Frugal Menu Mamas

May I say that moving is extremely expensive!?  We have spent so much money this past month that my mind is reeling.  Praise the Lord that He has provided for us through and through.  So, let me tell you how we made it through the move without going into huge debt.  Perhaps, these ideas could help you or someone you know!

First of all, my husband had been looking for a new job for a long time.  When he started getting a few interviews, we started getting serious about moving.  We filed our taxes early this year (and we do most years) and instead of spending our refund or paying off debt, we saved it for a move.  This was a big way to help us make a down payment on our new house. Also, after my husband got the offer, we went to the post office and got the change of address packet.  It had coupons in it that we used for the moving truck and for Lowe’s.

Next, we had to get extremely creative and flexible.  Once Hubby got the job offer and accepted, we stopped buying very many groceries.  I started only buying milk, bread, eggs and we started meal planning around our stockpile.  We have an extra freezer and let me tell you…it was full!  We ate lots of freezer meals and used the pantry as well.  I think this is a great way to save money and it will help any budget to do this every 6-8 weeks.  Check out a series about eating from your pantry here.  We used up a lot of food this way and didn’t waste it.

In addition to eating from our stockpile BEFORE moving, we packed up all our pantry items into boxes for moving.  I visited my parents on the way to our new home and they have a spare freezer too, so I packed most of the meat we had left and (using my parents place as a stopping point) moved the meat to our new house!  We save lots by not throwing that out.  Doing this saved us money the first week in our new house.

Upon arrival, we had our separate freezer, but the new house had no refrigerator.  We spent a day shopping for a new fridge and found the one we wanted (and boy is it nice!)  It was rather pricey, but the sales rep told us about a sale the following weekend.  So, we waited to buy the fridge (very hard for me to do).  We haved about $200 at least just on the fridge.  But we had to be creative while waiting.  It costs too much to eat out every meal, so we unpacked our pantry boxes and bought a few items at the grocery store.  We had to plan meals that needed NO refrigerated items.  We made Shake N Bake chicken with frozen boneless, skinless tenderloins, canned corn, and a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese one evening.  I used powdered milk for the macaroni, but I forgot it requires butter, too.  My smart (and handsome) husband suggested to substitute oil.  It worked great!  (Use vegetable or canola oil though….I used olive oil and the macaroni tasted fruity!)  We ate bagels with peanut butter and fruit for breakfasts and Hubby ate oatmeal (made with water).  We ate peanut butter sandwiches, fruit, and chips for lunches.  (I’m a little sick of peanut butter now-gasp!)

So, we did it without breaking the bank.  It was hard!!!!  I really wanted that fridge the day we got here and I felt pretty silly bringing my cooler of meat across 4 states.  But it was so worth it.  Just because moving is expensive, doesn’t mean you can’t be frugal about it!

I’d love to hear your creative ideas for saving money while moving!

Yep, those are my cute kids standing UNDER the moving truck!