When you are stuck in that situation where money is scarce, it takes a little creativity to get by. I’ve known many women, my mother included, who could pull together a nice meal, out of next to nothing. I’ve even surprised my husband a few times by creating a meal when he didn’t think we had anything worth eating. One example was last Thanksgiving. We didn’t have the money to take our annual drive to Phoenix to see the relatives, so we remained at home, gasless and turkeyless. We were in between paydays so we didn’t have two nickles to rub together. I looked through my fridge and couldn’t find much to work with. I did however see that we had a bag of frozen chicken breasts and some packets of turkey gravy. Well, I cooked up those chicken breasts and thought, what the hell, turkey, chicken, what’s the difference really? I also found some cans of peas that my mother in law had given to us a few months back. Now normally I’m not a big pea fan, however, I remember my mother-in-law having made peas and bacon the previous year and so I called her up and asked her how she makes it. Basically all you do is take one onion and chop it up and saute it in some butter. Next fry up a package of bacon, nice and crisp, and than crumble it up. Combine all ingredients and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Along with the chicken and turkey gravy, I made some mashed potatoes and stuffing. So it wasn’t turkey, but everyone seemed to like it just as much.
Do the best with what you can afford. It may not be what you ideally wanted, but sometimes it makes you stop and realize just what you have. And that’s the whole purpose of Thanksgiving. Other than food, here are some tips that may help you out when cash is tight.
#1. Carpool with someone at your work. Take turns trading off weeks to save on gas expenses.
#2. Eat cheap. Buy allot of Ramen Noodles. Macaroni and cheese. Buy chicken instead of beef. It’s also healthier! Get bag cereal instead of box cereal. You are paying for the advertising. Buy some bouillon cubes and make your own soups with fresh vegetables. Steer clear of convenience foods. You can make your own hamburger helper and will get allot more for the same price. The basic ingredients in hamburger helper are noodles, sauce, vegetables, and than you add the meat. You can create allot of different variations of what I call goulash. Use your club card if your store offers one. If you are not using it than you are missing out on allot of discounts. Clip coupons, but only for things you would normally purchase. I know some people who spend more on their groceries than they were intending to, just because they bought everything they had a coupon for.
#3. Nix fast food. Make a lunch to bring to work. Steer clear of the vending machines at work. Instead of buying a couple of sodas from the vending machine at a dollar a pop, buy a twelve pack and bring a couple to work with you. Or the more healthy choice, drink good old H20.
#4. Don’t go out every weekend. Stay home and play a board came with your family, or invite friends over to socialize.
#5. If your work is offering overtime, bite the bullet, and put a few extra hours in. Even if it’s just and extra hour a day, you are looking at an extra day on your next pay check.
#7. Have a garage sale and get rid of all that useless clutter. You are actually killing two birds with one stone.
#8. If you have a talent, make some extra cash by offering your services at a fee. My husband can fix cars and has made some extra cash this way. He has also made extra cash by tiling peoples floors. I have yet to find out what I can make money on. Nah, who am I kidding, I’m just lazy.
#9. Buy things in bulk. If you have a Sam’s Club, get a membership. If you stock up now, it will save you in the long run.
#10. Before you purchase something that you really don’t need, think about it. Are you just buying it to fill some emotional need. Buying something is a temporary fix, and will end up making you feel worse later when you are broke.
There are allot of other things I could include, the list is endless, but this is a start. Good-luck. I just wish I could follow my own advice!