Thank you so much for having me on the show, Rachel! I love chatting with you. :)

Tip: if your kids are going to eat sweets anyway, make a 9 X 13 cake, brownies, or banana bread rather than wrapped individual sweet snacks and cookies. That will do for snacks for several days.

Throw the minimal mom in and you have my three favourite ladies on KZfaq!

Real estate investors losing money is music to my ears. They are a major reason why the real estate market is the way that it is now.

Denial is not just a river in Egypt! Those who say that eating out costs less that feeding a family at home have clearly never done so consistently xx

You can have treats on a budget. Make muffins, cookies, popcorn. I follow Christine ( and I’m plant based ) she offers good ideas and has a good personality.

I love frugal fit mom! I swear her videos saved my husband and I when we were barely scrapping by financially. ❤

Julia Pacheco also makes videos such as "How to eat for $1 a day" Thankfully I can afford more than that, but the recipes look so good that I am wanting to try them

We are a family of 7 and I can make dinner for us all for $15 or less and we usually have leftovers. Not always exciting but we are well fed and happy.

It used to be $5 for a fast food meal, then it went up to $10, and now it's closer to $15 for one person!

Basic cooking skills are essential but the most important factor is making time to cook at home. A lot of people eat out or order food delivery simply because they're "too busy" to cook. Learning how to food prep like a chef makes it possible to just throw together a quick meal and it's a good skill to teach your kids!

I think part of peoples surprise is also they arent used to a normal portion size.

I actually scored 95% ground beef in the butchers clearance @ $1.99 per pound each (they needed to be sold by that day)!! I bought 15 of them and went home and put most in the freezer! Some of it I browned ahead and vacu-sealed them for convenience. Never would have looked in that section if it weren't for @frugalfitmom!

Great video! One thing we do is buy ground chicken, pork, and turkey in bulk and cook it before freezing it. We divide it into zipper bags by the pound. This saves so much time when we are cooking!

Being friends with Christine from Frugal Fit Mom has to be the biggest flex ever

Leaving cokes has left me rich! I use to drink about a gallon of coke a day. Best thing I ever did was to stop that habit.

We drink a moderate amount of homemade tea. I can keep an eye on sugar intake and also tea bags aren't that expensive. You don't have to make it as strong as the box tells you to. For 6 people we go through one family size box of tea (quart size tea bags) every 3 weeks. A whole lot cheaper than pop.😊

We went to McDonalds the other day because someone gave us a giftcard (we haven't been in YEARS). I was shocked in feeding my family of 5 it cost us $50. Thank you for this video. We are on baby step 2 and this was so helpful.

I love frugalfitmom! She really uses her creativity and cooking to good use

Thanks so much to you both. One thing I struggle with though is I don’t like to support the factory farms by buying cheap meat and eggs. The local farms are being out out of business so I will pay more for better meat and eggs.

I watch you both all the time!! Love seeing you together!! Side note: not all beef is grass fed. We raise beef, as do many of our neighbors and friends. Some steers are totally corn and grain fed. 🤷‍♀️ Keep all the money saving tips coming!! Thank you!!

My public library offers free cooking classes!

Loved it! All cows aren’t grass fed though. There is a difference between grass fed and grass finished, but those are both different categories than cows that are given feed.

I only drink water - I hate soda - my hubby normally drinks water or iced tea (that we now brew at home) with the rare diet soda. I LOVE Christine - I follow both her channels and try to put some of her ideas into play in our life. Thank goodness for her cooking / shopping tips - they totally work!!

Soups are a great money saver. Same with pasta,

Love Frugal Fit Mom! She’s hilarious 😆! Her shows are so interesting and fun…. She’s one of my very favorites! Along with you Rachel and Dave and George! 😂 You guys are helping so many people…. ❤

when my kids were still at home, I planned out our menu for the month each month. I'd buy 20lbs of chicken when it was on sale and freeze it. The key is to have a freezer and plan ahead. If you don't know what is for dinner tonight when it's already 6pm, you'll do the quick/easy option instead of the inexpensive and healthy.

Love these two! My Fred Meyer store had chicken on sale for 89 cents/lb last week. Always watch for sales 🙂

I absolutely just love Christine! Down to earth, and wonderful videos that are so helpful and blessful😊!

Thank you! All I drink is water, even in restaurants and people think I am depriving myself, but no.

Beans make a great source of protein along with other vegetables! We make our own burger patties out of oats. You can also use lentils.

This is awesome, it can be done. We have been doing it for years. You have to change your habits and planning really helps. Sales, marked down items and even shopping for noodles at the dollar tree saves money.

It's unbelievable to me just how many people cannot cook! I'm talking, just the basics. My 35 year old son lives with me, and I'm 70. We lived in a Central Florida suburb for 10 years, even then, we rarely ate out, and groceries were less expensive, but I grew a $1,000 sq ft garden and kept a backyard flock of 4 laying hens. The more you can grow yourself, buy on sale, or forage to put up and stock for later, the better you can feed your family. Buy a canner and a good dehydrator and USE them. I worked full time back then, but just buying a 25 lb case of tomatoes when they were on sale and either canning them or making sauce and canning that, puts you ahead. No preservatives, no God only knows what else in there, either! I planted pineapples that I started in the front and back yard, grew berries, went to U-Pick farms and foraged wild fruits, but you don't have to go quite that far if you don't need to. At the very least, you can buy the big, industrial size cans of fruit, and re-can it into smaller, more family friendly jars. I also buy meat in large pieces (an entire sirloin, for instance), grind it at home with my Kitchenaid metal meat grinder attachment, vacu-seal it into one-pound packs and freeze it. Back then, we were hit with several hurricanes that would take the electric down for weeks - I've always had a gas stove (and a propane buner), so instead of losing all my stored meats,, I'd can it as it thawed. Gonna be hot anyways - might as well pressure can and save my frozen food. Now for that dehydrator - Every week, without fail, remove every green pepper, celery stalk or hot pepper; check you pantry for onions that won't last very long, and other things that can be dehydrated. That bunch of basil, celantro, or other fresh herbs that's only going to mold in the crisper, and dehydrate them and store them in jars - You'd be surprised at how much money you'll save. Got mixed veg, peas or corn in the freezer that's going to freezer burn? Dehydrate it! Potatoes, cabbage or carrots that won't last more than another week? Thing slice and dehydrate them, and learn how to cook with them! Bottom line, so much food is wasted and so much can be done (even if you're a single parent and work full time!!) to save it and save you money!

At my house we drink only water. Adults drink cofee or tea as well.

I just found Frugal Fit Mom and Mindy Mom. It’s just my husband and I at home now but I definitely listened to all the tips and got great menu and recipe ideas.

I have another tip. Find out when things get reduced and shop then. For example, the 30% and 40% off stickers appear on the meats on Saturday morning, so I am there at 8 am. Another store, they reduce produce by 9 am, so I go there afterwards.

I couldn’t agree more! I am watching your show from Poland (here the food to income ratio is much higher than in USA!) and all the stuff you are telling about is like "normal life stuff" here for most of the ppl and it is so true! We do not have any coupons unfortunately because I know 95% of all polish moms would just take advantage of it and the system would shortly collapse 😂😂😂 but for sure you can find HEALTHY food on sales or in regular low prices in small discount shops. And for the record: although I can - I hate to cook at home. Therefore, most of the dinners are being cooked by my husband. But only in this way we are 100% sure what we eat, and we can control it. I can't imagine ordering food 6 days/week. For us it would be insane! I am sure that everyone can do that. If you are busy, JUST PLAN FOR NEXT DAYS, WEEKS! great episode, thank you and greetings from Poland!

Popcorn popped in a popper is fun for kids and you can dress it up sweet or salty and it is just as satisfying and waaaayyy cheaper (and healthier.)

I love Frugal Fit Mom! It is possible! No convenience foods!

I'm not horrible at shopping on a budget but I'm always excited for more videos like this!!❤❤❤❤

Great tips! I love stocking up fruits & veggies (in season) from my local farmer’s market & freeze them. I recently got 2 packages of strawberries (the average size 1lb) for $1 each! I’ll be racking up on more berries & fruit this season.

I hate Kroger because I hate coupons. It's too complicated. I like Aldi because it's simple.

I am a truck driver and I have picked up grocery items and delivered to stores. Your major brands also make the store brands for Walmart and major grocery stores.

My homemade lunches I make for work cost me only $39 every 2 weeks. I don’t eat out at all and I make a lot of great lunches like cold cut sandwiches and veal parm sandwiches 🙂

Just made salad with two very small hand fulls of grape tomatoes from Alid $1.49 for container and didn't all of them. A green onion from the garden was put in too. Then I had one green pepper needing used from Aldi .99. A little mayo was put in there too. One cucumber for .65 cents was added. Also, had small pieces of celery 1.69 Aldi needing used. This filled an entire bowl! Inexpensive, filling and nutritious. Making pork chops 1.89 lb.for four of them. Close to 10 bucks because we only used some of it. Love fresh onions from garden. Inions, hreen beans, cucumbers, zucchini and tomatoes so easy to grow.

I am hypersensitive to dehydration and electrolyte deficiency, so during the summer I drink coconut water and lemonade. Other than that, it's water and tea for us. A month's worth of tea is about $5.

I love Christine! I watch her all time, its so cool to see her on here!!!

Preach it! I’m watching this as I make a triple batch of zucchini blueberry bread! In season, free from my neighbor!

We only drink water and iced tea. I can make a big jug of iced tea with four tea bags from the Dollar Store.

i think the issue is people don't want to be frugal and/or they don't want to put the work in to save money, i.e. clip coupons, buy when only on sale, buy in bulk etc. I am guilty of this once in a while, but my wife is really really good at being frugal.

Watermelon is cheap now.. I freeze mine and make smoothies all winter

I love that these two are friends. It’s such a good KZfaq collab, and then to be actual friends is my dream come true lol 🤩 now I just need to know that Dave Ramsey and my pastor are friends and I’ll believe all is right in the world 🎉

Beans and rice, rice and beans, throw some tuna fish, red bell pepper and spring onions in the mix and you have a restaurant style Mediterranean dish

I went to McDonald's and purchased 1, ONE deluxe meal medium fries and drink for $11.53 ! OH MY WORD ! I savored those fries at that price. I can not imagine taking a family to eat out. And yes, that $11.53 would be at least 2 separate meals with around 4 portions so I would be able to have food for several days. Thanks to Christine my first stop at the grocery store is the clearance area.

LOVE this!!! I have only drank water for over 35 years and my kids are fine with it.

Vons recently had 10 cans for $5, with a $5 cupón with any purchase. And another week they had 5 for $10, on PB, Mayo, Tuna, Frozen bags of veggies, sour cream, and cottage cheese. And the same $5 off any purchase. I stocked up on my pantry items!

Costco is not the most expensive for organic chicken. It is also a good place to get organic ground beef. Aldi’s is a great store for both too!!!

As soon as ya'll said chips, I felt attacked as I was eating chips. haha

In our home i love making ice tea (no sugar). 48 count tea bags($5.48 walmart brand), i use 3 bags per 1/2 gallon. It comes to .34 cents per 1/2 gallon. Plus the antioxidants from the tea. And oh so yummy refreshing. If you find herbal teas on sale replace a couple herbal bags in with the black tea. Oh super yummy and brings diversity and no calories ❤🎉🎉

A happy medium between cooking & eating out is the deli/ grab & go areas of most major grocery stores. While it is more expensive than cooking it is usually still cheaper than eating out. A nice option for "those days" that are bound to happen.

Ahhhh! This is the collab I have been waiting for!!!!

Inexpensive food is really healthy.

Ice tea in a pitcher…maybe a splash of lemon or orange….the only beverage ( other than h2o) at my house, coffee made via drip for no waste for me in the morning with no sugar or milk…just black. Hot tea ,clear, in cold weather are my families beverages. Learn to make salad dressing…oatmeal can have cheap spices ( cinnamon) add a peanut butter toast from marked down or frozen leftover bread. chili and curry can have so many leftovers added and served on rice. Home made corn bread &white bread can stretch a meal. Eggs for dinner…egg salad, deviled eggs and omelette….baked potato, onion soup…this is the sort of dinner my family lives on…of course basic cooking skills are needed..but I can feed a family of 3 for 50$ or less a week with ideas like this.

Our tv news ran a story when extra SNAP benefits were being cut. The mom was complaining but they showed her family eating dinner and they were having adult size lunchables. Those things are $5-6 each!!! People really need to learn to cook. We’re missing the mark in schools by not teaching life skills.

I'm committed to buying small farm proteins as much as possible. It is a cost I am willing and proud to support. If I had a large family, perhaps I would change and buy more of the national commercial brands for pricing sakes; but I am not sure --- I could also just make meat 1 or 2x a week instead (e.g. a local/organic chicken soup on a Sunday one week, hamburger or steaks the following Sunday, etc.).

My issue with shopping at Walmart, besides supporting a not-great company, is their Great Value brand usually sneaks all kinds of preservatives into their food. Look at the labels and compare them against name brands or even other store brands. It's shocking! Yeah, it's cheaper, but at what cost to your body and health? Thanks, I'll pass. Agreed, though, that you can feed people on far less by preparing your food at home and having leftovers versus a dinner out. This method applies to singles too, who often complain it's cheaper to eat out. Yeah, right. I've been single for decades and can make countless more meals for the price of one dinner out, even excluding alcohol or regular drinks. Plus, my food is far healthier.

What can break the bank is how many neighbor kids hang out at your house! I just finished keeping my grands in their house while their parents were on a trip and there are two of them, but three neighbor kids hang out at their house - they were like locusts! It's also obvious that these two charming women don't yet have teenage boys - LOL!

Yes Rachel! Get an air fryer! It’s awesome 👏 😊👍🙌

Rachel and Christine 👏👏👏👏👏👏😊 2 of my favorite ladies💗💗💗💗

Not all cows are grass fed. Most in the US are corn fed.

I’m not opposed to cutting down in grocery expenses and frequently cook at home but I will definitely pay more for better nutrition. Cheap food = cheap nutrition

Some foods are already frozen and then defrosted when put on the shelves, so just be knowledgeable of what already was frozen before saving it for later at home!

We love our Pampered Chef shelf-style air fryer. The oven-looking shelf-style is so versatile. Also, look for one with rotisserie option. PC's has that last I knew.

I watch all her videos and have learned so much. And I started watching all of yours since Minimal Mom on.

I can recommend Frugal money saver & under the median. Two KZfaqr with great ideas and knowledge.

I love @frugalfitmom. I've been watching her for a while now even her back episodes are still relevant.

You can eat at home inexpensively. We shop the deals and meal plan around those items. I enjoy Frugal Fit Mom's KZfaq channel.

I had to start out even MORE basic than BASIC cooking skills lol. Fresh fruits and veggies that don't need cooked but do need washed and chopped. Fresh salads with fixings. Etc. All still can be done on the cheap. Cheeses and deli meats on sale.

Thank you so much! Nice to meet you Christine! I am subscribed and following you!! Great advice!!

Yes, it’s definitely more affordable to eat at home, but some people are working double and triple shifts to pay off debt and is time consuming. It’s great to stick to a budget though. Also, it’s nice to go out to dinner a couple times a week for a break here and there. Find the right restaurants and their nightly specials. We have a place around here that every Monday night is all you can eat pasta for $1.99 . Add a meatball and a sausage and it’s $5.00 for the meal. Also We have a taco place , buy 2 tacos get one free. $16.00 for 2 of us to eat. Another place has fresh chicken , rice , etc. $11.00 can feed one person 2 to 3 times. Yes I believe in cooking at home but life does get busy in reality and I’m never home

Pick 2 or 3 grocery stores download the apps to clip coupons and note the sales, download cash back apps like Ibotta and Fetch and stack the savings. I do the homework while I’m in bed or watching TV so it doesn’t feel like a chore, and then I allow myself $50 budget for the grocery store in a week, for family of 3. Costco is a treat!!! So I set $100 plus any leftover from the regular grocery budget to splurge a bit. Cook around the sales, buy meat on sale and freeze the leftover meat for future. For example, we make Carnitas and homemade salsa and tortillas and 3 pounds of meat will last for a week when rehashed with other items in the freezer and pantry to make up for extra sides. I will freeze the tortillas and carnitas when we get tired of it to eat for a future time. Fruits can be frozen to make into compote and smoothies if purchased in bulk on sale. Also make a visual inventory of your freezer and pantry and you will be amazed at so many items that have been forgotten. Get in the habit and rotating those items out.

I love frugal fit mom. Her channel was a game changer for me!

Her tips are great but I do think where you live and the ages of your kids make a big impact on the cost. I live near Seattle and have 4 tweens/teens and even with those tips it would be exceedingly hard to hit $40 for 4 meals.

Im excited to try this.

Also, have some easy, cheap meals like grilled cheese or eggs. Of course you buy the cheese when it’s on sale! We add caramelized onions and some cheap ham slices, boom, better grilled cheese sandwiches! Or cheap bacon when it’s on sale or sausages. A little goes a long way! Grow some lettuce and tomatoes and have a cheap salad as well. Shop the sales people!

Love frugal fit moms budget meals and grocery haul videos! Eating out is so expensive! Looking reduce drive thru as I go through receipts for taxes and budget purposes. I love soups and crockpot meals. Chicken and hamburger go along way!

Great show! I'll have to check out the frugal fit mom! I always use the Fred Meyer/Kroger digital coupons when shopping, and when I combine with the senior discount once a month, I save even more!

I eat mostly plant-based because it keeps me healthy - I'm a 70 y.o. former migraine sufferer. If I eat meat now - which I did as an experiment, I get a headache and feel queasy the next day. But having said all that, I can eat for $40-60 over 2 weeks if I shop at either Grocery Outlet or Trader Joe's and make my meals from scratch.

My two favorites! I love Rachel & Christine. Just finished watching one of Christine’s videos before this one! Love this collab!

Julie pacheco youtuber has delicious $5 dinners that feed about 4. Also you can add a bag of frozen vegetables to them

I love this! This is EXACTLY how I shop! (Even at Fred Meyer) I used to work for Costco, and my coworkers were appalled that I didn't buy many groceries thee.

To improve your cooking skills when you are a busy mom on a tight budget and not much time is tough. But the more you do something, the easier it gets. It is best to work on one thing at a time, and when trying something new, do it on a day where you have more time and not have to try to get supper on the table after a stressful day. One thing I have found that even today's prices, basic ingredients are far cheaper than more processed foods. But you can pre-make foods in a batch or just double receipe and freeze half. FOr example, if you are making a cassarole, it really doesn't take hardly any time to make two, cook one now and freeze one. You can use dispable aluminum pans or just line a baking dish with a few layers of foil, vreeze, then pop out of the dish and wrap up and pop in a freezer bag. Of course, you will have to allow for more cooking time if you dont have time to thaw before heating, but at least you don't have to deal with the prep and cleanup but once. It will be cheaper and better quality and more healthy because of less food additives than the ready made option at the store.

The only people that say cooking at home is hard and expensive, don't.

Air fryer is so with it. Not the basket type, get the trays with Rotisserie, etc. Some also have convection with them. We use it simultaneously with another dish. We all love having it. Reheat pizza etc and out tastes so fresh. Delicious!

That’s what we drink at our house, water. Sometimes I make ice tea

Two of my favorite KZfaqrs!

Chickpeas - saver. Cheap, full of protein, cancer fighting and flat tummy fiber. No more constipation. Add that to pasta, rice and use some to make hummus and this has cut my waist line and meat budget I now use the amount of meat I used for 2 weeks for 1 month

Kroger will have Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisine frozen dinners on special just about every week. Im single, so this works well for me. I always add sauteed diced red peppers and onion or broccoli. I no longer buy soda. I drink alot off iced tea.

I only buy most chips when they are on super discount at Shaw's which is Albertsons in some areas or known as other stores in other areas. I get them for as low as $1.77 or $1.47 a bag. Like you though, I stick up on the sale meats when they are at a super low price. I definitely shops several stores based on prices, but I can do that since they are all pretty close to each other.

Another thing that will keep you out of restaurants and away from junk food is lots of food sensitivities. It's just safer and easier to fix it yourself and not have to look at every ingredient list to make sure it's something I can have. (my friends are amazed at some of the things I've made)