Freezer Sandwiches - Who Knew?

I have been on a journey over the last couple months to stick to a budget. Ultimately, I want to be a homeowner. So.. budgeting is helping me with savings.  I have scoured endless websites, YouTube videos and blogs looking at various ideas to help me in my endeavor.

One thing I have ran across, on more than one occasion, is "freezer sandwiches".  I know what you are thinking, I thought the same thing, SOGGY! That was until I tried it.

I was watching Jamerrill over at Large Family Table on Youtube. She makes freezer meals for her large family. One of the things she makes and often instills the help of her children with are freezer sandwiches. Some are lunch meat and cheese (condiments omitted) and some are Peanut Butter and Jelly.

She has mentioned in her video that someone had asked her if ever she had a problem with soggy bread and she said no. She also mentioned that she uses wheat bread.  Well, I thought I would give it a try.

Its just me and my two children so I didn't need to make too many, but I started with 24. I made half ham and cheese and the other half PB&J. We would take them out the night before school/work and put them in the fridge, then in the morning we could just grab and go.  We did not use wheat bread and guess what? NO SOGGY BREAD!  I could not believe it! And, it was great! Not hard or stale, it was actually rather fresh. And there have been days when I forgot to take one out of the freezer and grabbed straight from the freezer in the morning and it was good to go at lunch time.

Freezer sandwiches save me money from buying quick foods when I am in a hurry as well as time in the morning. Currently I am making them 3 weeks at a time.

What are your favorite goto meals that you can freeze that save time & money?

Stockpile! My New Year Goal.

Stockpiling is not hoarding. Hoarding is hoarding. What is the difference?

With the New Year looming I find myself thinking about savings, budgeting and getting ahead. Among these thoughts are stockpiling. I am very careful who I discuss my stockpile with for various reasons. Some people think to stockpile is to hoard and hoarding is not socially acceptable. Other people might see stockpiling as a means to a free meal for themselves or others. And then of course there is the fear of robbery. But I will tell you, stockpiling can literally be like a savings account in a bad situation.

So what is a stockpile? 

A stockpile is a supply of food, sundry items, and anything else you buy at the store on a regular basis. To stockpile is buying numerous of the same items at once, usually when they are at rock bottom prices so that you build a surplus. Some people use a 3 or 6 month rule. This means that they readily have 3 or 6 months of groceries, soap, shampoo, etc. on hand at all times. They save time and money from having to go to the store often and they can rest assured that they will not go hungry any time soon.

But WHY stockpile?

This is easy. Have you ever been low on groceries and a storm hits that leaves you stranded at home for days? Then when you finally dig out the store is bare because people wiped it out ahead of the storm and the trucks got stuck? I have. Its not a nice feeling.  Have you ever lost your job and had little to no savings? It’s at least 2 weeks before you get an unemployment check. What are you going to eat in the mean time?

Enter the stockpile!

Lost your job? No problem. Your stockpile is going to cover you until you can get back on your feet. Weather keeping you from getting to the store? No problem. Stockpile has you covered. Big bills hit all at once leaving little to no extra money for laundry soap or food? Go to the stockpile! The point is that a stockpile can be your saving grace. Find out when certain items go on sale for the lowest price and stock up. Perhaps take an extra $20 out of each paycheck and buy a few containers of laundry soap or chicken for the freezer. Plan ahead friends. You never know what life is going to throw your way. It doesn’t hurt to be prepared and it’s not hoarding so long as you are buying what you use and not letting it go to waste. You save money right? You save money in that emergency fund for “just in case” purposes. Well think that way about grocery and household items. Have them on hand you will be able to sleep a lot better at night.

My goal for the New Year is to create my stockpile to cover up to 1 year. Can you imagine not having to depend on the grocery store each week? I look forward to sharing with you pictures in the very near future.