Frugal Friday - Spending More can Save You Money

This has been a very busy week for our family.  Between family, school and home responsibilities, I have not had the opportunity to blog as much as usual.  We have a few more crazy days until the end of school and then I will be back to blogging more regularly.

Did you know that sometimes it makes sense to spend more to be frugal?  I remember a talk at church one Sunday about Provident Living – making the best use of our resources and being prepared for the future.  Their example was buying furniture.  If you buy the least expensive furniture, it generally doesn’t last and you have to replace it.  But if you pay a little more, you can get quality furniture that will last you for generations.

I have found an application of this principle with our groceries by ordering THRIVE Foods from Shelf Reliance (my love of this food is what prompted me to become an Independent Consultant for Shelf Reliance). 

“But buying freeze dried foods is too expensive for my budget.”  Actually, the most expensive food is the food you throw away instead of eating.  I know that I throw food away all the time and it kills me as I think about how much money I just threw away.    One example would be the large container of Strawberry Yogurt I had to throw away recently.   I now buy Strawberry Yogurt Bites and will be buying the Pomegranate Yogurt Bites soon!  There’s no waste!

Another great example is celery and I use this example a lot when I talk about Shelf Reliance.  My family does not care for celery, at least not if I have any in the house.  So in the past if I had a recipe that called for celery, I would buy a stalk, use the one rib that I needed for the recipe and then when the rest of it went bad, I threw it away.  At over $1 for the stalk, that’s expensive to use one rib and throw the rest away.  So I stopped buying it and either subbing celery seed or doing without the flavor and nutrients.

On one of my first Shelf Reliance orders, I decided to purchase a pantry can of FD Celery because I didn’t believe we would eat up a #10 can in the 2 year opened shelf life.  Now I can throw a Tablespoon or so into my recipes that call for celery and not worry about using up the rest before it goes bad.  Or throwing away my money.   Want to see the numbers?

1 Pantry Can FD Celery @ $8.19 = 3 cups of celery

1 rib of fresh celery = ½ cup of celery  so if I use a 1 to 1 equivalent and my normal throwing away the stalk after using 1 rib, I’m basically breaking even, without any waste at 6 ribs.  In reality, I use less than ½ cup for most of my recipes so the one Pantry can is going to last me more than 6 recipes, making it cheaper and NO guilt!

What foods do you find yourself throwing away?  It could be fruit that goes bad faster than you can eat it.  Or those foods you buy with good intent to prepare and never get chopped up to use so they go bad.   Maybe it’s frozen vegetables or meat that gets freezer burnt.  Or maybe you're single and end up throwing away food because your recipes aren't too big for you to eat alone.  

Make a list of those foods you throw away and think about purchasing those items in quality freeze-dried form from Shelf Reliance.  And always check with me for the BEST prices or to find out about packages that may meet your needs.

By replacing those items I often end up throwing away with THRIVE freeze-dried foods, we are eating more fruits and vegetables AND saving money.

So what else is on my list?

Tomato Paste and Tomato Sauce <<<< Replace with THRIVE Tomato Powder (mix up just what I need)

Broccoli (fresh or frozen) <<<<<<<<<<<< THRIVE FD Broccoli

Bell Peppers (I tend to only use half and throw the other half away)

                                   <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<  THRIVE FD Green Bell Peppers or FD Red Bell Peppers

Mushrooms (I love them but no one else here does and I can't eat the whole pkg) <<< FD Mushrooms

This post is being shared on Friday Friday.  Go check out Life As Mom for more frugal tips.

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**As a disclosure, I do earn commission on items you order through my online store.