOURCEFUL MOM ON THE BLOCK.
Don't try to keep up with anyone else, just rock your own very happy sweet life.Â
I'm cheering from you right here as I type across the screen. Stinky dinners are so worth it in the long run, and you won't even miss that fancy meal in just a few days.
I AM SO CRAZY PROUD OF YOU and what you're doing ~ and good gravy, I just can't wait to see your success!
Looking for more posts to encourage you in your finances today? Here you go:
-
- How To Save Money
- 5 Ways To Feed Your Faimly For Less (Even Without Coupons)
- The Smartest Financial Decision We Accidentally Made
- Don't Sacrifice What You Really Want For What You Want Right Now
- How I Make A Full Time Income as a Stay At Home Mom
- …… and find ALL of our budgeting posts all in one place!Â
I needed this today. I’m a widow working per diem. When my husband died my income was cut in half. My granddaughter lives with me. I should be beyond meal planning and trying to save every penny but that’s life. Some months are really hard. Thank you for the encouraging words.
Thanks so much for sharing your heart Sally ~ I’m so sorry for your loss! We really appreciate you taking the time to read PPP (and are glad you found this encouraging!). Cheering for you as you meal plan and budget well in this season ~ hugs! 🙂
Hugs Sally! You are giving your granddaughter the sweetest gift ~ I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through but know that God has the sweetest plans for you! Hang in there and know the lessons you’re teaching her now are so incredibly worth it!
I bought your freezer meal box and your crock pot box. Just starting out doing some of them. One of my favorite cheap meals, and my kids and husband love it, is scrambled eggs, backed beans and fried potatoes. Quick and cheap and always good.
Thank you so much for sharing (and getting the freezer box – I appreciate your sweet support so much!) I LOVE breakfast for dinner and agree, it’s a winner every time (and penny pinched too!) Love it Cheryl!
I totally needed this today. I have dinner all ready to go. Everyone around me is out to dinner this week because they all got their stimulus money. But we are saving it. Adding it to our nest egg. We will end up getting some summer tops for our teenager.But at a local Goodwill. I have a 35% off coupon of the total order. Penny-pinching is hard. But it’s worth it. I’m sure. I think, lol.
I love that Tyler! It is SO easy to compare to other folks and do what they’re doing, but you’er doing exactly what you need to do right now! Thank you so much for sharing and keep it up (I promise it’s worth it!)
I always enjoy your penny saving thoughts! I try to be a rockstar mom and be ourselves and not like everybody else. We try and stay on a budget . We love Dave Ramsey and are still doing the total money making makeover. I know it will be worth it someday. I ordered your crockpot and freezer meals and absolutely love them. I wish we lived closer because I believe we could be good friends.
So fun Monica – you DEFINITELY are a rockstar mom (and yay for being different than everyone else!) Thank you so so much for supporting PPP by ordering the menu plans (truly that means so much to me!) and so thankful for the sweetest community here online. Hugs!