How to Save Money During the Summer

Classic cheap sandwich ideas

Some of the cheap foods we’d make–and I still make them–were egg salad sandwiches, tuna sandwiches, and bologna sandwiches–especially fried bologna sandwiches–one of my favorites.

I can’t forget peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cheese and mayonnaise sandwiches, and grilled cheese sandwiches. All of those are cheap by buying just a few ingredients and making them go a long way.

Classic cheap dinner ideas

I’d make a ton of casseroles. Some of the recipes I made were tater-tot casseroles, tuna noodle casseroles, chicken noodle casseroles, and goulash. All those things you can throw together fast and bulk up with pasta to feed a large group.

Now, my husband and I make cheap salads. We make salads with whatever we have around, from almonds, dried fruit, fresh fruit, meat, and cheeses. These are great ways to cut back your food costs in the summer.

Growing your own food

It’s never too late to grow your own food. I have a whole bunch of container gardens going on outdoors. I have two old bathtubs I’m using as raised garden beds. I use a lot of containers to experiment.

Growing things indoors brightens your home and brings life into your space. I now save my seeds from cucumbers, zucchini, and even potatoes.

My dad would always have me cut up potatoes so that every piece had one eye. Then we’d dry them for two or three days, then plant them. When the plants start to flower and die back, they’re ready to be harvested.

I have tomato plants, green pepper plants, lettuce, and celery–all of these plants came from supermarket scraps and seeds. I’ve even pulled garlic apart, planted it, and grown more.

Grow and harvest carrot tops

I started taking carrots, cutting the base off, and putting them in a glass of water. I’ll grow carrot tops, not full carrots. I’ll harvest the carrot tops and eat them, or dry them, and grind them up and put them in a Mason jar to use as spices in soups and in other dishes.

When you’re growing carrots outdoors you can also cut the tops off, let the greens dry for a few days, then grind it up.

Just remember you need to know if it’s safe to eat the tops of plants. Some are very poisonous, like the greens from white potatoes. Carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli leaves, collard greens, and lettuce–all of those things are fine to eat the greens.

Store seeds

I store saved seeds in plastic bags. I collected them, dried, stored them over the winter, and marked the bags with a marker. There’s better nutritious value when we can harvest it straight from our gardens.

So many of those things in the store are hybrids or artificially ripened and have lost a lot of their nutritional value along the way. This way of living is so rewarding, comforting, and reassuring because you know that you can do things to help supplement your budget in addition to spending your time working for money.

Peace, tranquility, and serenity can be found when growing our own foods.

How to save money during the summer

If you are striving to lead a more natural, self-sufficient life and spend less money, there’s no better time than the summer to learn to save.

I hope this video has helped you to become more excited about trying some different things this summer so that you can save money. Let me know in the comments if you’re going to try a thing or two this summer to save money.