In 1981, I was a young wife. I was working for $2.45 an hour. My husband was making $5.00 an hour. Our weekly food budget was $20.00 a week. On Sunday's we ate with my family after church. My mom always sent us home with the leftovers. I learned how to make the most of what we had. Now we will be married 41 years this year. I am still learning. I enjoy your channel.
Okay, I about had a heart attack when you pulled out the American Woman's Cook Book!! I just found your channel tonight, and in your previous video you used the Farm Journal Country cookbook that I have had for YEARS. Then I flip to this video and there is the green American Woman's cookbook that my mother used FOREVER in the 40s and 50s, and she left it to me. My edition is copyright 1938. I dug it out of it's hiding place, and I'm going to give it some love!! How great to find your channel!!!
YAY!! Thanks so much for being here! Welcome Susan! I Love vintage cookbooks! Just a word of caution... those vintage cookbooks did not have the same food safety measures we have today in their food prep or handling. I'm sure you know this but Please use modern food safety measures.
Oh, those flatbreads -- worldwide, the people have created such a tasty variety of breads from the simplest of ingredients. Naan, puri, pinzini, focaccia, tortillas, fry bread, rieska: the true staff of life! 😄Now I need to fire up my stove top again!
Common sense is ALWAYS applicable but not always used unfortunately. Adding some carrot (grated to melt in or whole and later removed) will help with acidity and can't tell, for those who don't want the sugar. Keep healthy and safe.❤❤❤ *****please keep people of UKRAINE in thoughts and prayers*****
I feel so bad for the Ukraine people and also the Russian people. Many of them don't want this war and they are the ones who will suffer from the sanctions not Putin. 🙏🙏
I make my own bread, (no knead method) and yogurt, (2 gal milk per time) then drain it in a cloth for true Greek Yogurt. We are starting a garden this year and have deer and fish on the property.
Okay, if you are cooking for an hour you have to figure in energy cost. I grow the San Marizano tomatoes and while my husband used to joke that I grew $90 tomatoes back when I started growing my own vegetables 35 years ago, I have since learned how to grow organic veggies on the cheap. What a difference in flavor and we are really saving money with the bounty from our gardens.
I make tortillas dough in bulk. Once you make the balls, set them on a cookie sheet and freeze. Once frozen transfer them to a freezer bag. We are a family of 2 so we pull out what we need. Sent the ball on the counter to thaw. Roll it out and toast. Loved the video!
Several decades ago I stopped buying: Bullion cubes, Boxes of flavored stock, Canned soups. All of these can be made with mixing your own seasonings of sea salt, pepper, garlic, onion, paprika, cumin, thyme. I make a pint of it at a time and add a big spoonfuls of it as I need to season something every day! You can add it to plain water for a broth. Or add it to tomato paste to make a tomato juice, or pasta sauce or soup. Don't be intimidated. Have fun with it!
@@FrugalMoneySaver Glad you agree. Bullion or meat seasoning & tenderize are especially unhealthy. . . and so is Ramen seasoning. I make it all in a quick minute and it's healthy. Perhaps I only save $5.00 a month, but that's the price of a nice birthday gift for my grandmother.
New subscriber here! I am thoroughly enjoying this channel. My husband is retired and I am semi-retired. We are debt free, mortgage free, and happily frugal. Not surprisingly, we have a lot in common with you and Paul. I collect vintage homemaking books, and have the Wartime Edition of the American Woman’s Cookbook published in 1943. I’ve always bought in bulk, stocked up on sale items, and made my own “convenience” foods. Thank you for so effectively demonstrating how to run a frugal home. 🌸
I think a lot of people are going to be experiencing different times with everything that's going on in the world. The price of regular gasoline is a little over $4.00 a gallon now. They will have to watch their spending as it seems everything is going up! I am glad I came from a frugal family who was careful in how they spent their money! Not cheap,but frugal. There is a great difference!👍👍👍🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🙏🙏🙏
I can't wait to try the tortilla recipe. It looks delicious! I've been making that chocolate cake for years because it's vegan. I'm a vegetarian, not vegan but try to eat vegan at least 80 percent of the time. I make cupcakes with that recipe too. My family loves them and it's usually what I make for birthdays. Blessings, Helen
I make and can my own chicken broth. I save all my onion scraps, celery and carrots etc in a bag in the freezer. Bake my own whole chicken, save the bones skins etc. throw it all in the crockpot, in low, overnight. Strain. Freeze or can in quart jars. Is broth expensive? No but mine is outstanding.
The chocolate cake was the first thing I learned to bake when I was about 6 yrs old. Almost 60 years later I’m still making it. My mom called it Whacky Cake. And we mixed all the ingredients directly in the cake pan. No dirty bowls lol. Thanks for sharing!
Sorry, one more from the cake fanatic (me LOL): You can sub cold coffee for some of the water in your recipe, or King Arthur's, or throw in some instant coffee powder. It makes the chocolate more chocolate. And...if you're into making ahead, these recipes are ideal for assembling in a ziploc or glass jar ahead of time, then pull out of the pantry, mix with wet ingredients, and you've got cake in 30!
What a great idea! I was going to stockpile some cake mixes but hesitant as to how long they would keep with ingredients. Forgot how they taught us to make master mix in high school home economics class! Gotta go back to that! Now if I could just find the biscuit recipe they gave us it would be perfect! I have tried numerous online recipes and they are all rubbish.
I dont budget really bc i get food stamps, but i do plan my meals according to what i would like to eat. I do shop smart n use a food saver which takes out the air so i can freeze my meats n even bananas so i can make muffins when i want too. And ive been able to save alot of money by using my food saver n will keep using it bc it allows me to save money n time n it allows me to not waste food.
My husband and I budget $200 per month for food and I try my hardest to come in under that. We include cleaning supplies in that sum, but I use vinegar, baking soda and dollar store glass cleaner to do most things - and make about a year's worth of powdered laundry soap at a time, so our cleaning budget is pretty low. If I come upon a great deal on something and stock up my husband is ok with it as it saves us money and we will use the items over time. Our garden usually helps us keep the budget too, as I can up what we can't eat fresh for later in the year when it's too cold to grow anything. We buy grains and dry goods in bulk, so when we have to do that it drives the bill up some, but those goods will last us for months and really keeps the week to week expenses low. As things go forward I hope we will still be able to find bulk dry goods, especially grains since I hear they are expected to become in short supply.
I have seen recipes for Depression or "Wacky" cake before and have always wanted to try it. You just confirmed that I need to! Homemade tortillas are so good! Try them warm with a little butter. I budget bimonthly for groceries, household and pet supplies, to align with our pay schedules. For example, x amount from the 1st to 14th and x amount from 15th to 30th. We have 2 adults, 2 cats, and 4 chickens. With everything going on in the world, we have been stocking up more so our grocery spending is higher. Yesterday, we just bought 100 pounds of chicken feed to have on hand. We have to make sure the chickens are fed so they can feed us. 👍 I am trying to watch the grocery ads more, too, and pick up the loss leaders. Yesterday I got canned vegetables for 25 cents a can and pork shoulder for 99 cents a pound with the digital coupons. We have found we can invite people over and feed everyone much cheaper than one meal out for the two of us!
Another excellent video! The question of the day: There are two people in our house and we budget about $60-$70 a week and we do include cleaning supplies and sometimes over the counter meds. We are in very uncertain times....we need to be kind and supportive of one another.
@@brg2743 Me too - I add some baking soda if there is particularly bad spot that doesn't seem responsive to vinegar and scrubbing alone. I still have some Lysol toilet bowl cleaner but haven't felt the need to use it. I still use Lysol spray to sanitize the toilet seat and bowl rim, but will probably switch to a diluted bleach solution when that runs out. I already use the bleach solution to sanitize my kitchen counters. Works great like the vinegar does, inexpensive too.
Oh I love your question and it would be interesting how different other people do their budget. In our house we are 3 adults. My husband, my son and I (my daughter moved out some year ago). You are telling the truth and are realistic so I will do it, too. Our food budget are 700 Euro a month, unfortunatley. My goal is to cut this budget down to 450 Euro. In our budget is evereything from food, bodycare, pet food, little medicine and laundry detergent and cleaning products. I also by from this budget things for our "emergency box" like long lasting food, non cook food, candles, batteries, coal for our stove and other things for a power failure. Thank you for your easy recipes. I have never made tortilla for my self, but I will try it! Please, stay safe❤.
Sabrina you are always so encouraging!! You are buying more than weekly food with that money which is great! You stay safe as well please! Enjoy your day!
Hi Emmy and Paul. There is 3 adults in our home. I’m a caregiver of two adults with disabilities. We pretty much eat at home. They attend a day program so I have to pack lunches and snacks for them. I have a budget of $600 Canadian for groceries. This month went over by $19 but I did have an extra person for 8 days this month. I have separate categories for household and personal items. Your cake looked delicious and easy to make. Stay safe
Came across your link today- great video, thanks... I'll be binge watching for a while... My parents were newlyweds during WW2, my Mum always cooked from scratch. She was an amazing cook! (I've inherited her home economics cookbook!) She was incredibly frugal, and I've learned a lot from her. I'm by myself with a cat, and spend around NZ $200 p/month, (that's US $137.25) I sometimes go a little over when I get a special, or need to stock up... That's for everything, cleaning products I make myself... You have a new subscriber from Aotearoa...
My husbands family makes their tomato sauce with nothing but crushed tomatoes, garlic and tomato paste. Blend ingredients, add a little water simmer a few hours. Tastes great.
That cookbook is great! During WWII there were ration coupons and quantities were limited. I remember hearing about victory gardens being planted during WWII and how women would use their ration coupons for coffee and meat to feed their families. My father served in the Army during WWII and that time period has always interested me. I love that you have a cookbook from that era. My mother graduated from high school in 1949 and I think somewhere I still have her home economics book that she had in high school. I will have to try and find it and I'm sure it has a lot of very good traditional common sense homemaker ideas in it. Your pasta sauce looks delicious and so simple! I used to have the cutest little Italian couple that lived right behind me when I moved into my home. Ted and Jane were just so delightful and Jane made the best tomato sauce! She would often call me and let me know that she made spaghetti and meatballs and would say that she had a little portion for me for my lunch the next day. I would come and get it and it would be enough to feed me for dinner for two nights or I would sometime share it with another neighbor who also adored Ted and Jane. Sadly they are both gone but I keep in contact with her children and her adult grandchildren as well. Such a lovely family! One of her granddaughters-in-law has said she has been trying to make nannies as they called Jane sauce and still hasn't quite got it right. Ditto for the tortillas! That cake looks so yummy and great if you are out of eggs and need to make dessert! Stay warm! It has been frigid here all week but temperatures will be in the 50's starting Sunday and will go through the whole week! I am a one-person household and shop every two weeks and spend $85-$100 each trip. That does not usually include most cleaning items or dog food / treats (except for Gigi's 12 cans of green beans--limit per type) but will include an occasional personal care item. On top of the $85 to $100 that does include about $7 tip for the delivery driver as I need to have my groceries delivered. I live on disability and having had a stroke at 52 and having lost about 13 to 15 years of working time I'm really trying not to get into my retirement accounts yet. One little supplement of income that I have is by taking credit card reward dollars and loyalty rewards for shopping from fetch rewards and Rakutan and I use them to be able to make charitable contributions to organizations I support. I hate that I can't just contribute the way I did when I worked to organizations that I really believe in so this is just a little way that I can give them something every so often. Although it's not always a lot I usually get at least 10 dollars from rakuten per quarter and I'm letting my fetch reward points accumulate to cash out for charitable contributions to some national organizations and my credit card reward points I can usually redeem every couple months and that is at least $25 so it does add up and lets me help a little bit here and there. I could use the rewards on myself and I do admit sometimes I do but I always know that I am so much more fortunate than many people and if I can give a few dollars to the food bank or one of my dear dog rescues that I love I'm happy to do it. Blessings and peace to everyone!
Rosemary what a kind unselfish way to use your rewards! Thank you for doing that! We had a hail storm overnight and this morning. It was crazy!! Thanks so much for watching and sharing! Be blessed as well my friend!
Only edibles should be in the food budget. Paper goods and cleaning supplies should be in a different budget. The more you separate out items on your budget then the more aware you are of the money spent on them - such as that oft used example of the daily coffee drink bought away from home. The more aware you are of where money is going leads to greater control over your money. How about a video on homemade cleaning supplies?
I just made this cake and it was so amazingly delicious. Thank you so much for this recipe. I had all the ingredients and it hit the spot for a chocolate lover like me.
We have a monthly food budget of $300..and $75 for household items per month.We have nine children.I will not adjust my budget,I will just shop smarter...it's fun to be creative.I spend$20 a month to buy extra for stockpile..Today we gave a neighbor a turkey and sides along with household items.He couldn't afford food,we have enough to share.
Hi there from the UK. I spend £300 per month, not including dog food, but including cleaning supplies etc. I buy my meat from a village butcher/farmer and I cook from scratch and bulk cook. I buy from Lidl and then Sainsbury's. We don't buy alcohol or takeout food. My husband and I and 24 year old son live together . My daughter and 6 year old grand daughter have about 2 meals with us and my sister comes most weekends. I make tortillas with olive oil and no baking powder. I will be trying the cake, it looks amazing. X
Thank you for the great video! I can’t wait to try the cake. 😋 My grocery budget is about $40-50 a week. That for everything. Food and non food items. And it’s just me and my 70lb pittie now. My husband just went to heaven in January.
I was curious about how much $15 is worth nowadays compared to 1940s and Google told me that $15 in 1940s has the same purchasing power as $321.03 in today's money 😅 interesting fun fact
A sing dip ice cream cond in the 40's cost 5 cents and so did a bus ride. It cost 10cents to call across the state line from Camden nj to Phila Pa. That was a phone booth call. Minimum wage was under $1.00. It was $1 per hour in 1960.
Thank you so much! I started making my own tortillas about a year ago. I find they taste amazingly better, fresher and as you said don’t crack. I’ve started to buy fruits, vegetables, /perishable items at Winco and shop at Von’s for the sale items only.I eat less meat, make casserole type dishes. It’s not that we are pinched for money, it’s that I feel I can do better making items myself at home: fresher, better for me, with less additives. In a similar way I started to make most of my clothing, because I always shortened pants and skirts and had to put darts into the tops so I might as well just sew it all. I’m retired, but it is ingrained in me to live lightly on this earth.Keep up the good work.
My Grandmother made this chocolate cake. She was horned in 1909. She called it World War 2 cake! But made it long before the war. After the war was over would make a chocolate syrup to pour over when cake was warm. Delicious!!
As far as budgets, I try to keep it under 120 a week, this includes paper and cleaning products. I do not use paper plates, and I cannot get the family on board with cloth napkins or handkerchiefs. Last week I bought 2 containers of Aldi brand laundry soap for 5.49 and tonight it was marked at 7.99 a container. I will have to up my couponing to try to get better bargains for laundry detergent. That is an almost 50 % increase in one week, and store brand. Crazy. I live very frugally and work the extra hours to pay extra on our mortgage. I am now going to go inventory my fresh produce and meal plan around it. Thanks for the recipes, I am sure I will try all 3 in the near future. Let's see what creative ideas I can come up with. Blessing to you, Paul, and Dixie.
Hello from Scotland :) Thanks for the fab recipes and the show-how video too. Shall be giving the tortillas and chocolate cake a wee go. They look delicious. Thank you
We budget $500 per month for groceries and $100 for cleaning supplies and other non- food items. We are a family of four, but I also run a home daycare so I'm feeding 5 additional kids per weekday for breakfast, lunch, and snack. We are vegetarian so that helps with the grocery budget, but the kids LOVE fresh fruit. I've started shopping multiple stores and mostly only buying fruit that's $1 per pound or less. Sometimes I'll serve frozen fruit instead. The government does reimburse me a little for the food I serve the kids but the reimbursement rate hasn't increased despite the food prices rising.
Hello Emmy and Paul! What a wonderful excerpt you read at the start. “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” I really enjoy your emphasis on preventing food waste. That is such an important issue for me as well. I budget $200 for food, household and toiletries each month for myself, but RARELY spend that much. Enjoy your weekend. Praying for Ukraine 🇺🇦
Had some apples in frig that have refused to be anything but rock hard. I showed them! They are now some very yummy apple butter. I have a book written in early 70's by Joann York on how she fed her family on $16 a week. Fun book that I still read once in a while with very basic recipes. There was no waste at their house. Like your nails.
You are the most pleasant RU-vid hosts I’ve found in awhile. I’m enjoying watching your videos with my morning coffee. Thank you for the inspiration and advice as I’m always looking to save money. I’m a busy mother of three teenagers so saving money on food is always welcomed.
She really is the easiest to watch and comprehend (some talk way to fast for me and I have to watch twice) but I digress. Emmy you're awesome! Paul too... and DIXIEBELLE!
We can learn so much from people who survived the depression and World War II . I have a Good Housekeeping cookbook from 1944 that gives substitutions for ingredients that are scarce because of rationing and ways to stretch foods and everything I’ve tried from this book has been delicious.
I still make my mother's spaghetti sauce. She got it from an Italian lady sometime in the late 1940's. It takes a small can of tomato paste, garlic powder, onion salt, and two bay leaves, plus water to thin the sauce the sauce. I sometimes add two small cans of tomato sauce. I add cooked hamburger and onions. If I only use a half a pound of hamburger then I add a small can of mushrooms. This is good whether simmered for hours or eaten right away. When served over cooked pasta this sauce serves we two for two and one half meals.
Loved this video. We budget $400 for the month. This includes food and other things needed for the house. Also going out to eat. It is just my husband and I.
Great tips. Making it from scratch is cheaper and healthier as you said. I know my mom who would have been over 100 used to make the depression cake. 🍮☕
I have tried to save money by planting the garden but found I gave more away then I could use or freeze. So I had to become a little more creative creative I now have two celery plants I have regrown have not had to buy celery all winter I make nearly everything at home and don't eat out it's just me and two birds we spend probably $50 a week on all our food and supplies combined
Hi from England xx 😘 my food budget for 3 adults ( + a roast dinner at the weekend with family or visitors) is about £100 my car has about £30-£40 petrol a week and I have a purse budget of around £30 a week for incidentals . . Im very frugal x lovely channel xx
I always make my own sauce….it is so easy I even make it in the summer with fresh tomatoes …yum 😊❤️ i can’t wait to try to make that cake and tortillas….
I budget $104 for food each week, we hardly go out to eat and eat primarily at home. There are two people in our family, my seven year old and I and we eat well. Thank you for showing these recipes, we will have to try the tortillas soon!
Great ideas, I can't eat gluten , but gluten free foods are so expensive here in the UK. I've made a few flatbresds & brownies & going to try more things soon. Will have a go at your tortillas & the depression cake. Last year our groceries cost an average of £220 a week , I've made big changes and our budget for this year is £150 UK pounds a week for a family of 4. 2 adults & 2 very hungry teenagers. I could go lower but I try to buy organic where I can m. This covers all food, cleaning products & basic toiletries like soap, shampoo, toothpaste too.
I budget £50 a week for which is about $67. That includes all household items I also entertain a lot and my budget includes that too also holidays,. . I always come below budge last year I averaged £40 a week equivalent $53 .This is for two people. I could easily bring this down but we eat very well I feel.. I will continue on this budget even though things are increasing and like you will be bargain hunting . I always cook everything from scratch as it’s cheaper but enjoy the taste, I don’t like convenience foods.
I had forgotten about that cake. With the price of eggs these days I am going to give that a try. I live alone and budget $60 per seek for all grocerues (food, cleaning, paper goods and pet supples), plus gas for thecar and any personal spending. The average for groceries is $25, but that can fluctuate, depending on needs in the other categories and available sales. Getting a bit challenging to keep it there and I have had to make do with less, but so far so good.
I hope you continue to make these budget replacement foods. Thanks so much for helping. We are family of two and we spend approximately $100 a week. We live in Washington state and the food prices are really high right now. I do work full time so I don't have a lot of extra time but I just made bread for the first time and although it didn't rise as much as the store brought bread it felt good to make something homemade and out of the norm for me. I also made homemade jam using frozen strawberries. What I've been trying to do is, instead of buying figuring out how to make it myself but again I don't have a lot of time so it's a work in progress. Also I'm starting to lower our food cost by shopping at home. We can't eat a lot of carbohydrates foods, so it does make it a bit more challenging for us.
This cake is also known as wacky cake people say because it has wacky ingredients I remember my mom making us wear at least 50 years now it was a family favorite and we had a family of seven My children grew up on it and it is one of my son’s favorite cake can you requested for his birthday every year I have five grandchildren and I have always made it for them and they love chocolate 🍫
Victoria Pasta Sauce here, Emmy? over $8/jar! I wanted to try some...saw the price...and ran away SCREAMING! :) So we make "Schmidt Pasta Sauce" here! :) Love the channel, love what you do...and we love you here in Minnesota! You are a blessing to us! You have a blessed week out there and I can't wait for the next video! :) Dawn @ Rich & Dawn in MN :)
Hi guys. Food costs...gas prices...increasing daily. These recipes will help a lot. I always make my own sauce. I really want to try making the tortillas and chocolate. So ez and delicious. Thanks for sharing. Stay well.
I have the same cookbook I inherited from my grandmother! Another cost effective way to make about 4 quarts of pasta sauce for around $5 is to start with a number 10 can of crushed tomatoes
There are 2 people in our house (1 adult 1 child) and our dinner table can very from 2 to 6. I budget $200 a month for groceries and eating out. I use our misc funds if something happens like this weekend when we visited my oldest son at college and ate lunch out.
Great episode today!!! I loved the homemade marinara sauce. I was fortunate enough to be born and raised in a first generation Italian family that taught us children to cook these delights from scratch at an early age. I cannot wait to try the tortillas. Thank you for being you and bringing such joy to my day.
Try to use lemon juice as a substitute for some of the salt in your meals. (I often use half lemon, half salt) Might sound strange, but it actually works quite well for me. Maybe not on all kinds of meals and I guess you'll have to try it out in order to find the right amount for you, but for me it works especially well with potatoes, other veggies like spinach, fish and in pasta too
I love the Victoria - I get it for less than 5 dollars a jar at Walmart. Its usually $8 here in Maryland, so I get it at less than half the usual price, but I know its still not frugal.
A warm hello from the Finger Lakes Region of lovely, albiet high-tax, New York State (we are also retired). Thanks for an excellent video, Emmy. I'm a newer subscriber and so pleased to have found you and Paul! I think many of us will be trying these recipes! I had always handwritten our family budgets/expenses. I'm a paper and pen kind of person. My husband now tracks everything on an Excel spreadsheet. We seem to have more budget categories than most...? Food / groceries is separated from household products and personal care products are separate from that. We have line items for dog food/ treats and veterinarian bills. Another for seeds/gardening supplies. Utilities are broken down separately also: gas, electric, water, sewer etc. of course gifts and clothing purchases are also separated. We also have a line item for the property and school taxes! 😣Ha It's great to have a very specific and itemized handle on things. Works for us.
I also add sugar to sauce when I make my own. I did not know the dark red indicates it is done. Thank you for that. What differentiates you from other frugal websites is the wholesomeness and quality of the food you make. I am not interested in salty ramen noodles and high carb, low nutrition meals. I also appreciate the tips on using up what you have in creative ways, and the substitutions. I stopped buying salad dressing a few years ago. I find my own is tastier and I can control what it is in it.
I've been making that chocolate cake for 20 years. We love it! We budget 600 a month that includes groceries, household supplies, dog food, clothing, eating out/entertainment and gift-giving. There are three in my family me my husband and our 19 year old son
We are a family of three adults. We live in Ontario, Canada. We try to stay as close as possible to 400.00 a month. It seems with the rising cost of groceries we do go over sometimes. Last month we spent 415.00. That includes all cost of groceries, household cleaners, toiletries and laundry soap. I can't wait to try your chocolate cake recipe. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
Love making from scratch, and since prices have been rising so much, I’ve started to go back to doing more and more of it. Also would like to start making homemade mixes for things such as baking mix, seasonings, freezer items I can make in larger batches and freeze, also thinking about utilizing the kitchen electricity in a way that is easy on my budget each month, such as having an oven session, where I bake more than one thing at a time, or in succession, as they did in the old bake ovens so you are not firing the electricity up constantly every day…….as I do notice when I am home more, my electricity bill is higher ! We both still work outside the home, a couple more years to retirement, but then my goal is to focus more on do it yourself lifestyle. I do buy a few convenience foods, but by and large, do most food prep on weekend to be efficient and save money on groceries! Thank you for your encouraging and positive channel! We are all in this together!
