5 Easy Frugal Hacks that Saved $700 and Two Spectacular Money Saving Fails

I disagree with people who claim you have to work extra hard or give up things you like and use to save money. If you like watching cable TV/it is the only way you can stay connected to the outside world, depend upon that subscription meal box because you stink at meal planning (raises hand,) as long as you can afford it (or are willing to shift other things in your budget to keep it if things are tight,) there is no budget law that says you can’ t keep it.

Personally, I knew there were several of those habits and expenses I can afford but aren't using them, they didn’t fit anymore, or more realistically on the Someday We Need to Find a Better Option When We Have Time to Get Around to It list. Once I decided that today was Someday, I saved more money than I expected that I can happily put toward other things I like, want, or need.

5 Simple Ways I Saved Money Without Really Trying

Consider this a list of budget trimming ideas and not absolutes. If you disagree or have a better money saving idea share them with us in the comments below!

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How to Make Dried Tuna Fish Cat Treats

The prettiest little ginger kitten walked into my friends’ backyard last winter and told them that they are her people now. She is a very talented cat because she turned two hard core Dog People into head over heels Cat People.

I completely understood how the minute Goldie jumped into my lap and wrapped her tail around my waist. My heart both melted and exploded with joy with one little tail hug.

Or she might have figured out that I was the one responsible for her new catnip toys on my previous visit.

Quick, Easy, and Healthy Dehydrated Tuna Cat Treat Recipe

I’m having a dinner party for Miss Goldie’s parents and I do not want her to miss out on the all of the fun (although who knows what kind of secret pet party she might throw when her parents aren’t home) and decided to make her homemade cat treats. Nom! Nom!

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You will need these ingredients:

A can of tuna

A dehydrator with a temperature controller – I have this dehydrator and can’t recommend it enough!


Dehydrator liner trays like these are extremely helpful otherwise as the tuna dries it will fall through the trays

Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.

Step by Step How to Make this Recipe:

1. Drain the water from the can of tuna

2. Carefully flip the can onto a lined dehydrator tray and spread the tuna with a fork.

Try to keep the tuna fish flakes as intact as possible the best that you can. I squeezed the smallest fish flakes into a ball like shape above before I dried them. Goldie doesn't want you to waste any of that delicious tuna!

3. Dry the tuna at 160 degrees (F) for two to ten hours or more depending upon the thickness of the slices.  To be safe I let the dehydrator go overnight.

4. When the tuna is completely dehydrated, store in a covered container and treat your kitty right!

If you’d rather buy than DIY, check out the following options – and more! – below!

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How to Make Rainbow Tie Dye Cake Balls

I like my Dala horse shaped cake pan but given the limited space in my kitchen, I wanted it to make more than horse cakes. When I saw this tie-dye cake mix from the coolest and most talented cake baker in the history of ever, it came to me to use it to make a rainbow unicorn birthday cake.  (Disclosure: I am including some big bold affiliate links in this post for your convenience.)

Eat the rainbow!

Yea, yea I know. I usually bake cakes from scratch but in this case, it is a dairy free cake mix with vibrant colors I can only get if I buy an army of  cake coloring gels like these. I really wanted to focus on turning the horse shaped cake into a unicorn using licorice laces like these for the tail and a twist lollipop like this one for the horn.
Not to mention, I would really be nice to be able to eat a food allergy friendly cake at a birthday party – something I don’t get to do even on my own birthday. *sad face*

How to Fix a Broken Birthday Cake

The Best Ever Seasoned Salt Recipe!

It wasn’t hard to figure out that the secret to my favorite local Greek restaurants amazing French fries is that they salt the fries with seasoned salt instead of regular. So good!

Naturally I started keeping a bottle seasoned salt in my kitchen and used it to make baked French fries. Seasoned salt quickly became one of my favorite ways to flavor grilled and sautéed fish, burgers, and in recipes when I got stuck for a seasoning idea.

Until I read the ingredient label on a bottle of seasoned salt and found it loaded with an obscene amount of salt and MSG, depending upon the brand. Fortunately, with a bit of experimenting, I made a seasoned salt recipe with less salt in it that store bought, tastes just like Lowry’s Seasoned Salt (my favorite brand,) and is a whole heck of a lot cheaper to make.

Seasoning Salt Recipe

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14 Ways to Reuse Old Toothbrushes

Dentists recommend you change your toothbrush when the bristles start to bend, which means you’re going to replace your toothbrush about four times a year. That quickly adds up to a lot of toothbrushes – made from plastic or even bamboo – that you’re throwing away a year.

You’re also throwing away money because those dead toothbrushes can be useful around the house for cleaning things besides teeth.

14 Toothbrush Hacks that  Save Money and Reduce Waste

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11 Quick and Easy Recipes that Save Money When You are Broke

My family’s cooking style evolved from the traditional American big hunk of meat main dish with little sides of vegetables and potatoes to a formula of lots of vegetables, a starch, and a protein as more of a condiment than the star of the dinner recipe show. We started with Asian flavored stir fry meals being heavily influenced by my trip to Japan and Hong Kong and grumbling bellies demanding a quick dinner ASAP after getting home from work.

We quickly learned that by just switching up the spices and often the starch (rice noodles like these cook in 5 minutes flat!,)  brown and white rice, regular and whole wheat pasta, sweet and white potatoes) we could travel the world through our dinner tables using the same main ingredients. Cheaply and healthy and getting a gold star from my doctor when I gave her my food diary. (Disclosure: I am including some affiliate links in this post for your convenience.)

Not to mention, just using a handful from several bags of fresh and frozen vegetables in a stir fry makes them last longer than dumping the whole bag in a pot and serving it as a side dish (although I still do that from time to time.) The same thing goes for meat – or if you’re running low on meat to make a full meal for a group you can always add beans, nuts, or tofu to bump up the protein content, serve it on a bed of rice, and Bob’s your uncle.

I accidentally started saving more money on our grocery bill when I started reading the weekly grocery sale flyers like a magazine each week and buying my fresh fruits and vegetables according to what is on sale which is - guess what! – shopping and cooking according to the national growing season and super cheap.

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Mix and Match Instant Pot Minestrone Soup Recipe

The first meal I made in my Instant Pot was soup. (I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.)  It really hits the spot on a cold day and is a fantastic way to stretch your grocery budget by using up all of those little odds and ends in your kitchen cupboard that aren’t quite enough to eat as a full meal on their own.

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Making minestrone soup is the perfect recipe for that!

This minestrone soup recipe is very forgiving if you don’t have or don’t like to eat some of the ingredients I have listed here. Traditionally minestrone soup was made in Italy with in season summer vegetables. During the winter I usually have a cupboard full of dehydrated vegetables (the downside to having almost no longer term storage space in my freezer) that I forget to soak before I can cook with them, which makes using them for Instant Pot minestrone soup ideal – no soaking necessary!

The same goes with dried beans. Thanks to my lovely electric pressure cooker (you can find more affordable options here if the Instant Pot price is out of your budget range) I stopped buying canned beans as a backup. I pretty much never pre soak dried beans either. I just chuck them in the Instant Pot and let them pressure cook with the rest of the ingredients in the recipe.
The only exception to not pre soaking dried I’ve found to that is dried chickpeas. Soaking chickpeas in water first means I can use the 30 minute Bean setting once instead of twice.

How to Make a Cheap Eats Minestrone Soup Recipe