You either need to use up a bunch of ingredients you have lying around in your pantry, OR you need to cut your grocery bill in half like yesterday and are hoping to find cheap, shelf-stable meals here.

Hint: you’re in the right place, no matter which describes your current situation!

All these shelf-stable meals are tried and tested by my husband and me.

And while they might not be our first choice over meals with tons of fresh ingredients…they certainly were satisfying and made the cut for this article.

Shelf Stable Meals

These canned chicken recipes are cheap, easy to make, and made mostly from ingredients you can keep on hand for weeks (or months).

1. One-Pot Cheesy Protein Shells

There are boxes of macaroni and cheese dinners that only need water added to them, and will last for a year or more on the shelf (I would consider that shelf-stable).

You can make this your one-pot, main dish for a shelf-stable meal by adding in two shelf-stable protein sources: canned chicken and canned peas.

Ingredients:

• 1 Box of Cheese Shells
• ½ cup canned peas
• 1-2 cans of chicken

Instructions:

1. Make the cheesy shells according to the boxed instructions.
2. Add in the ½ cup of peas.
3. Open the 1-2 cans of chicken, and add those in.
4. Heat through until everything is nice and hot.

2. Poor Cowboy Supper

This is such a tasty dish that’s very easy and quick to put together, and uses all shelf-stable ingredients.

Hint: if you happen to have cheese to melt on top of the chicken BBQ, that really makes it tasty!

Ingredients:

• Instant mashed potatoes
• 1-2 cans of chicken (1-2 cans per person)
• 1-2 tbsps. BBQ sauce
• Can of peas (1/2 a can per person)
• 1 tsp. Garlic Powder

Instructions:

1. Make the instant mashed potatoes according to directions.
2. Mix 1-2 tbsps. of BBQ sauce to taste with the canned chicken.
3. Mix 1 tsp. of garlic powder with the peas.
4. Microwave or otherwise cook the chicken for 45 secs.
5. Microwave or otherwise cook the peas for 45 secs.
6. Assemble by putting a big spoonful of instant mashed potatoes on a plate, then the BBQ chicken on top of it. Serve with the garlic peas.

Tip: One way to get extra protein into your shelf-stable meals is by using peas in the recipe. Remember, peas have protein!

3. Shelf-Stable Thanksgiving Casserole

Have you ever heard of Dollar Tree Dinners? You’ve got to follow her!

Each year, she figures out a Thanksgiving dinner from only Dollar Tree ingredients.

And normally, for $20 or less.

I tried out her Thanksgiving Casserole, and it was perfect to include in this post because it’s from all shelf-stable ingredients (it does call for butter in the stuffing, but you could use canned or boxed chicken stock instead).

Ingredients:

• Boxed Stuffing
• Package of Instant Mashed Potatoes
• Can of string beans
• Package of dried craisins (or other dried fruit you have)
• 3-4 cans of chicken or cans of turkey

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Rehydrated the cranberries a bit by soaking in water for 30 minutes or so. Drain them.
3. Make the instant mashed potatoes according to package directions. Set aside.
4. Make the stuffing according to package directions.
5. Mix the cranberries in with the stuffing.
6. Spray a baking dish, and layer your casserole evenly: mashed potatoes on the bottom, green beans next, canned chicken, and then the stuffing-cranberry mix.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or so, until the top is crispy.

4. Chicken BBQ Biscuit Sandwiches with Creamed Spinach

In the mood for that BBQ flavor…on a pantry meal budget?

See if these do the trick.

Ingredients:

• ½ tbsp. vegetable oil
• ½ tbsp. flour
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk (or shelf-stable milk)
• 1 can of spinach (approximately 13.5 oz)
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cans of chicken
• 2 tbsps. BBQ sauce

Instructions:

1. Mix the oil, flour, and milk in a saucepan, and heat over medium heat. Whisk away any lumps, and let it thicken.
2. Stir in the flour, and cook for 1–2 minutes until the raw flour smell is gone.
3. Open canned spinach and drain out all of the excess moisture.
4. Add the spinach, garlic powder, and parmesan cheese (if using), and cook through until hot.
5. Drain the chicken, and add the BBQ sauce to it. Microwave, or otherwise heat it through.
6. Prepare the biscuits and cook according to package directions.
7. Assemble by cutting biscuits in half (as best you can – they can be crumbly! You can also just use two biscuits), filling with the BBQ chicken, and serving with the creamed spinach.

5. Ramen Noodles with Chicken & Peas

This is a stupid-simple way to cook a shelf-stable meal with pantry ingredients (and increase the protein that you’d normally get in just regular ol’ ramen noodles).

Ingredients:

• 1 Package of ramen noodles
• ½ can of peas
• Can of chicken (1 per person)

Instructions:

• Cook the ramen noodles according to the package directions.
• Open and drain the chicken.
• Open and drain the peas.
• Add the chicken and peas to the ramen noodles on the stovetop, and heat through.

6. Pantry Southwest Hash Bake

We just love Mexican and Tex-Mex food.

And in a pinch?

This pantry recipe can do the trick for us.

Ingredients:

• Box of Hash Brown mix
• Can, pouch, or bag of black beans
• 1 can of Hatch or mild chilis
• Any taco or Mexican seasoning you’ve got
• 2-3 cans of chicken
• 1 can of any type of diced tomatoes with Southwest flavoring
• Garlic Powder (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375° F.
2. Make the hash browns according to the boxed instructions. Season with 1 tbsp. of garlic powder (optional).
3. If you’re cooking beans from scratch, then soak them overnight and have them ready.
4. Spray an 8” X 8” casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.
5. Make your layers – put the black beans in the bottom, and smash them up. Then open up your cans of chicken, drain them, and put that next. Add in the diced chilis and diced tomatoes. Layer on the taco or Mexican seasoning. Top the casserole with the cooked hash browns (of course, cheese would be a lovely, final layer – but only if you’ve got it).
6. Cook in the oven, uncovered, until everything is heated through and the hash browns are brown and crispy.

7. The “Fancy for Canned Chicken” Shells

You ready to get a little fancy, fancy here?

I’m giggling as I type that.

Seriously, though, you’ll be surprised how much a can of Hatch chilis (or any mild chilis) adds to a box of shelf-stable cheesy shells and canned chicken.

I know my husband and I were when we tested this out!

Ingredients:

• Box of Cheese Shells
• 1-2 cans of chicken
• 1 can of mild Hatch chilis or regular green chilis

Instructions:

1. Make the cheesy shells according to the boxed instructions.
2. Open and drain the chicken. Add it in.
3. Open and drain the chilis, and add those in.  
4. Heat through until everything is nice and hot.

Hopefully, I’ve shown you that you’re just a few cans away from some pretty filling, cheap, and surprisingly satisfying shelf-stable meals. Here’s an idea: rotate 1-2 of these meals into your “normal” meals each week, and watch your grocery bill come down.

I’ve figured out something about habits as I’ve gotten older and my responsibilities have grown: if the supplies I need to do the thing aren’t easy to grab, the habit usually doesn’t happen.

And this could not be truer when it comes to studying the Bible.

It’s why I created my own Bible Study Station using supplies from Dollar Tree.

Honestly, it’s the difference between semi-daily Bible reading and opening the Good Book once every month.

Removing friction matters more than motivation sometimes.

It sits on the floor next to my side of the bed. BUT – and here’s the key part – it’s easy to grab and move to a different room, to the car when I know I’ll be waiting somewhere, or to the next 2-hour kid sports event I’ll be sitting through.

The Bible Study Station

What is a Bible Study Station?

A place to gather those free bible study printables you always find excitedly, download, print out…then fail to go through.

To keep those specially colored highlighters so that you can do the Bible color-coding method.

Where you keep a small candle and lighter to add to your meditation and reflection, the next time you sit to read from the Word.

Something about lighting a candle, grabbing your highlighters, and opening your Bible from the same little station each time makes the habit feel inviting instead of like another thing on your to-do list.

Let me be clear: you don’t need any of these things to read your Bible or to spend time with God.

It’s just a nice-to-have, and something that can be quite convenient (as it’s easily portable!) for people in a busy season of life who are on the go a good bit.

And you know what else? It makes a wonderful gift for fellow believers in your life: your mother, your friends, a neighbor going through a hard time, etc.

This would even make a great bible study group activity – have everyone gather their supplies plus some craft pieces from home (like stickers), and you guys can build your bible study station together one Wednesday evening!

Dollar Tree Bible Study Station Supplies

Your Bible Study Station should be completely personalized to you (or the person you’re gifting it to).

For example, I took a free class at my church last summer, where I learned a highlighting bible study method. And let me tell you – it really opened things up for me.

SO, I designed my Bible Study Station to make this method easier to use in real life – especially during random 30-minute pockets of time between appointments, errands, and kid activities.

And I included the free printables in the back.

For a highlighter bible study method, I suggest the following Dollar Tree supplies:

• Shower caddy to hold everything
• Candle & mini lighter to help create a sacred space
• Prayer cards (Dollar Tree does a fantastic job with these – I like to leave one at restaurants for waiters to pick up once we’ve left)
• Pen
• Highlighter colors to use with the bible study guide
• Colorful sticky notes
• A notebook for note-taking
• This free color-coded printable for the highlighter bible study method (needs to be color printed, plus you can laminate it from supplies at the Dollar Tree)
• Laminated sheet
• Folder with three holes to organize the free printable bible study plans and bible study breakdowns
• A small bible (optional – these are sold at Dollar Tree, and it could be a good idea in case you’re hesitant to highlight your main copy)

Hint: Dollar Tree has this fantastic line of beautiful Prayer Cards. Grab several packs! I like to keep a few in my purse so that I can leave one at our restaurant table for a waiter or cleaner to pick up and keep once we’ve left. They’d also make a wonderful inclusion in a meal train from church volunteers.

Want to get into Bible journaling or Bible Art Journaling?

I would also include some stickers (maybe some fun rhinestone stickers!), stencils, and you might even find some stamps from the Dollar Tree.

FYI: the small bible you’ll find at the Dollar Tree does NOT have room in the margins to draw or make notes in.

Gifting this to a new mama? Include a single-serve snack (Dollar Tree has lots of those!), like a Snickers, Gourmet Garlic Pretzels, Kettle Popcorn, etc.

These would also make lovely gifts for the elderly in nursing homes! You could include a package of vintage candy they likely will remember (Hobby Lobby and Michael's Craft stores – both by the register – have a great collection of these). OR, if they can't have candy, you could include something helpful like this really cool cold wrap for muscles and joints I found at Dollar Tree.

Finally, you could make this a kid's bible study station (FYI: the Dollar Tree has a fantastic selection of kid's Bible study books and activity books).

Of course, there are some additional supplies you can get that you won’t find at the Dollar Tree.

Here are some of those:

• This is the Women's Study Bible I personally use.
• I just love these magnetic last-word bookmarks so that I can know exactly where I finished reading to pick up from during my next bible session
• The Last-Word Bookmark (since there are SO many words on each page, and I used to constantly forget which paragraph/sentence I had ended up on when I pick things back up)
• Inspirational & removable vinyl stickers to decorate your caddy with
• Indescribable: 100 Devotions About God And Science (for kids)

Add any decorations to the outside of your shower caddy. Then take all of these supplies you chose, and assemble your personal Bible Study Station.

Then – and this is the most important part – start using your new station to continue or jump-start your bible study!

Sometimes, growing a habit with God isn’t about finding more time.

It’s about making the next step easier.

And having everything you need tucked into one little Dollar Tree caddy? That might be enough to help you open your Bible more often than you do now.

That’s a big win in my book!

This is a blog about living frugally and saving money…so why am I talking about how to make extra money today?

Because after being in the personal finance money business for two decades – and managing my own money for a lot longer than that – I’ve figured out that sometimes, you just need more of it.

Not a whole-new-job kind of more.

More like…a little extra on the side.

To do things like pay that extra bill, get your child to that summer camp you’ve been eyeing up, and buy you a little breathing room at the end of the month.

That’s where this money-making article comes in.

Make Money Offers (No Influencer Status Required)

I started making extra money on the side of my full-time blogging all the way back with my Honeymoon Savings Experiment – where I set out to earn an extra $2,500 outside of our normal paycheck money to help pay for our 11-day trip to Austria.

Just 8 months later, we came in at $2,334.78 using some of these same offers I’m about to introduce you to below.

Since then, I’ve earned an extra few hundred each month by doing things like:

• Playing games (seriously – $188.75 earned through Freecash.com playing a stupid amount of Animals & Coins and Royal Match for two months)
• Making videos on Amazon about products I’ve used for years ($29.99 so far, and I started on December 9^th of last year)
• Scanning my grocery receipts (the same receipt into three different apps: Fetch, Ibotta, and ReceiptPal)
• Getting paid for our unused internet bandwidth through Honeygain

And the great news for you?

You don’t need to be an influencer or a blogger (like me) to make money with any of these offers or the rest that I’m about to share with you!

1. Install Honeygain (Runs in the Background)

This is my new favorite way to earn money on the side (without the hustle).

Most households have extra internet bandwidth that they’re not using (but are paying for).

This company offers one of the coolest ways to earn extra cash automatically – just download the app, and keep it running whenever your computer is on.

It gathers your unused internet bandwidth (the part you’re not actively using) and shares it with Honeygain’s network.

I’ve been running it for months, and have noticed no change to our internet quality.

Earnings are not huge – I’m at $5.83 – but it’s totally recouped money I’m paying out anyway for our internet.

It’s a completely set-it-and-forget-it method of earning extra money.

You can ask for a payout once you reach $20.

2. Install the Capital One Shopping Extension (Runs in the Background)

I have a confession to make: I stopped using shopping extensions like 6-8 years ago.

It’s just something I always forgot to do…so I stopped doing it altogether.

Sure, the occasional Rakuten rebate offer around Black Friday would catch my attention, but it wasn’t until Capital One’s Shopping extension came across my radar that I realized how many hundreds and thousands of dollars I’ve left unearned over all these years. 

You install the extension, and then you just let it do its work.

It automatically populates deals as you do your normal online shopping.

AND, here’s my big tip: periodically check out their homepage. I’ve seen (and taken advantage of) almost unheard of cashback offers this way, like:

• $25 off a $50 order from Walmart.com
• $250 in free concert tickets of my choice from specific sites (like Vivid Seats)
• $25 just for installing their extension on my smartphone!

In my mind, Capital One Shopping is a very generous program you should definitely get in on.

Hint: One thing you should know – you earn rewards to buy gift cards, not to redeem for cash. The gift card choices are robust, and you’ll definitely find them for stores you use.

3. Use Swagbucks

I stopped leaving money on the table when it comes to internet searches like a decade ago.

When you use Swagbucks as your main search engine, you earn SB points. You can then redeem them for cold, hard cash on PayPal.

And when I was using it as my sole search engine? I earned over $200 in PayPal gift cards (10,030 SB points = $100 PayPal gift card, but you can cash out as low as $5 or 530 SB ).

4. Use Freecash

I have this embarrassing confession to make: last December, I got totally wrapped up in playing games on my phone.

It started out innocently enough – after all, part of my job is to experiment with ways to earn and save money and then to write about it.

But I got into SUCH a habit with it.

In fact, I earned $188.75 by doing this (FYI: I also spent about $70 on in-app purchases to help earn more).

It looked a bit like this:

• Day 1: $6.28
• After 7 days: $15+ (no in-app purchases)
• After 1 month: $92.99

I can honestly say that you can earn money with this app, because I experienced it.

You choose the games you want to play, download them, and then earn money as you hit specific goals, like when you:

• Reach level 10
• Play for a certain amount of time
• Complete in-game challenges

I mean, it’s pretty fun, too. As long as you don’t get sucked into it like I did (happy to report I’ve put the phone down after going phoneless over a lovely weekend silent retreat early this year).

5. Board a Dog in Your Home

You can use the Rover App to schedule dog sitting and dog boarding opportunities that you’ll be paid for (and they say if you dog board in your home, you’ll get paid the most!).

Pssst: I haven’t personally tried this one yet, so let me know if you do and how it goes!

6. Make Videos on Amazon

I’ve been an Amazon affiliate on my blog for over a decade now.

But there’s another way you can earn affiliate commissions through Amazon without needing your own blog: through their Amazon Influencer Program.

Here’s my Amazon storefront with each of my videos.

While it’s good to have your own traffic that can see your recommendations and make purchases, you don’t need to have it.

That’s because you make very quick videos (think: 60 seconds or less), and they get posted either at the top or the bottom of the product listing.

If someone watches your video before buying the product, and then buys the product, you earn a small commission.

So far, I’ve made 57 videos of products I’ve personally purchased on Amazon over the years. And in the last three months, I’ve earned an extra $36.44.

It’s not life-changing money. BUT, once the videos are made, they’ll continue earning money for you for months and even years down the road.

7. Do Other People’s Laundry

I can’t tell you the number of women I see on Instagram who take in other people’s dirty clothes, wash them while they’re home, and earn a decent side income from it.

What a great idea!

For example, Natalie (Mom Making Ends Meet) uses both a laundry app and other ways to find private clients. She drives to pick up the clothes and drops them back off.

One week, she took in 4 orders and made $498. When she subtracts out her utility costs, supply costs, and gas costs, her total profit is: $473.52. Her hourly rate came out to $47.35/hour (it took her 10 hours to do this).

She drives to pick up the clothes and drops them back off, too.

If you want to get started, you can look into any of these laundry apps: Poplin, hampr, and Clotheslyner.

8. Complete Observa Opps

I signed up for this app, claimed an “Opp”, and did it all in the same day – earning me $12 (my submission was even validated within an hour, and I was paid the next day!).

Here’s how it works: the company partners with brands that want their in-store displays checked and maintained. You might talk with a store manager, snap a few photos, answer questions, and sometimes do light merchandising.

For my first Opp, I was a little surprised – it was more hands-on than I expected. I helped tidy up a clothing display (refolding shirts, organizing sizes from Small to XXL), asked about restocking, and made sure nearby items were filled in.

It was quite interesting!

From start to finish (including travel), it took me about an hour. Since it was my first time, I expect future tasks to go even faster.

I can totally see picking up some extra cash with this app during my Monday errand-running, which I do naturally.

FYI: They pay by PayPal, upon approval of your submissions. Also, you have to complete the Opp within 2 hours of accepting it on the app.

I’ll definitely be using this app again to earn some extra cash.

9. Find Paid Consumer Studies

I found this awesome Reddit group that’s continually updated with nationwide studies for paid focus groups.

I recently went in and found a $25 (for 25 minutes) study, and I'm in the screening process for a $175 digital ads study.

In fact, I just earned $50 for completing a survey I found through there!

Sometimes, it’s not about being more frugal. Instead, it’s about bringing in extra income through side hustle ideas at home that will make all the difference to your household budget. Just start with one of these ideas, test it out, and once you get into a rhythm with it, layer it with another. A few months from now, you could easily be bringing in an extra few hundred dollars each month, and feeling a whole lot more breathing room because of it.

Have you figured out how powerful Savings Challenges are when trying to save money…or is this your first time stumbling across them?

Either way, you’re in the right place.

Because the right savings challenge can take you from the nagging thought cycle of “I really should be saving more…” to actually moving money into your savings account – consistently.

We’ll start off with my favorite category of Savings Challenges – ones where you can find the money within your current spending budget.

Savings Challenges that “Harvest” Your Money

There are ways to grow your savings by “harvesting” the money from your spending.

Like when you use a digital coupon for $1.00 off, you would then “harvest” that money to put into your savings.

Check out these Savings Challenges for some cool ideas.

1. The Cash Back Harvest Savings Challenge

Do you have your online shopping set up so that you earn cash back from sites like Rakuten, Capital One Shopping, etc.?

Well, you should!

Just look at my earnings right now:

Take a moment to get all of that set up, and then each time you earn cashback from your normal online shopping, cash out (sometimes you need to reach a minimum) and send that money straight to your Savings Space.

2. The Subscription Harvest Savings Challenge

Choose ONE subscription to nix. Look at the price that you pay each month.

That is the exact amount you are to set up as an automatic monthly withdrawal straight to your savings account now.

Simple, and effective.

3. The Bank It! Harvest Savings Challenge

I came up with this savings challenge several years ago, which is definitely a way to harvest money you were going to spend anyway and put it into your savings.

It was after I realized that the “savings” stores tell you that you have at the bottom of receipts? Aren’t real savings in the sense of the word.

I mean, when you go to CVS and see that you saved $15.36 at the bottom of the receipt…are you actually $15.36 richer? Nope. Not unless you “Bank It”.

In this Bank It! game, for every receipt you get where you have savings at the bottom of it – through manufacturer coupons, store coupons, store sales, etc. – you have to Bank It.

Meaning, that you actually put that amount from your checking account into your savings account.

So, in this example, I would put $0.63 into my savings jar or account (…I might just round that up to $1.00):

4. The Digital Coupon Harvest Savings Challenge

What stores do you shop at weekly?

Download their apps (if you haven’t already), and get NINJA about using their digital coupons.

Each digital coupon that you use is really a Savings Digital Coupon now.

Add up the total used, and that’s the amount you must physically move into your Savings Space (your savings jar, savings account, etc.).

Harvest that money!!

5. The Downsize Harvest Savings Challenge

At some point in my time with Starbucks, I started ordering a Grande Iced Soy Chai instead of a Tall Iced Soy Chai.

That’s a definite example of lifestyle inflation!

The difference in price between the two is $0.60.

Choose one item, order, or subscription level in your life to downsize, figure out the difference in price with what you’ll be paying now, and set that money aside in savings for each time you buy it.

Over a month, 6 months, and 1 year, that can really add up.

Dollar Savings Challenges for Low Incomes

Money tight? Then these 1-dollar savings challenges are perfect for you – you can afford to do them, AND, doing something (rather than nothing) will help future you loosen up the money reins a bit.

My favorite dollar Savings Challenge? Is the $1 Weather Prediction Savings Challenge. It’s fun.

And darn it, finances should be more fun!

Psst: Savings challenges work best when there's at least a little money to work with. If your budget feels like it's already scraped clean, the faster fix might be to bring some extra in first. I put together 9 ways to make money on your own schedule that have actually worked for me, no side hustle empire required.

1. $1 Weather Prediction Savings Challenge

Each day, you predict whether it’s going to be sunny or rainy. Your new rule is that each time the weather delivers your choice (rainy/sunny), you save $1 into your Savings Space.

Use this free money-saving printable to keep track of when the weather turns your way by coloring in the symbol you chose.

2. The $1 No Fast Food Savings Challenge

Grab a jar, and label it “No Fast Food Savings Jar”.

Each time you really want to get fast food, or you would normally get fast food, but cook or source food from home instead?

Put $1.00 inside.

Double winner – you spend way less for the meal than you would’ve had you sat in the drive-thru lane, AND, you build up your savings ever so slightly.

3. The Quarter Multiplier Savings Challenge

Quarters add up! Especially if you keep at it for months and years at a time (see the Coke Bottle Savings Challenge below for more on this).

Let’s make them even more valuable.

Decide that for XX days/months/year, every single quarter that comes into your life, you’re going to multiply by 4 ($0.25*4) and send $1.00 from your checking account into your savings account.

For example, I’m looking in my wallet right now as I write this, and there are 4 quarters. $1.00 * 4 = $4.00. So, I need to send $4.00 into my savings.

Hint: you can save the quarters themselves, too, and cash them in at the end of your Savings Challenge for a savings boost.

Ones you find in couch cushions and on the way to the Metro, count!

Find tons more dollar savings challenges here.

Fun Cash Savings Challenges to Try

Looking for some fun ways to challenge yourself and save more money? Check these out.

1. 52-Card Pickup Weekly Savings Challenge

Ready to use a deck of cards to boost your savings over the next 52 weeks?

I'm soooo excited to unveil my new twist on the 52-week savings challenge trend: the 52-Card Pickup Weekly Savings Challenge!

Grab your free printables below, and a deck of cards.

You’re in control of how much you save over the next 52 weeks by simply giving a monetary value to each type of card in the deck. As you save that amount of money, you cross it off of the handy-dandy checklist. After 52 weeks? You will have reached your savings goal!

2. 90-Day Diamond Savings Challenge

Here’s a free printable with 90 diamonds on it (just click the picture of it). Each day, for the next 90 days, stash either $1, $5, or $20 into your Savings Space.

At the end of the 90 days, you’ll have saved $1,000!

3. The Giant Coke Bottle Savings Challenge

My entire childhood, I remember this giant-sized, clear Coke bottle bank in my grandparents’ dining room.

They put ALL of their change into it (I wish I had a picture of it!).

Every few years, they cashed it in. I remember they typically brought in $800 of “found” money that way!

Hint: This works especially well if you mainly use cash budgeting, fyi. But I probably didn’t have to tell you that.

Get your giant-sized Coke bottle here, and get started. How many months or years will it take for YOU and your family to finish this savings challenge (and what will you use all that money for)?

Remember that when it comes to managing your money and saving more of it, keeping things interesting is half the battle! Whether mini Savings Challenges based around $1 are all you and your money can handle right now, or you’re just looking for some fun ways to change your savings habits, picking one of these challenges and DOING it is going to make a big difference for you. Take action, my friend.

Doing things. For absolutely no adulting benefit in sight (like to earn money, to get the house clean, etc.) – just for the pleasure of doing them.

It’s called a hobby…and I daresay (after briefly asking around in several women-focused Facebook groups) that we ladies don’t have enough of them.

I’m actually working on getting back in touch with my hobbies and that side of me, as well.

So, I got to wondering: what cheap hobbies are women doing at home (that you or I can get in on?

It turns out, the hobby landscape has changed quite a lot since last I looked (hint: in my early 20s, pre-marriage, pre-child).

Cheap Hobbies for Women to Try At Home

I reached out to lots of my friends, colleagues, and read tons of forums/watched lots of videos to find the answer to this:

What are the current coolest, most affordable hobbies a woman can try at home?

1. Start Home Fermentation “Pets”

Fermentation has been around for tens of thousands of years.

And while ladies from even a hundred years ago might think us funny for this – they likely fermented seasonal produce as a matter of course – it seems like fermenting foods at home is making a comeback.

Like my friend and her husband, who grew a SCOBY and called it their “pet”. Haha!

My aunt recently took a fermentation class and created a few things at home, including her own kimchi.

You basically just need glass jars with lids, produce, and salt to get started with something.

You can make things like kimchi, SCOBY, yogurt, sourdough starter, etc.

And, you get to do cool things with your new “pet” (like remembering to “burp” your fermented produce, or having to “feed” it)!

Here are some fermentation starter tips.

2. Take Part in Craftivism

Do you have something to say, a point you want to get across, a movement you want to raise awareness for, all in a gentle way?

Then you might want to take up this hobby.

What makes it cheap is that you don’t have to worry about buying the expensive materials (Dollar Tree yarn and crafts will work!). It’s all about the message and the process.

Craftivism is the act of gentle activism through crafts that start conversations and make people think twice.

Think guerrilla knitting, removable crocheted graffiti, and more.

Learn all about it in this great BBC Documentary.

3. Paint with Bob Ross

There’s a trending new hobby you can do at home – painting together with Bob Ross.

Of course, painting supplies can get quite pricey. But you don’t need to invest in them at first.  

Start out cheap on supplies, such as small canvases, paints, and paintbrushes from Dollar Tree (yep – all supplies in my photo are from Dollar Tree).

You can stream Bob Ross episodes (the guy with the rounded hair on PBS from our childhoods) free on YouTube.

Here’s his official channel.

Then book a hobby painting session with yourself (and Bob) once a week.

Could be life-changing. Could be just fun. Either way, it’s better than sitting on the couch and scrolling TikTok.

Hint: This also makes a fun date night. Here are lots of other fun at-home date night ideas.

4. Build Interesting Terrariums

You can use various-sized glass jars you already own to create mini ecosystems and worlds in your home.

You can even create one in a used glass spice jar!

Joel Teston says his terrarium-building hobby, “…started a few years ago when I saw a video of this guy who had a terrarium he hadn’t opened for quite a while, and I started doing research here and there. After that, I bought a beautiful little bottle with life in it, and it sat on my shelf for a year, never opened, only touched by the sun. I made a few open vessels without understanding what I was doing…I find it’s very empowering (at least for me) to have a little world that I’m in total control of with its own weather pattern and creatures coexisting just sitting on my shelf…”

Check out some of his.

Thanh Phong started this hobby when his wife was pregnant, and he was quite stressed.

He says, “This is a game to relax, reduce stress, and it's a form of therapy… While my wife was pregnant, I was stressed because it was my first time being a father, so I looked it up online and started learning how to make terrariums. After making them, I felt quite relaxed, my mood improved, and I even managed to sell them! People need healing, and I think this is a good solution for that.

Look at his first creation! Here’s why he chose a dragon: “My son was born in the year of the dragon on September 2nd, Vietnam's National Day, one of the most special days in Vietnam.”

Here’s his TikTok.

5. Start Bible Journaling

Wow, are there some COOL bible journaling pages being created by women.

It’s such a fun home hobby – combining bible study with artistic expression. What a creative way to take in God’s word!   

Supplies are cheap – markers, washi tape, really whatever you have lying around that you can use to call out verses and artistically transform the margins of your bible pages.

Also, as a person who reads her bible several times a week but would never dream of writing on it…I’d say you might want to get a second bible that you don’t mind getting QUITE creative with.

Hint: Check out how to create your own Bible Study Station, or Bible Journaling Station, from Dollar Tree supplies.

6. Hunt for Old Recipes + Try Cooking One

Do you get really excited by trying new recipes from bygone eras? So does this guy (his videos are hilarious! He’s got a book, too).

This new hobby is two-part, because part of the fun is in hunting down those old recipes and recipe books. You can treasure hunt yard sales, research them online, go to library book sales, church book sales, hunt through your family’s 200-year-old dumping grounds attic (is that just us?).

Also, some historical cookbooks have been digitized and are free – check out HathiTrust and Google Books.

Once you find the recipes, the second part is to actually choose one, buy the ingredients during your weekly grocery shopping trip, and make it.

Do a taste test for your family!

Here's a woman who found a cookbook from 1927 and is using it.

7. Make Fairy Gardens

I’m in Carly’s Facebook group, and figured out long ago that she absolutely loves to make miniature fairy gardens.

And not just any fairy gardens. She is a pro at making all kinds of magical accessories like this mini fairy BBQ!

Her motivation? Being on a computer for far too long every day made her want to get her nails dirty, get outside, and do something physical with her hands.

She’s found it deeply gratifying.

Just look at what she did with a broken pot!

8. Try Recipe Journaling

I was watching an old Nigella episode, and she had this very creased, overfilled notebook of tons of notes and recipes, and kitchen wisdom goodies in it.

I was intrigued.

Then, I found this person who does what’s called Recipe Journaling, which I think is sort of the same thing!

It’s a new project hobby of hers. The first spread is all about her daughter being a great helper in the kitchen. Then, she’s got pages of what I’d call ingredient mind maps, and dedicated pages for cherished recipes.

She uses washi tape and fun colors throughout – I just love this hobby idea! Plus, you can pass it down one day to your kids.

9. Host and Attend a Virtual Book Club

You no longer have to leave home to attend a weekly book club (though doing so is nice, too – I did one at our church last summer with a fabulous group of ladies, and it meant a lot to me).

Use BookClub.com to find a book club to join, or to manage your own.

10. Create Fanfiction

Do you ever feel like some of your favorite authors and books have left out scenes? Or juicy sequels you’re just dying to see come to life with a set of characters taking up space in your head?

You can write what’s known as fanfic, or hobbyists writing fiction pieces from existing characters, plots, and books (it’s non-commercial, for obvious reasons).

The two biggest fanfiction sites seem to be FanFiction.net and archiveofourown.org.

And here’s a YouTube channel to help beginner fanfiction hobbyists.

11. Make Miniature Food Crafts

Cassie loves to create miniature food, like these fake donuts, or these real-looking s’mores.

Cassie says, “I use them mostly for decor or gifts, but I used to sell some on Etsy. I enjoy teaching other people to make them more than selling because I think crafting and using your creativity is empowering. I want to help other women experience pure joy and pride when they finish making something with their own hands.”

12. Create Blackout Poetry

Thrift shop for old magazines and books.

Black out all the words you don’t want included in your poem with a marker, and the words that you’re left with are your poem.

How cool!

Thanks to Meg for this idea.

13. Do Sourdough Baking Experiments

I started my own Sourdough Starter three years ago (thanks to my sister!), and have since really enjoyed the process.

There are ladies out there who experiment in all kinds of wonderful ways to use and work with sourdough, and it’s quite inspiring.

From using your discard in actual cooking, to deciding whether to shape or not to shape… you’ll not get bored with this hobby too soon.

But seriously, just start with the basics. It’s very simple, and you technically can do it without any extra equipment besides a jar with a screw-on lid (though the equipment can help as you progress).

14. Thrift Flips

I absolutely love a good thrift shopping session. I usually do them 2-3 times a year, as one of my hobbies.

However, I’ve never delved into Thrift Flips, or taking something you find at the thrift store for cheap and upcycling it into something new.

Khairil Azhar has such a cool Thrift Flip he does. “I love visiting thrift stores to hunt for unique glass containers, and my favorite terrarium so far is one I built inside a large glass chandelier.”

He started collecting plants back in 2020, but ran out of space. So, he says, “I adopted a simple rule of thumb for new additions: nothing larger than my hand. That shift led me to fall in love with miniature plants—especially those suited for terrariums. They’re easy to maintain, require minimal watering, look wonderfully artistic, and best of all, they stay alive.”

This year, he entered his terrariums into a contest at the Philadelphia Flower Show and won 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places across different categories!

Here’s a whole playlist from a woman who does lots of Thrift Flips.

15. Do Puzzles with a Roll-up Puzzle Mat

If you had asked me, even a year ago, if I would ever do a puzzle…I’d have said absolutely not.

Then I went thrifting and started seeing all of these really chic and modern-looking puzzles for like $2.49 each. Suddenly, it started looking…fun.

Around the same time, I found this puzzle mat that you can use to roll up your pieces and finished puzzle areas so that you don’t need to keep the puzzle out on your kitchen table, 5% done, for the next six months.

And I was sold!

There’s just something gratifying and dopamine-hitting when you find a new piece that clicks into place.

I’m so glad I gave puzzles another look.

Most of these you can start quite cheaply with supplies you own, or supplies from Dollar Tree and nature. Of course, if you get really into the new hobby, you can build out your supplies little by little. Just start with something, engage your creative side, and see what comes of it!

Money might be tight right now, but almost everyone can do a 1 dollar savings challenge.

And those dollars, my friend? Will add up.

Especially with this list of interesting and fun mini savings challenges!

SO, let’s work on building your savings up, $1 at a time.

Who knows where you’ll be this time next year if you work on these?

1 Dollar Savings Challenges

These 1-dollar savings challenges give you low-pressure, high-momentum money wins you can do on any income.

And once that savings momentum gets started? There’s no telling what you can do.

Psst: Never done a savings challenge before? Here's how to start a money savings challenge the right way, so yours actually sticks.

1. The $1 Weather Prediction Savings Challenge

Use the changing weather to your savings advantage. And, to add a little fun to the experience!

Do you want more rain or more sunshine? Choose one or the other.

Then, your new rule is that each time the weather delivers your choice (rainy/sunny), you save $1 into your Savings Space.

Use this free money-saving printable to keep track of when the weather turns your way by coloring in the symbol you chose.

For us? If I’d chosen sunny this past month, I would likely have seen maybe $3-$4 extra bucks go to my savings. But rainy? Yeah, I’d be in the teens by now.

2. The $1 Per Spend Challenge

This one builds your savings account, one transaction at a time.

Each time you make a transaction – whether online or at the store – you need to set aside $1 to savings.

This includes when you:

• Fill up your gas
• Buy your groceries
• Buy the annoying 2 grocery items you forgot, and your family swears they can’t live without
• Fill out the order form for your child’s school pictures
• Stop off for a caffeine pick-me-up mid-afternoon
• Go thrift store shopping and find the perfect items you never knew you needed (ha!)

Right there, that’s $6 sent to your Savings Space! Depending on your spending frequency…you could be sitting on hundreds of dollars in extra savings by the end of the month or year.

Hint: not to mention, you might become more aware of the number of transactions you’re making…and start making fewer. What a great way to spend less money.

3. The $1 Impulse Control Savings Challenge

Got an app on your phone that you click WAY too often…and you’d like to work on that (while growing your savings)?

Get a jar. Choose the app you want to cut down the use of – Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Animals & Coins game, etc.

Each time you impulsively click on the app, you owe your savings $1.00.

Either way, YOU are the winner!

4. The $1 Off Your Grocery Bill Savings Challenge

Find ONE way to save just $1 this week on your grocery shopping…then that $1.00 gets sent to your Savings Space.

You could:

• Use a digital manufacturer coupon
• Use a digital store coupon
• Put one item back that you were going to purchase
• Meal plan one meal out of your freezer/cupboards and spend less on ingredients at the store

Honestly, doing any one of these will save you MORE than $1.00 off your normal grocery bill, so sending that buck to your Savings Space should be no sweat.

Psst: Once these $1 habits start clicking for you, there are 11 bigger savings challenges that can pull even more money out of your everyday spending — without feeling like you're depriving yourself.

5. The $1 No-Fast-Food Savings Jar

Grab a jar, and label it “No Fast Food Savings Jar”.

Each time you really want to get fast food, or you would normally get fast food, but cook or source food from home instead?

Put $1.00 inside.

Double winner – you spend way less for the meal than you would’ve had you sat in the drive-thru lane, AND, you build up your savings ever so slightly.

6. The $1 Pay Yourself First Challenge

Every single little time you get money of any sort, you save $1.00 of it.

This could be:

• Pay Day
• Rebate in the mail
• Fetch rewards redemption
• Insurance claim check
• Tax refund
• Bank account opening bonus
• Credit card reward redemption

That’s at least $7 worth of examples right there!

7. The $1 Brown Bag Savings Challenge

Each time you pack your own lunch – saving you lots of money from a restaurant lunch – set aside $1.00 into a brown paper bag.

Simple. Effective. And helps build your savings up.

That’s my list of easy savings challenges that all involve $1.00 bills. Which one are you MOST excited about trying, and you think will motivate you to grow that savings muscle over the coming months? I’m excited for you to get started! Personally, I want to do the Weather Prediction one. And I’m choosing sunshine.

The Solo Date.

A time to refresh. To restore yourself. To see your world differently. To go deeper into something you’ve always wanted to do.

It can be life-changing to start doing these regularly – once a month, twice a month, even weekly.

And it doesn’t have to cost much at all – in fact, many of these ideas are totally free.

Solo Date Ideas on a Tight Budget (Still Fun, I Promise)

Solo dates are a way to right the world. To slow down and experience something. To explore.

To learn about yourself.

Do just that with any of these self-care date ideas below.

1. Try Sound Bathing + A Quick-Start Fire

There are so many sounds that we’re forced to hear day in and day out that sound bathing starts to seem almost like a necessity.

It’s intentionally pouring gorgeous tones into your ears and brain.

I recommend something like this free sound bathing video, paired with a no-fuss, quick-start log in the fireplace.

The crackling + soothing sounds could be life-changing.

2. Set Up a Puzzle Blitz Night

I call this the Puzzle Blitz Solo Date…and it’s so much fun.

You’ll be working on a puzzle (I found mine at the thrift store for $2.49 each).

Set a timer for one hour, or however long you’d like to do this (if you’re doing one hour, then I’d suggest a puzzle with 100 pieces or fewer).

Give yourself about 1/3 of the puzzle pieces to begin with, and put the other 2/3 of the puzzle pieces in two separate containers. You’ll have to earn them through games you set up for yourself.

For me, I had a deck of cards and had to actually win at Solitaire to earn one set of the puzzle pieces. Then I had to complete a game of match, matching all the cards before I could collect those puzzle pieces.

Start working with the first 1/3 of pieces, and 10 minutes in, do your first challenge. Complete the challenge before you move on to the 2^nd challenge to unlock those puzzle pieces.

See if you can complete the puzzle + the challenges by the end of the time you set.

3. Do a Labyrinth Walk

Find a local Labyrinth Walk and take an afternoon solo date to undergo the ancient walking meditation practice to ease stress and anxiety.

4. Create Your Dopamine Menu

Ever heard of a Dopamine Menu? It’s a written menu filled with things to do specific to you that stimulates your dopamine.

Without electronics/apps/or anything of the like.

Build yourself a Dopamine Menu (as a solo date!) to come back to time and time again.

Here’s a great video on Dopamine Menus.

5. Go on The Silent Solo Date

Our days are filled with endless noise.

Seriously, have you ever tried to find silence? I’m always baffled at how hard it is to do (there’s a dog barking, or cars in the distance, or a train whistle…always seems to be something).

I was so inspired to find silence that I am going on a weekend-long silent retreat at a local monastery.

You can recreate something similar at home.

Write down your intention of when you want to start and end the silent retreat.

Turn off all notifications on everything, ever. Appliances, your phone, alarms, and doorbell (if you can).

And bathe in silence.

Don’t speak. Just listen. Go about your day or evening. Journal. Write about how bored you are, or how weird it is to hear nothing.

But don’t break the silence.

It could be a life-changing self-date you repeat every few weeks.

6. Eat with Fine Silverware and Good Dishes at Your Dining Room Table

It’s time to romanticize your dinner for a good solo date.

Clear off your dining room table, breakfast bar, or “formal” eating area. Clean it up really nicely. Put some candles on it.

Make a nice dinner, light the candles, and sit down with no electronics to eat by yourself.

7. Pick a Book from a Completely Unfamiliar Genre (2-Part Date)

Go to your local library, and to a genre section that you would never normally be caught dead in.

Aliens, fantasy lands, true crime, horror, romance, fiction, historical biographies…whatever it is that you thought you would never, ever, ever read.

Grab a book, check it out. You’ve completed Part 1 of this Solo Date.

Part 2 is to set aside at least one hour to start reading it. You might be totally surprised by what you discover!

8. Treat Yo’self to Your Childhood “Can’t Have” List

All of us were denied many, many things as a child.

Junk food we really wanted (hint: all the junk food on the 90s snacks charcuterie board below is from Dollar Tree!). Movies we desperately wanted to watch. A piece of clothing we just couldn’t afford on our own.

Indulge your inner child by gathering whatever it is that you really, really want and having it.

For example, I once created an 80s charcuterie snack food board, and it was FILLED with all the snacks we were never allowed to have as kids.

That was so fun to munch on (and realize WHY our mother didn’t want us eating these snacks).

C’mon, let your inner child loose for an afternoon.

Psst: you'll also want to check out my Pamper Yourself Day At Home Setup.

9. Read About Artist Dates + Plan Your First One

Julia Cameron is the first to coin the phrase Artist Dates, which is the idea that you should take a solo date every week to nurture your creativity in some way.

What better way to learn about this concept than using a solo date to read all about it?

Here’s her book.

And here are ideas to get you started:

• Linger around the art at your local museum on free day
• Pick something at a thrift store to revamp/renovate/reuse in some creative way
• Dangle your feet off the nearest dock to you

10. Go on a “Get Lost” Drive

My father used to take our family out on Sunday drives and intentionally get lost.

This was before GPS.

We would be gone for hours, and he would have so much fun finding his way back home.

I treasure these memories!

When was the last time you got lost on purpose and didn’t use your GPS to find your way back?

Set aside an afternoon to go on a solo date “Get Lost” drive, and see where you end up and what you discover.

11. Treasure Hunt at Yard Sales on a Saturday Afternoon

Take a Saturday afternoon, find in-person yard sales, and go to 2-3 of them.

Treasure hunt. Get lost in it. This can be SO fun!

12. Take Your Dog on a Doggie Picnic

This is one of my favorite picnic ideas – where you are pampering your dog a bit and just having fun together.

Bring some doggie toys, and stop off beforehand at a dog treats bar to pick up some treats for your favorite four-legged friend.

Oh yeah…bring something for yourself, too.

Bond with your dog! And take in some nature at the same time.

13. Hit Your Acupressure Points

I keep watching all these videos online of acupressure points that are, apparently, really important to hit on the body.

Like from this woman (actually…she does lymphatic drainage points).

An awesome solo date that would dub as a self-care act would be to watch a few videos, do the acupressure points.

You could also get one of these acupressure mats to stand on (I tried one out at my friend’s house – interesting to stand on them!).

14. Set up a Solo Board Games Night

Get playful in real life (no phones or apps!) by setting up one of these solo games.

Dig in for an evening of pure entertainment and try to beat your best.

Solo games include:

• Bananagrams
• Kanoodle
• Dimension
• Cat Stax
• Solitaire
• Etc.

15. Do a Free Trial Binge Date

Sometimes I see a trailer for a really juicy, right-up-my-alley show, but it’s on a streaming service that I don’t own (and don’t want to pay for).

Does this ever happen to you?

When my husband was traveling abroad for several weeks last year, I decided to time a free trial to a streaming service just so that I could binge-watch the show I was really, really wanting to see.

It felt like such a fun, solo date each night that I got to watch it (after putting the little guy to bed).

I timed it with a little treat, too!

Treat + juicy show = solo at home date night.

16. Get in Touch with a Childhood Hobby

We all used to do these totally creative things in childhood…and if you’re anything like me, then you gave up most (or all) of them as a teen and young adult.

Choose ONE thing you used to absolutely love making as a child, and dive into it.

Was it Shrinky Dinks? Gathering wildflowers and drying them/pressing them? Making really silly short books (where you actually create the illustrations, too)?

Think of something you used to be obsessed with as a child, and dive in with fresh, adult eyes.

17. Redo Your Closet and Wardrobe (This is SO fun!)

Honestly, I wish I were doing this all over again for the first time – it was THAT MUCH FUN.

I’ve never been good at dressing myself or making outfits, but I got a significant boost in self-esteem (and had a lot of fun) doing that when I got my hands on this free outfit guide.

It was like treasure-hunting in my closet and seeing my clothes/accessories in a totally different way!

Really great self-care routine I started about four years ago.

18. Create a Snacks-Around-the-World Taste Night for You

Go to several ethnic grocery stores and collect interesting snacks. Gather them in a basket and taste-test everything from one country or one region for your solo date night.

Bonus points if you only use chopsticks to eat the snacks with!

19. Complete a Donation-Only Yoga Class

Attend a community or donation-only yoga class for your solo date (typically much cheaper – I had a standing solo date with myself at a $5 yoga class in Houston for years).

Here are hundreds of other ways to reward yourself for $5 and under.

20. Listen to Stand-up Comedy on YouTube

Grab a drink or mocktail, and look up several videos of a famous comedian you like or that gets you interested.

Sit through one or two of their stand-up performances.

Oh yeah, and do some serious, deep, can’t-breathe belly laughing! Let those laugh snorts rip – it’s just you.

21. Go on a Micro-Retreat with Yourself

Here are three great solo date ideas, and they are all micro retreats. I love this idea!

• A Noticing Retreat
• A Walking Retreat
• A Quarterly Reflection Retreat

Moving forward, I'm going to be scheduling these solo date ideas as part of my self-care routine. Once a month? Twice a month? We'll see what I can squeeze in, because I truly think I can't afford to ignore solo date time.

You guys…my husband and I need to have more fun together.

Cheap fun.

The kind that refuels your 10-year-old self (and helps you bond with your partner at the same time).

That’s where this Puzzle Blitz at home date night idea came from: wanting to bond, cheaply, with my husband in an insanely fun way for the two of us.

The Puzzle Blitz At-Home Date Night

I didn’t want this to be any ol’ puzzle date night where we just sit at a table, staring at one another while we try to stick puzzle pieces in the right places.

Nah.

I wanted some pizzazz and excitement with this one.

And, I think I achieved it!

The other cool thing? All the supplies were from the Dollar Tree, a thrift store, or we already own them. Talk about cheap!

I’ll detail the activities below, plus how we scored each.

Hint: We awarded prizes for the top scores, as well as a small prize from a jar we each got to choose for every 10 pieces of the puzzle we completed (we ended up changing this to 5). Small prizes included Hershey Kisses, Beavis and Butthead socks I found at the Dollar Tree, and a pack of gum. Our big prize was a 6-pack of pecan swirls – what can I say, the little things make us pretty happy!

1. Blindfolded Puzzle Partner Quest

Supplies: a blindfold, a kids’ puzzle with 10-12 pieces (works best), a timer

I wanted to show my husband that this was not just any puzzle night, so I started things off with a really fun and unique idea: the Blindfolded Puzzle Partner Quest.

One of you gets blindfolded, and the other lays out the pieces to a very simple, kids’ puzzle (think around 10-12 pieces).

Use one of your child’s, OR I found this one at our local thrift store for $2.49.

Each of you takes turns being blindfolded. The partner without the blindfold guides the other partner on where the pieces go.

Set the timer, and whoever gets the puzzle together, while blindfolded, in the least amount of time wins 10 points.

Hint: You can give a prize for the winner after each activity, or wait for the prizes to be given out at the end, as the overall scores are added up.

2. Puzzle Escape

Supplies: small-medium-sized puzzle with 100 or so puzzle pieces (works best), several containers or bins, cut-up Post-It Notes (two colors), dice with writable sides, dry-erase marker, a timer

Next, we moved on to a medium-sized puzzle with just 100 pieces to it (again, a kid puzzle I found at the thrift store for $2.49).

The idea here is that we earn points for certain types of puzzle pieces that we each successfully place within a certain amount of time.

Here’s how our point system worked:

• Puzzle pieces with orange in them (rare) were worth 10 points each
• Puzzle pieces with purple in them were worth 5 points each
• All other puzzle pieces were worth 1 point each

However, there’s a catch: we have to earn some of the puzzle pieces.

I randomly gave out 15 pieces to each of us, and we set the timer to work on them for 10 minutes.

I also had separated the rest of the puzzle pieces into three different containers.

One of the containers only had two puzzle pieces in it…but they were each worth 10 points (because they had orange coloring on them).

What unlocked the puzzle pieces?

A game of Uno, and rolling dice over and over, then picking out the number of puzzle pieces that corresponded.

Whoever won Uno (me!) got to pick which of the three containers they wanted.  

As we placed each puzzle piece successfully – either on our own puzzle pieces, or the other person’s – we placed a specific colored Post-It Note so that in the end we could easily figure out the score.

Our final tally? Was 72 to 69, me! I couldn’t believe how close we were in points.

We also did one final puzzle activity, that was just a fun date activity to do together.

3. Puzzle Art

Supplies: canvas, canvas stand, paints, paintbrushes, dry-erase dice, dry-erase markers

I prepped this by gathering all of our random containers of paint and paintbrushes from around the house (I can’t be the only one with a gazillion of these, right?).

Then, I wrote various themes for paintings on the dry-erase dice: people, things, landscapes, games, etc.

I had each of us randomly pick one of the puzzle pieces and glue it to the middle of a canvas.

Then we each rolled the dice to see what kind of painting we would need to create based on this theme, and incorporated the puzzle piece into it as naturally as possible.

We both rolled “game” and got to work painting something around it.

I think they turned out quite vibrant and…interesting!

All in all, this Puzzle Blitz at-home date night was a 9 out of 10 – my husband was very surprised and delighted with what I had come up with, and we gladly shared the prizes in the end. The night was a success, and it got us away from melting into the couch while watching our latest show together.

Win, win, win.

I’m about to give you a checklist of financial life hacks to do one by one.

And you should take these seriously – they give you the power to your spending down by hundreds of dollars each month.

Are you ready for the challenge?

POOF! Challenge issued to you.

So let’s get started.

Financial Life Hacks

Ready for my best financial life hacks? The kind I routinely use in my own life?

Here we go!

1. Cook a Meal on Grocery Shopping Night (Ahead of Time)

I grocery shop on Monday nights after my husband gets home from work.

Since it takes me two hours or so (I run other errands, too), I got into the habit of picking up convenience foods or fast food for us to eat for dinner.

Adding an extra $20 or so onto our grocery bill each week.

Instead, I started making sure we have leftovers from Sunday to eat on Monday night, OR, cooking something ahead of time (like one of these freezer meals).

That’s like $15 savings every single week.

2. Find Low-Chemical & Healthy Products at a Fraction of the Cost

I’m on a simplicity and health kick, trying to clean up the products that we use so that there are fewer chemicals coming into our lives.

Granted, I’ve been on this kick for years – like I ditched most cleaners almost two decades ago in favor of good ol’ vinegar and water.

But I want to go even deeper.

And you know what? Those types of “clean” products can be SUPER expensive.

So, I got creative.

I downloaded the free Yuka app and started scanning products at the Dollar Tree.

You are going to be just as surprised as I was!

I found several bath and hygiene products that score GOOD to EXCELLENT, that are just $1.25-$1.50 each. SCORE!

Low-chemical products AND they cost less than the chemical crud we were buying before.

Hint: Yesss…you should download this app and then check the products you’re currently using. Eye-opening, at least for us.

That’s one of my ultimate new financial life hacks and frugal living tips for this year.

3. Use the Half Rule

Earlier this year, I wrote about The Half Rule. And it got a lot of people’s attention.

J. Money even asked if he could feature the article on his site, and I agreed!

Here’s The Half Rule:

Cut the amount of product you use in half, and see what happens.

Does it still perform as it should? Then keep it at the new, half-level. Do you need to add a bit more to it? Go ahead and do it.

It'll help you fight inflation. It'll cut your grocery bill down without having to stop buying the products that you like.

And you'll start to have some money left at the end of the month.

That’s because we’re all using too much product. It’s like product use inflation (where we keep using more of a product to try and get the same amount of use and pleasure out of it).

Read more about it here.

4. Use this Woman’s Eating-from-Home Hack

Creator @saadiqimani has voiced what many of us have experienced but not necessarily recognized a pattern around: if you get home from work and change your clothes to something comfy, it’s kind of game over for the night.

The likelihood of you cooking for yourself, cleaning, etc., is much less.

SO, instead, she’s been keeping her work clothes on while cooking dinner for herself.

The result?

She saves lots of money each week by eating dinners in and having leftovers to eat for lunches. All because she figured out a hack to motivate herself to get the food cooked.

Great tip! It’ll help you do a 30-day no-eating-out challenge.

5. Switch to a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO)

What if I told you that you could get the reliability of Verizon’s mobile network for a fraction of the cost?

This is pretty much the financial hack of these times.

It’s by using a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) like Twigby, which buys network space from Verizon and then gives access to it at a major discount.

I found that I could pay just $25-$35/month on the unlimited plan, and keep my phone number and phone.

Uhhhh – what?!?!

Learn more here.

6. Do a Zero-Spend Room Refresh

Do you remember when you were a kid and had $0 to your name, but you were dying to have your room look different?

So, you just kind of cleaned everything up, organized, and then rearranged all the furniture. And it felt SO good and NEW?

We crave NEW. Which usually means spending a good chunk of money.

But what if we take spending money off the table and satisfy the craving anyway?

Just like this woman did for her friend.

7. Hack Your Digital & Other Subscriptions

I feel like we’re paying a lot in subscription fees…and last Saturday, I decided it was time to do something about it.

I downloaded our last bank statement, then cropped off the account number information (also, my AI is set to not allow our conversations to train the model).

Then, I used this prompt: “I want you to go through this bank statement, and find out all the subscriptions we're paying for, the amounts, and the company/what it is.”

Perplexity Pro gave me a handy table to quickly see all our subscription and recurring fees on a monthly basis.

Immediately, I emailed the Greenlight app to nix that $5.99 (since I’m an affiliate of theirs, I asked for it as a courtesy, and they agreed). I did the same with the $5.00 Acorns/Gohenry subscription charge, and am waiting to hear back.

We discussed (felt like ad nauseam!) the $18.35 monthly Disney+ subscription, and decided it’s the least used out of all of our streaming services. So, we cancelled that.

Then I texted my husband about the three recurring Apple charges each month ($2.99 and $12.99) to see what they are and make sure someone still needs them. He does.  

Finally, we figured out that Verizon Fios offers an ad-supported Netflix subscription and HBO Max for $10/month, and that would save us money from our subscriptions. PLUS, we lowered our tier to the first one (since we barely watch TV). Our total savings per month here were $37.99, AND they’re giving us a $200 gift card in 30 days.

Over one year, that will be a total savings of $676.08 back into our pockets (plus the $200 gift card). Now we’re talking!

Hint: there are also apps that do this for you, like Trim and Rocket Money, which will also go ahead and negotiate on your behalf with your cable company.

8. Strip Instead of Buying New

Y’all…our towels are funky. And exfoliator-rough.

And I just learned how to fix that: strip the towels.

You can also strip any clothes (like musky-smelling workout clothes).

Check out this woman’s video, which single-handedly saved us from spending another $50-$75 on a new set of towels.

9. Cash In Your Receipt Cashback Apps

I’ve been using Ibotta, Fetch, and ReceiptPal for years to scan in my receipts and get points/cash back.

Now, it’s time to actually use them to make a meaningful dent in our grocery shopping this coming month.

Currently, I’ve got:

• Fetch: 36,368 points, which will get me a $25 Walmart gift card
• Ibotta: $0.00 (doh!)
• ReceiptPal: 20,755 points, which will get me $50 in Amazon gift cards

That’s $75 to our bottom line, all for scanning our receipts after I go grocery shopping once a week.

YES!

Hint: if you don’t currently use these, sign up NOW, and take advantage of all those points from shopping for the holidays.

10. Use Grocery and Restaurant Expiring Food Apps

You know how sometimes you walk into a grocery store prepared food aisle and there are clearance stickers on the foods that need to be eaten today (which is perfect, because you can eat it for lunch)?

Be more intentional about this by, say, picking up dinner on a Friday night of food that needs to get eaten.

Do this by signing up for a grocery or restaurant expiring food app and keeping your eye on it.

Here are two:

• Too Good to Go
• Flash Food

Just look at these Surprise Bag deals people snagged in my area today!

11. Learn to Self-Care On a Small Budget

I’m a Mama of a boy, a business owner, and my husband travelled a total of 6 months out of last year.

I’ve learned that self-care is non-negotiable.

It never used to be a thing. But then it became how I could be the best Mom, a good business owner, and a supportive wife.

But you know what? Self-care options that most people try to sell you are pretty expensive.

The truth is, you can engage in self-care daily, without spending much at all.

My favorite frugal ways include:

• A bath in a clean bathtub. I’m not even kidding – I shower, and haven’t had a bath in probably a decade. It turns out, lying in a tub full of really warm water is just wonderful self-care.
• Reading a delicious book on our chaise. I clean the chaise and reading nook area. Then I place the book I’m SO excited to read on it. Right next to a really cozy blanket. The anticipation of a quiet, cozy reading time later in the day is enough to keep my spirits up.
• Prep nutritious and YUMMY food a day or two ahead of time. An extreme example of this is when I prepped a Pamper Myself Day. A more weekly example is when I make two of these to snack on over the next two days.  
• A walk in the woods, alone. I developed a fantastic routine of going to these woods near our home twice a week while my son is in school, and walking 2-3 miles.

So inexpensive, or even free. And WOW, these simple self-care routines have nourished me this past year.

Is your cell phone bill getting out of hand (it can’t just be me, right?)?

With prices rising everywhere, it’s easy to feel like our budgets are at the mercy of inflation.

But here’s the good news: we do have some control, especially over how we choose to spend our money.

For example, we all need food, but how we spend that food budget is within our control (takeout vs. groceries, manufacturer products vs. generic brands, etc.).

Lately, we’ve been looking under every financial rock and bill that makes up our total household expenses.

And one surprising area for savings that popped up?

Our two-line smartphone plan.

Spoiler Alert: Yes, this one financial move will save us $567.36 over the next 12 months! Get started with your own Twigby phone plan to save a bunch, too.

Analyzing Our Recent Phone Bills

I don’t know about you, but years ago I set up our AT&T bill as an automatic payment each month…and basically forgot about it.

I know this can lead to automatic bill creep, but it just kind of happened.

So, the first thing I wanted to do was to quickly audit our current cell phone plan and bills and get an idea of what we’re paying for what services.

I learned quite a few things by combing through the last three months of our cell phone bill.

• My husband uses much more data than I do (like, 7-12 GB more data than I do each month – he travels abroad consistently for work)
• We still owe $345 on his smartphone (we paid mine off over a year ago)
• Our cell phone bill is either about $145 (during months when he doesn’t travel abroad), or $260 (when he does travel – due to a $10/day international day pass)
• We receive a $20/month military discount and a $10/month promotional discount

Armed with this info, I could now see if a discounted phone plan would meet our needs while saving us stacks of cash over the next year.

Twigby Cell Phone Plan – How it Stacks Up to Ours

Before I switch to anything, I like to know what we would be losing and what we would be gaining.

Then I can stack that information up against the amount I’ll be saving and decide if it’s worth it.

And I have to say – overall, internet speed and mobile data plans have gotten so great, that I feel like I can’t go wrong here (it’s not like ten years ago, when 3G was the best you could get – this is 5G and 4G LTE we’re talking about).

It turns out that they have an unlimited data and minutes plan…for a fraction of the price we’re paying now, just $25/month (plus taxes), then $35/month after your first three months.

You can even get a lower-cost plan, starting all the way down to $5.

Like, WOW. I haven’t seen data plan prices like that for years!

And what happens if you go over your data for the month?

If you go over your data limit for the month, you still get data. Your speed gets throttled, so it leaves you with two decisions:

• Either buy extra data for the remaining month, or
• Move up to the next data plan option and just pay the difference between the current plan and the new plan

They’re very flexible, because if you do want to go up or down on a plan, you can also go back down to the original plan you were on. I like that!

Not only that, but you’re buying access to Verizon’s very reliable network at that price.

Hint: Are you already on Verizon? I would run, not walk, to switch my plan. I mean, it’s the same network you’re paying more for right now, right?

How is that?

Twigby is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) that buys network space from Verizon (Verizon allows this because it’s an additional revenue stream for them).

I also love how it’s a month-to-month service, and I don’t have to be locked into a contract for two years like with the major networks.

This is also great because if you just want to try this cell company out for a few months and make sure it works for you and your life, then you can do that (and the first several months on each of their plans are even more deeply discounted as an introductory rate).

To sum it up, you (and I) get:

• A no-contract, month-to-month service (you can go up or down in data needs whenever you want, with plans starting at just $5/month)
• Use of Verizon’s robust network
• To keep my phone and my number (check your own phone’s compatibility here)

At $25-$35/month on the unlimited plan…I’m actually not losing anything by switching over. Now that’s a real win!

What’s the Transition from Another Carrier Look Like?

There are three things that need to happen to switch:

• You need an unlocked phone (meaning it’s been paid off by your current plan), OR you can buy one of Twigby’s phones
• You need an eSIM or SIM switch
• You need to choose a plan

In the past, switching to a new carrier was a bit clunky. You’d have to locate your physical SIM card in your phone, take it out, and swap it with the SIM card Twigby sends you via their SIM kit.

Not ideal, for sure. I mean, I wouldn’t even know where to look for my phone’s SIM card without a YouTube tutorial video.

Now? They offer eSIM.

eSIM technology is the new standard for phones (meaning if you have an older model, then you might still have to do the physical SIM switch), and it allows the activation to happen digitally and instantly.

To find out whether or not your phone is compatible, use Twigby’s compatibility checker.

Your phone will also need to be unlocked by your current carrier (generally, this happens after it’s paid off).

On iPhone, find this out by going to Settings>General>About>Carrier Lock. Mine says “No SIM restrictions”, meaning it’s unlocked.

Do you have an Android? Here’s a quick video on how to check.

How Much This Will Save Our Household

As I mentioned above, we’re still paying around $20/month for my husband’s phone. Mine is paid off.

Not only that, but he needs to be able to call us from locations all over the world, at a reasonable price (currently on AT&T, that’s $10/day for a maximum of 12 charges each month or $120 – this is reimbursed by his employer).

I found out that Twigby does not offer international roaming, which would allow customers to have service when visiting another country. However, you can text or call people in other countries while you are in the US, and I would incur no fees for calls from my husband while he’s abroad.

Also, Wi-Fi Calling and Texting – included with every plan for free – allow you to make and receive calls and text messages using a Wi-Fi network with your existing Twigby phone number without using cell service (you don't need a cell signal). This feature works when you're travelling overseas or if you're travelling in a rural area with unpredictable service. 

Since my husband's extra phone charges are paid for by his employer, and since he has to use his phone internationally in locations that don't necessarily have Wi-Fi, we'll be keeping him on his plan for now.

But could we switch me?

My portion of our $145/month bill is $67.28/month.

I plugged in my cell phone IMEI number and usage information, and was shown that I could get a comparable Twigby Plan for just $20/month (plus taxes).

This would be a savings of approximately $47.28/month, or $567.36 over the next year.

SOLD!

Personally? We’re really happy with the decision to switch my cell plan to Twigby. For now, we’ll keep my husband on our current cell plan, due to the international trips. But I call this a BIG WIN in deflating our household’s monthly costs.