When times get tough, the first place to start cutting costs is on food. I’ve spent a lot of time this week cooking from scratch so we can stretch the grocery budget.
Having food ready to go makes life easier for the whole family!
Our family has spent 20 months paying off debt. One thing that helps us get through is weekly check ins. So on Fridays, I like to think about all the things we’ve done for the week to save money.
A few simple ingredients make these cream cheese and chicken taquitos the easiest recipe you’ll make all week.
I’m such a huge fan of this easy chicken taquito recipe. It’s about as much effort as making a sandwich.
(Seriously.)
BUT you can make these ahead of time and put them in the fridge for easy lunches or snack time.
And, pssst, I’ve frozen these with success, too! I know “they” say cream cheese doesn’t freeze well, but we’ve had no problems with it.
In case you aren’t familiar with our story, our family is wading through month number 20 of paying off a big chunk of debt. We’ve stuck with the plan through thick and thin.
In late July our ratty old paid off van quit on us. And now my computer died. It wasn’t even that old! We have no idea what happened to it (though I suspect the kids…ahem.)
I’m kind of glad all of this is happening now rather than a year ago. I might have been more tempted to give up then. Now it just makes me double down on my resolve to be out of debt so we can have a deeper savings account for problems like this!
Doing a few things now can save you a ton of cash later. Just follow this simple checklist and you’ll be sitting pretty this fall!
Here’s how fall usually goes in our house.
It’s hot. It’s hot. Still hot.
Then suddenly one morning it’s frigid, and I’m doing the “should I turn on the furnace, or can we make it until next month before I cave in?”
And will it start up when I push the button?
Oh, and all the kids are asking me where their warm pants and hoodies are.
Whoops!
Save yourself from those last minute struggles with this simple fall checklist.
Life has been so busy, and while I try to keep up with blogging as much as possible, it just didn’t get off that pesky back burner this week. But don’t worry! Medium Sized Family is here for the long haul, and I’ll be back to writing new content for you very soon.
On a related note, if you have any amazing advice for a beginning PTO group, be sure to leave a comment!
Back to school time is anything but frugal. You have to fight tooth and nail to find ways to save money this time of year. Between school fees, supplies, clothing (and I’m just talking about what’s needed for growing reasons, not fashion!), pictures, and sports playing fees (plus the cost of getting into games), a family could go broke!
At this point, we really need to treat this like another Christmas. It takes months to save the money needed for Christmas gifts and fun. We should spend our summer saving up for all of these back to school fees, too.
These are the kinds of things that lead to crazy amounts of credit card debt if you aren’t careful!
I'm Jamie, and I want to help you afford a beautiful life with your family. Learn more. 
