When I first started Family Friendly Frugality, I knew I wanted to approach frugal living from a very relaxed and welcoming mindset. I wanted to create a blog about frugal living that didn’t leave people feeling overwhelmed or less than when they walked away.
The main complaint I hear about saving money nowadays is that it is too darn overwhelming to know where to begin. If you have $20,000 in credit card debt, is clipping a few coupons realistically going to make much of an impact to your bottom line? If you are drowning in student loans and house payments, is living within your means even possible?
The answer to all of the above is yes. While the small things you do might not add up to financial freedom, they do make a big difference. Some of them will chip away at your debt or create more wiggle room in a tight budget. Some of them will simply give you more confidence and a self esteem boost, proving to yourself that you can save money!
So I am starting a Make a Change Monday series where I will simply give you one task to work on for the week. You might already be doing it…so you get to skip that week! If not though, try it out and see if it makes a difference! I’ll keep them small manageable changes that don’t require a lot of effort or learning the drugstore game 
.
This week’s Make A Change Task:
Make a meatless dinner this week
One of the priciest areas of our grocery budget is the amount of money we spend on meat! Protein is essential to maintain muscle mass and keep all other sorts of body functions chugging along properly.
Protein doesn’t have to come from meat though. Protein can also be found in eggs, beans, nuts, some pastas etc. This week, plan a meatless night. Have breakfast for dinner and cook some pancakes and eggs. Make some bean soup or some meatless chili. There are so many fantastic options, that working a meatless meal into your menu each week shouldn’t be too difficult at all!
Previous Make A Change Monday Tasks:
I made the move to meatless Monday in February for heart health awareness month. I saw a huge change in the amount of money I spend on Mondays’ meals vs the rest of the week.
This week I am making breakfast for dinner. It will be meatless!! Meat is a huge part of our budget we make it at almost every meal. So to cut it out one night maybe it wont be a huge difference but if I cut meat out of 4 meals a month that could be $8-$12 dollars of savings in a month. It adds up!! I am using eggs for the protein in the meal. Eggs are so cheap for us here so its definitely worth it!!
I use Robin Millers “Morph Meals” ideas for my weekly planning. Basically you make a recipe with meat at the beginning of the week, and then you morph it into 3 different dinner meals. It has saved me time and money!