I am completely aware that this week’s Ways We Save post may not interest anyone. After all, I am a normal person. Just because you have to live on The Teacher’s Salary doesn’t mean that you enjoy every aspect of frugal living. 🙂
But, one of the best ways we save money is by eating leftovers. There you have it. It’s not glamorous and I don’t always want to do it, but eating leftover food is a huge money-saver that I simply cannot ignore it.
Since our family isn’t that big and my children are little right now, many of the meals that I prepare make more than enough to feed all of us. Most recipes you find in a cookbook or on the internet typically serve 6-8 people. I guess I could be more strategic and half the recipes, but sometimes that’s difficult and seems like too much trouble.
I’m sure there will come a time when the same meals I make now will not produce leftovers, so I’m enjoying the savings while I can. {Teenage boys…need I say more?}
After a meal, we just put the leftovers in plastic containers and stick it in the fridge for later. If the meal is one of Kev’s favorites, he might even take it to work for his lunch the next day. But, otherwise, we just use them up later in the week for dinner.
I don’t usually enjoy eating the same meal the very next day, so I’ve started having a “leftovers” meal later in the week. When menu-planning for the week, I just include my “leftovers” meal in that menu-plan. That way, I cook new meals at the beginning of the week and then we can eat on whatever is left towards the end of the week when we’ve had a little break and I’m usually too tired to cook {it’s a win-win, really}. Sometimes “leftovers night” includes the leftovers from a couple different meals. Since the food has already been paid for, I just can’t bring myself to let it go to waste in the trash.
To me, there are few meals that get better with time so I totally understand why some people don’t eat leftovers. But, we save so much money by eating everything up that I have learned to love “leftover night” at our house!
Okay, so maybe the word love is a bit much! 🙂
