The First Friday Feast

Cook dinner at home. That is perhaps one of the biggest money savers we have encountered since these challenging times began. We were never big go out to dinner people, but would on occassion out of desire or sheer laziness order food to either deliver or go pick up and bring home here. Not anymore.

There are so many magazines whether its Cooking Light, Good Housekeeping, Food & Wine or even the website Epicurious.com which will allow you to search recipes by time and ease factor. Last night we had pork chops I had bought on sale, with corn -- and for the hubby asperagus -- and the whole meal probably cost less than $5 total! Our dinner tonight, homemade pizza for each of us, cost probably $6 total.

In this blog I plan to write a lot about the stores, brands, tricks and places I like best to find bargins. Trader Joe's will make numerous appearances. So will Giant, Harris Teeter and Safeway, since those are the stores in my area. We also have a Shoppers, but I have been decidedly not impressed with their quality, so haven't gone in years. I also love Target, or Tar-ghee as we used to say years ago before it really was the place to shop.

I am not a chef by any stretch, although I love watching Food Network. I am also extremely cheap, or perhaps a better phrase is pragmatically thrifty. You won't find suggestions to sell your clothes at consignment shops here, or run around to 10 different stores each week. While I am sure both of these work and help save money, they are too time and energy consuming.

Happy reading, and I hope happy savings as well.