I discovered my local grocery marks down their meat at 6am and I happen to drive by there at 615. Spent $10 on all the BBQ meats i used on Memorial day!

Best way to learn frugality-be broke and have kids!! Been there, done that. 😂

Rather than doctor up jar spaghetti sauce, I buy a can of tomato sauce and doctor it up with Italian seasoning and such.

We buy frozen veggies and nothing ever gets wasted and if cooked correctly they are just as good as fresh😋😋

What I love about Christine's content is that it applies world wide in developed countries. I am in Australia. We don't have Walmart or some of the other stores she mentions. But this is made irrelevant as she gives the theory and practicality - wherever you are, wherever you shop, do this "example" to save money. Shop on sales, Meal Plans etc - things that work in many countries. And the theory makes it easy to adapt it to suit where you are. In Aus, we don't have coupons. But to have sales and specials. So, you can apply the theory to make it work... It is so easy to pick up, and you can decide how far you go. Thank you, Christine! 🥰

I don't really meal plan because I have to eat what I'm in the mood for. But what I DO do (haha) is write down about 14 meals that all have similar ingredients and buy those ingredients. So if my food list says "chili, spaghetti, vegetable soup, goulash" I know I'm going to need vegetables, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and pasta. I find it's pretty helpful for someone who can't stand a meal plan. It's a meal suggestion list 😅

@Under the Median suggests breaking your food budget into fifths. There are usually four weeks in a month. The fifth portion is for stocking up on those sales that may be outside the weekly budget. It really works!

Did you ever watch Julia Pacheco? She does magic with very small budgets!

I just recently purchased some of this ground beef, canned some and made burgers for the freezer from the rest. I used the ground beef in soups, burritos, enchiladas, tacos,etc. Kroger had a great price, mine was about 3.00$ a lb, on sale. My daughter says I have an ingredient pantry- I don’t purchase many prepared items like cookies or bakery items, I bake at home. I know that’s not for everyone, but it does save us money.

I wouldn't even walk down those aisles if I wanted to save money. Just avoid chips, sodas, snacks, cookies, crackers altogether.

Mott’s 100% Apple Juice 64 oz. Sale- buy 2 get 3 free = 1.40 each at my store. Lady with young child walked up to the juice and grabbed two. I told her the sale and price per and take 3 more. Her reply, I only need 2. Then walked away. That was a perfect example of the need for home economics at home and school.

Those years as a kid I tried to relax my eyes to see dolphins on a 3D poster--that was practice for finding Kroger clearance price tags! 😎

We need a red lentil video on all the things you can make🤗

Great suggestions and tips. I got a $400 juicer at the Goodwill for $16!

Here waiting for the “eating through my freezer for a month” video to drop…. 🙋🏻‍♀️ 😆 Haha love you Christine!!!

Just a friendly reminder that the Fourth of July sales will be gearing up over the next few weeks here in America. It's a good time to price pork as in some areas pork may be at its lowest price of the year. Same with condiments; BBQ sauces will be at stock up prices. Happy sales shopping!! 😊

I usually cook now 6 days outta the week since we’re now empty nesters. 3 regular meals, 3 repurposed leftovers 1 just leftover in microwave. I’ve been doing a kitchen clean out the last 3 years so I’m usually just buying the produce for salads & some fruits.

Just sliced part of my thumb off yesterday. I’m totally feeling you on your finger. Mandoline slicers are freaking dangerous!!!

I had $112.83 worth of groceries today and only paid $39.42 for all of it. Clearance shopping is amazing!

My fave videos of yours are when you make meals out of your pantry. I want to see you using up all the things. Please make more

I get my shopping delivered, then I don't get tempted by extras! Really love your channel ❤

My ghetto grocery store which I love has a dedicated clearance section for meats/deli meats, produce, wine, and shelved items. I check that out first before I start any of my shopping.

I work in a business center that has a supermarket. Almost every morning, I get off the bus and do a quick check for meat, dairy & clearance rack items- before heading up into the office. I'm addicted looking for those stickers.

My budget tight my kids are picky and we have food allergies 😂 but we make it work and your videos help thanks 👍🎉

I LOVE your budget videos. I meal plan while I shop, based upon the clearance, markdown, sale items I find. My Kroger is 30 miles away (and is the closest, I live in the mountains), so I only visit about 2 times a month. I'm 76, on a very limited budget, and eat well with a well stocked freezer. I'm so glad you are spreading the word on how to shop smart. I watch people shop and by-pass the very same item and buy at full price because they don't understand clearance and what to do with it. My (obviously) adult children used to laugh at my yellow-sticker pantry and freezer and now they get it!

Amen ! So many people don’t realize meal plans work ! I don’t do lunch / breakfast BUT meal plan every dinner still ! ( sometimes weekend breakfast / lunch ) it takes me not long at all and I do it with my two week shopping / pantry check ! Done it for years ! And I don’t veer off my grocery list UNLESS it’s a stock up meat sale ! Glenda

You can make your own pasta sauce from herbs and crushed tomatoes. Saves a bunch of money and you get more.

If I buy things that aren’t on my list, it is typically deals I find on produce. Today I bought strawberries for $.98, a huge thing of raspberries for $2.98 corn on the cob for $.32 each and avocados for $.94.

Potato salad is a summer staple for many so you may see potatoes be dirt cheap at some stores. Please remember that potatoes can be canned! You may not need that 60 pound bag but what you dont use now can be canned and added to your pantry!!

See the sales you were able to get!? I prefer to pick my own items. Plus if you don’t go INTO the stores you’re missing out on sales and freebies! I know at 71 I won’t be driving forever and I may need to do pickup or delivery and that’s ok. But I will shop for myself as long as I can.

Have been cooking off stock pile for months

"Cheaper than really expensive is still expensive." I love that, and I see so many people fall for it.

The best advice! I went to my local “expensive store” and got a few Buy1 get 1 free items, and other sale items. My son wanted Life Cereal, so I checked. It was $7.49 for a large box- what!? I passed. I saw in your video it was on sale for 99 cents😢. I was a big couponed back in the day- I miss those shopping days. Thanks for the great content!

I save money by going to my grocer’s website, loading up my list on the online ordering tab, then print off my list and go to the store. That way, I know exactly how much my order should cost, and can make adjustments until my order meets my target budget for the trip. When I was first learning to budget, I would only bring enough cash with me to cover the “cart total” so I’d make sure not to overspend.

I live alone and I live off of on average 35 dollars a week. I spend 200 every 3 months at Sams Club, restocking up on food and cat supplies.

Flour tortilla, spread some refired beans on it, then a crunchy taco shell inside that. The beans hold the shells together. I recommend a tortilla bigger than the taco shell so that you have less fall out and leakage lol!

I do the delivery from Kroger they occasionally run a deal for free delivery subscription that runs 20 per year. Has been such a blessing for working mom with elderly parents

I loved your running away and saying Noooo!! to meal planning. That's how i feel every time😂. I'm hoping to really love planning and cooking one day!

Looking back i'm very thankful that i experienced those hard times as a single mom of 1. Because i know that nomatter what happens, i can do it. We have it good right now (about the same spending amount monthly as you do) and i feel so rich when i get to take home a good amount of sale/discounted products and seeing how much money i saved. I get sooo happy every time. Best of luck with saving moneyyy🍀

What's helped me the most is tracking everything I'm spending, as well as what I buy at the store. I used to use Rocket Money - you can adjust how much you're paying so its super affordable and its easy, it helps you get an idea of what you're spending, it lets you set a budget, it alerts you if a subscription raises its prices, etc. But I personally prefer pen and paper. I just track it all in a composition notebook from walmart that I got for like 50 cents. I write down what I spent at the grocery store and have different bullet points for food versus nonfood and another for prescriptions, all of which comes from the grocery budget. It helps me stay accountable when I buy stuff I don't need on impulse. I look over it all weekly and monthly and cut subscriptions I'm not using. It's helped a lot. I've had a lot of medical expenses this 2024, and the grocery budget is easiest to control and adjust - as well as go overboard on. Thanks for all the tips! I'm always looking for new tips.

Hi Christine. Your advices are applicable in other countries (European) too! I am all out of debt and on savings spree thanks to you. My eyes are all on stickers! Thank you AGAIN for helping me save a lot and keep my household stressless! 🤗

Dr. Pepper and Cream Soda?! Ummm..yes! Absolutely! They can fight me too! 😂 Love your videos. 💕

For pasta, I started buying the bulk tomatoes and 1-2 onions and 1 head of garlic at Costco, just throw that in the oven w olive oil for 50 minutes at 450 and you can make 4 to 5 pasta jars, it’s the most delicious pasta sauce you could ever have!

I love the Wed….spent $182.82 today and saved $134.61 with store sales and store app coupons!

We'd love to see a red lentil and/or bean recipe video.

Walmart rotisserie chicken clearance & bread cart are awesome!!

I make meal plans by the month. I shop my freezer and pantry and have a detailed inventory of what needs to be used first. I buy only what’s needed and what is in season. Mostly all the sales. I do have junk foods in my lists. I do a lot of home canning and freezing and baking. I make about 4 meals a week, cooking double several night to freeze for another week. There is usually a soup/salad/sandwich night and leftovers. Although I’m not keto, I try to have lower carbs and more proteins. It is a skill that comes with practice, trial and error. But it helps!

My kids eat so much fruit and vegs! I feel like I have to shop just for those things twice a week!

Christine, I swear you and I are sisters from another mother. We shop exactly the same, but 14 years ago I used to be one of those extreme couponers and WOW things were different back then. Do you remember that show extreme cheapskates. That was so funny. But I find it shocking that people don't get the sales and stock up, that's money saving 101. I had such a great stockpile back then, it would have totally saved me during the plague, but sadly in 2015 my ex h's brother didn't put his cig out and our house burned and I lost everything I owned, but I would have been TOTALLY prepared for the plague. (Ironically, I WAS prepared for the plague because I already had a phd in loss and was like no prob when it happened.) I did coupining for 6 months and saved $2000 dollars. Now I don't do that anymore since it's just me, but I do still buy low and put it in my chest freezer, then I'm like you, I like to weekly top up. I do still buy very expensive items tho, I love STARBUCKS VANILLA coffee, I could never do without it. I love watching your show even though I don't really need the help, I DO need the meal planning help though because I'm terrible at that. JUST TERRIBLE! I loved how you said in the video "don't buy all the stuff for bbq and not make it... YOU KNOW ME SO WELL hahahaha I love how simple and not fancy you sometimes make your choices. I'm a fan of DUMP DINNERS in the slow cooker the night before so I don't have to think.

Last week got a great deal on Lays chips at Dollar General.. If you bought 4 you got them for $1.95 each...

I was at Goodwill this morning....there were two rice cookers! Bread machines are a great one to get there too. Make your own bread and save a bunch.

Meal planning is definitely they key. Also knowing what you already have and planning around that makes a world of difference. Also, have a running list for the “oops we’re out of that” moments. It’ll save you time and energy.

Hey Frugal Fit Mom, so good to see you again! I have a simple solution~ I call it CROWS. Okay, the letters stand for Cornmeal, Rice, Oats, Wheat flour, Soy (and other) beans. Okay, rice, oats, soy can be made into flour, milk, cheese, sour cream, most dairy products. Wheat four can be made into seitan, bread, cakes, muffins, noodles/pasta. Cornmeal is for muffins, and pancakes. Okay, then we grow our fruits and veggies, get meats/fish/fowl and luxury goods like chocolate, baking supplies, vinegar, oil, etc., in bulk/on sale. For two people, we get along on 100 a month for NW Georgia. That's $12.5 per week. Dunno if that helps anyone. Love your channel. Liked, subbed long ago.

I was at Walmart in the store doing my grocery shopping, and I noticed that, at least in my area, things are cheaper online. So it is actually cheaper to do a pickup order now.

I love all dried beans except black eye peas. I am constantly looking for those WooHoo! yellow & red tags. Every Tuesday morning & the 99c produce bags. Due to current events our new budget is $60 a week for two.

I'm so jealous of your bigger grocery stores! 😅 My little small town grocery store hardly ever has clearance but I still look! Last weekend we had some business in a bigger city about an hour away and it was worth it to shop there. We got a week of stuff for just over $100! Thank you so much for all your tips. They have been helping a lot. ❤️

There's not much I hate more than cooking (mostly the cutting up of foods, but I hate it all). But it is the easiest way to save on the household budget ... and we just bought new living room furniture, so guess who has to tighten up the budget for a while?! I loved this episode Christine!

Same I am on the hunt for a creamy too . I want recipe videos when you get one lol

I went to Aldi on the way to work this morning and scored 50% off chicken tenders. I usually buy breasts but wasn't passing up on that deal!

I make a weekly soup and freeze half for another time.

I started watching you when I first moved out. It was nice to have a "parent" giving advice on how they keep their household afloat, while still being somewhat of a child myself. I made hundreds of thousands of dollars in the years to come, which are now tied up in real estate and I am back on a tight budget as my husband and I live off of one income now. These tips, and everything else I have learned from you and other similar creators, have been enough to keep us afloat. Seriously. Thank you for making budgeting and being frugal a "cool" thing. It's sort of like playing a game with yourself because when you "score a deal" you really do feel like a winner!

I wanted to thank you Christine! I found your channel exactly when I needed to. I have learned so much from you over the years and implementing some of your tips. I'm now trying to figure out which is more of deal- grocery pick up ( no impulse buying) or in store purchasing to buy all the discounted deals😃

I never special pack my freezer items and have not had any problems for 35 years! Thanks for your wonderful tips because we all know groceries are really going up!

The only chain grocery store we have is Sprouts, Walmart and Target. We do have Sam's and Costco but I don't use them. We have HEB all over Texas and it's family owned. They run good ads weekly like buy store brand chip and get 2 liter store brand soda free. Buy 2 of one item and get 5-6 items free. Their store brand is usually better than the national brand.

The creami is awesome my husband got me one for Mother’s Day😊

You're so wise grasshopper. Very good advice like always.

Thanks Christine! Thanks for all your great ideas. Stopped by the local Kroger on Monday in the middle of the day. I was surprised by just how much reduced priced meat there was in the case on a holiday! Pleasantly Surprised! Thanks again for all your helpful ideas. Enjoy your week. You're the best! 😊

I wish you'd been around on KZfaq when I was raising a family adn spending $1000 per month. I'm in Canada, but most of your tips are still usefull. Now that I'm only feeding myself (and an extremely picky person) I buy exactly what I want and only what I want with almost no regard for the price.

We budget $135/person per month and have kept that budget for years. We also have allergies and buy a lot of fresh produce.

Ninja Creami's are amazing!! We use ours almost every day. I stay away from sugar so use a Keto-friendly protein powder, water, a drop of vanilla, and if I feel naughty, half of a 4-oz tub of 2Good vanilla yogurt. With or without the yogurt, the ice cream it makes is delicious, and only about 150 calories for a pint!!! My husband gets the 'good stuff', and wow it's creamy!

I buy plain canned tomato sauce & doctor it with spices, it doesn’t have preservatives & it’s what my 3 Italian exchange students showed me to do. I buy plain sauce at Costco

I love this channel. Emmy reminds me a lot of my mom. She was from Hudson, NY. She loved to cook for people. I get great tips and inspiration from you guys.

I try to meal plan but with my job by the time I'm done working I don't feel like cooking and I'm very limited on space. I'm an over the road truck driver and I'm expected to work all the hours that I'm allowed to work. I have 14 hours to drive 11 hours. Sometimes it takes all 4 hours to do that. Long days mean most of my dinners is just a yogurt cup or a cold sandwich. Gets old very quickly

Team Tortillia here 😊

I happily crossed a great buy at my expensive store. Specialty ground beef for less than half of the regular price. It was actually cheaper per pound than any other ground beef from any store around me. I got 4 lbs. Love the deals! The cashier told me that it wasn't marked down on her lunch because she would have picked it up.

My budget for me for several years I try to stay at 20 to 25 every week. Since it’s just me I plan 100 each month. Recently I’ve been between 25 to 35 or even 40 a week.

2 things: 1) buy freezer off brand ziplock bags at walgreens when they go on sale for buy 1 get 2 or 3 free. I stack it with their other spend boosters abd get a years worth for under 50 buckets. 2) be flexible and keep a list of ingredients you already have at home. That way if you font have a big freezer but you see something at a must buy, you can know if you can use it right away.

I’m waiting on the Creami thing at a thrift store too😂

Christine, not only do I love your content, but you never fail to crack me up with your comical delivery. ❤❤

I've stopped buying pasta sauce. I buy plain passata instead (tomato pure) at about 1/4 the price of pasta sauce. I sauté onion and garlic, add the tomatoes then 1 tbsp of sugar and Italian seasoning. We actually prefer it and it only takes an extra min or so to make. If I have a jar of pesto or fresh basil from my garden, I add a tbsp of that too.

Rice on the stovetop: twice as much water as rice. Some salt. Bring to a boil. When boiling, time for 5 minutes, then turn off the burner. Wait 10 minutes. Then it’s ready.

I’m one person and couldn’t shop and eat for $100/month where I live - my 3 local stores don’t carry the kind of sales I see on your channel; once in awhile I find a deal at Target but even those times are rare (and I don’t live near enough to a Walmart to make shopping there an option). I also cannot figure out the whole digital coupon thing so there’s that against me. I just try and meal plan and eat simply and do the best I can for where I live. Interesting what you said about the times of day stores may do mark-downs; I work an 8-5 job so that limits when I would be able to go to local stores for markdown deals.

My Walmart doesn't seem to have much good clearance priced items, but they do reduce in the meat dept. weekly. Pre-made burger patties are usually reduced way less per pound than the bulk burger packages regular price. I can crumble up patties just fine when I'm not planning burgers for dinner.

How do you handle paper products, vitamins/supplements, personal care products, cleaning products etc?

I live in South Florida, and between the 2 grocery stores in my area, they rarely reduce anything.

I used that store’s canned organic lentils as our meat a lot of the times or as a pantry staple. I drain and toast them with spices a little bit in the skillet, then just add them to whatever I am making as the meat.

Definitely tortillas for tacos because leftover ones can be used for homemade chips or freezer burritos or quesadillas. I always try to buy things for meals that can be turned into snack items during the week or go into more than one dinner!

There are savings to be found in buying less expensive brands, but some of those products can be noticeably different in flavor or ingredient quality. Shopping sales and/or buying in bulk often allows you to purchase higher quality products at a price comparable to the store brand without sacrificing flavor/quality ingredients. Another option would be making many of those things from scratch to reduce cost and use pantry ingredients that can be purchased in bulk at a reduced price.

My new favourite hobby is hunting the grocery stores for clearance stickers (because of you). You are definitely the maven of how to shop. However, I still wasn't lowering my bill. I love grocery shopping and have finally accepted i can't stick to a list, so what I've done is NOT look at the flyers every week and NOT go to the stores. They just give me ideas. If I don't really need food, I focus on making what I have and remind myself there will still be clearance stickers and great deals the next time I go to the store.

You don't need a ninja creami. Get you a ninja express chop(you probably have one). Freeze the homemade ice cream in ice cube trays and then add them to the ninja express and pulse a few times. Add milk or protein shake or whatever until creamy. Way quicker and it's the same.

I spend about $800 a month for 8 people (7 teens/adults). We meal plan and shop at discount stores. My local discount store has .99 frozen lunch meals and this and leftovers are what we mostly eat for lunches. We do cheap cereal, oatmeal, or store brand english mufffins for breakfast, and do many meatless dinners (cheese or beans are cheaper protein).

i was brought up to season my meats (chicken, roast, pork, etc) before putting it in the freezer. it will be well seasoned when i thaw it out.. make the flavor better than seasoning after thawing. makes a big difference..

Flour tortilla! I buy 10lb flour every week make my own tortillas and bread, hqmburger/hotdog buns and sweets like muffins, pancakes which saves me a tun ❤ for pricing on flour compared all those things individually pre made its fraction cost if your already stocked on basics egg, butter, salt, sugar, yeast.

I did a Costco pork loin ($7) for a week, made dinner, lunch, and a couple breakfast with 1 costco pork loin for 2 people. Even though it's not healthy, it worked. Thank you for letting people know that if you have to, you can do it.

You are a breath of fresh air ! Keeping it real all the time ! You always inspire me to do better ! Thank you

I don’t meal plan. I buy what is on sale.

I dont really meal plan, mark down meats dictate my meals... really good buys go into the canner for meals when I dont have time to cook all day long... building a pantry from what you can get on sale should be top on the list of things to do...

I try not to grocery shop on an empty stomach! The temptation is REAL! 😀

Just wanted to say Thank you, I don't have an issue with grocery shopping, but it's always good to be reminded how to save money on things I buy. ❤❤

For me and my adult son I only plan for cooking 2 big meals a week. For myself, I'm eating from my pantry and freezer. My son is Gluten-free. My budget is $400. He paids for his special foods and 1/2 of shared meals.