Gather your thoughts

[dianer29]

I would like fellow bloggers of same interest to gather their thoughts here as I could use the following information for my family and I are ready for CHANGE: inexpensive non meat meals,new and tried ideas on how to save more and spend less,web sites that provide sound and practical advice,prepaid cellphone providers pros and cons,reliable sources for usable and legal coupons that stores will accept, reliable resources for free samples,inexpensive deserts,shortcuts to use wisely in everyday life, books that enhance the whole experience that I can get reserved at our public library.
My family and I will learn from your ideas and pass along our success and learn from any failures.Thanking everyone in advance!

 

[old fashioned]

As for cell phones, I bought our Tracfones at Walmart for about $20 I think, but it is a double minute phone. So I buy a 60 minute card every 3 months for $20 and get 120 minutes. I usually have atleast half or more left by the time I need to buy another card. I believe Tracfone also sells cards with longer service times and of course more minutes. But atleast for now, 3 months/120 minutes suits our needs. I've not had any problems with it and we usually get great reception though once in a great while I find a "black hole" spot. I don't text but the phone is capable and you can also get other accessories too like bluetooth or whatever, etc. I would recommend prepaid unless you're a big talker/texter, etc that would use up all your minutes fast.

We don't have non meat meals around here (DH is a meat & taters kinda guy). But to save on our meat expenses, I've shopped for sales, or even the marked down section or buy in bulk, then repackage it to our size needs, make meat stretcher meals, serve smaller cuts of meat and I only use about 1/2 pound of hamburger in most recipes. Serve salad with meals that look skimpy to help fill in. When you buy meat, buy with purpose and make it do double duty. Depending on the size of your family try buying a full cut round steak preferrably with bone and make it into 3 meals. 2/3's can be sliced thin to make Stroganoff, Stir fry, Fajitas, Pepper Steak, etc. 1/3 cubed and bone can be used for soup or stew.
My bad, but when making soup or stew, I've cut the meat and veggies into smaller cubes/pieces for a more true bite size rather than the HUGE chunks. They are still big enough to satisfy, but smaller so it LOOKS like there is more.
You could also make a big salad with as many veggies as your family likes and include sunflower seeds, boiled eggs, olives, mushrooms, shredded cheese, etc with some garlic bread or even stuffed baked potatoes with veggies, melted cheese, salsa, chili or ??? In the heat of the summer I made banana/fruit splits for dinner one time using bananas, grapes, berries, ice cream, sunflower seeds & peanuts, whipped cream. Okay so it's a stretch but it kinda covers 3 of the food groups and you're voted "best mom ever".