Sometimes you have to spend money to save money and this is one of those tips. The math checks out though, so hang out with me a second.
Keep frozen fast food on hand. Frozen pizza, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, whatever you like- make sure you have it. When your meal plan goes sideways, or you’re just tired or sick or stressed or whatever it is- go to the freezer, and make your frozen fast food.
It’s still cheaper than letting McDonalds heat up some nuggets, or going to Pizza Hut. Because let’s be honest, when you’re having one of those days that kicks your butt from the time you roll out of bed, you don’t feel like cooking from scratch. Rather than trying to pretend it will never happen, just go ahead and have some things on hand so that when it does, you still save some dollars!
A quick easy meal is a frozen lasagna, some garlic toast and an easy side salad, if you’re feeling fancy. Make chicken tenders and fries, or throw a few potatoes in the microwave for baked potatoes. Shoot, I’ve got no problem with pizza rolls and carrot sticks, I’m not here to judge you. We’ve all been there.
In my area an entire bag of Ore-Ida fries is $2.44. A whole bag of Tyson Chicken Strips is $6.68. That will feed my entire family of 3 for 2+ meals for $9.12, and we’re talking name brands and not a coupon in sight. Meanwhile, a typical McDonald’s order for my family runs $13.56- and that’s without buying drinks (we typically grab our food and head home, AND we split a medium French fry). In all honesty, if I catch the mobile deals right, I can probably shave that down to $11.50ish. This is for one meal and I promise you that our food at home will taste better- at the very least I can guarantee it will be hot. Just having the frozen food on hand saves us $2.38 on one single day. Since the frozen fries and strips will make at least two meals, we’re looking at a total savings of $13.88.
This keeps us saving money until I get back on the cooking train.