11 Painless Ways to Save Money at Home

This pandemic has placed many of us in a more difficult position economically trying to stay afloat. Therefore, I wanted to share a few painless ways to save money at home to stretch your income.

Meal Planning Ideas to Save Money at Home

A simple suggestion is adapting some of your food choices when you go grocery shopping can help. For instance, try substituting ground chuck in place of ground round when you buy ground beef, which is less expensive. You’ll save even more if you buy the ground chuck in the larger “family” package size. If the amount is too much, you can always repackage it into smaller portions for other meals once you get home to store in your freezer. Another advantage about switching to ground chuck is that its higher fat content makes for juicier hamburgers over the drier ones from ground round.

Since ground round doesn’t shrink as much, this type of ground beef is better for recipes like meatloaf, stuffed cabbage, stuffed peppers, and meatballs. What I like to do is add some uncooked oats instead of bread for extra protein and nutrition. This is another of these painless ways to stretch money at home and stretch your income.

If your family loves pork chops, look for center-cut bone in pork loin chops. These are a lot cheaper per pound than the boneless pork chops. In fact, this variety is usually the type on sale most often. To buy the best ones, you want to pick up the package with the thickest chops. Aim for about an inch and half when you are searching.

Fresh produce is always important when grocery shopping. Another of these effortless ways to save money at home is to buy the varieties that are only in season.

In our rush to get healthy, many of us often tend to overbuy fresh fruit and vegetables, which can spoil if we forget or get busy. What I like to do is use the most perishable produce first such as lettuce or berries and then concentrate on the heartier stuff like carrots, apples later. Though you may have good intentions or are attracted by sales, you may also just want to try to buy less of the fresh produce just to plan out for the week.

Though your family may be big meat eaters, try serving them one meatless meal a week. You’ll save on your food budget and better their health. My Pinto Bean Curry or my Lentil Mashed Potato Patties are delicious meal ideas. Also, check my recipe section because there are plenty of other tasty meatless recipes.

One last thought regarding meal planning is to try reserving another day just to make a fresh meal out of leftovers or food items that you have on hand in your pantry.

Banking fees keep going up. Something that can help stretch your income is moving your checking account to a no-fee bank provider. You may even find one that offers an incentive like a few extra pennies, which are laughable from an interest-accruing account.

Banks have been adding charges for accounts that you don’t touch often. Make sure you use that account every so often. Otherwise, you may risk getting charged.

The next time that you are fueling up your car or truck, you also should check your tire pressure to see if it needs refilled. Simply remembering to do this task so can save money when buying gasoline.

Incandescent light bulbs cost more money to use. They also are worse for the environment. Instead, you might want to opt for energy star CFL bulbs that use 75% less energy.

It takes a little bit of effort to economize and cut back, but these 11 painless ways to save money at home are just a start. In time, you will get the hang of it.