Frugal Photo Friday: Closeout Grocery and Picnics

What are some ways you can save on food and fun?

Well my favorite way to save on food is to shop at my local closeout grocery store. I love this store. They have great prices on produce and lots of other items too. I recently got some apples for $.39/lb and pears for $.39/lb. They also had romaine hearts 3 to a package for $.50 each package. Now that is a great price. I also scored some green peppers at $.25 each.

When I do shop the closeout grocery store I have to be flexible with my menus. This week I may be able to get a bunch of heads of lettuce cheap, next week it might be artichokes. So to accommodate this into my menu I will usually put veggies or fruit as a side dish on my menu. Then whatever veggie or fruit I get on the cheap that week is what we eat. Being flexible is one way  I save on food. One side benefit of meal planning this way is my kid have been exposed to a variety of different fruits and veggies and will eat most of them without a peep of complaining. (your mileage may vary on this one)

For our fun activities that don’t cost much picnics are great. If it is wet and rainy outside which does happen quite a bit here this time of year we will have an indoor picnic. My son really like to do this. When the weather is nicer we like to get outside to eat.

 

This summer we went out to our local small airport and had a picnic and watched the airplanes land.

We also saw a helicopter come in for a landing right across for us. My son still talks about it. It was a great day for him. All of this fun for just a little in the price of gas to get us to the airport.

Other ideas for frugal food and fun is making an item but in a smaller version. Recently I made some mini Stromboli for dinner. They were just the right size  for each person to have one to themselves. Kids seem to love having food scaled down to their size. There was also another benefit to making a smaller version it cooks faster and so dinner can be on the table sooner.

 

What do you do to save on food and fun activities?

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This post is linked up at Frugal Photo Friday