Chorizo, eggs, and potatoes make a great breakfast or any meal! I’m a big breakfast guy but I don’t always have time for a big breakfast so I’m guilty of grabbing a granola bar on the go from time to time. However when I have a little extra time, this hash recipe with chorizo and some farm fresh eggs topped with a good salsa really hits the spot. It’s super easy to make and perfect for a cast iron skillet, although any oven-safe skillet will do the trick. I use a 12-inch cast iron skillet but you could make a smaller batch with a 10-inch. It’s perfect for breakfast, but I’ve made it many times ..read more

Anyone who knows me and has read my blog knows I love some cheap glasses, especially since our daughter now wears them too. I thought I had found all the cheap glasses websites I needed in Firmoo and Zenni (see my comparison of these two here). So far Firmoo has been my go-to in the cheap glasses space, but I recently found another player in this market and decided to see how they stack up: FYTOO.com. Read on for an honest, in-depth Fytoo glasses review! I wasn’t really in the market for new glasses that day, but literally 2 days later our toddler rips Mom’s glasses off her face and snaps the ..read more

Making movie theater popcorn at home and streaming a movie not only saves you a ton of money, but you’ll also be prepared if movie theaters ever go the way of Blockbuster. This post contains affiliate links. For more info, see our affiliate disclosure. You really only need four ingredients for homemade movie theater popcorn:  popcorn kernels popping oil flavoring salt topping oil We’re going to look at some options for each that you may be able to find and your local grocery store, and some that you may have to order online for a more authentic taste.  We’ll also talk about using p ..read more

So you want to know how to use a deep fryer, or why you should buy one if you don’t have one. I’m always preaching about unneeded kitchen gadgets. Honestly how many more do we need? When is the last time you used that George Foreman grill? I rest my case. We did, much to my dismay, jump on the Instant Pot bandwagon. Jury’s still out on if it’s worth the extra storage space. So why would I recommend spending money on basically a pot that heats up oil? This post contains affiliate links. For more info see our affiliate disclosure. How our deep fryer saves us money. First and fore ..read more

I love bread. I could never do Keto. Even when I’m counting calories, I’d rather weigh out every single noodle before giving up my carbs. Potatoes, pasta, bread, are all staples in our house. Especially the $1 french bread from the WalMart bakery. It’s such a good deal. You can’t even buy a decent loaf of white bread for a buck anymore. But you get this french bread, slice it up, and you’ve got some great sandwich bread.  We usually keep a loaf or two (or three right now) in our freezer. Our local WalMart has a shelf in the back where they put all their close-dated bakery items, and if ..read more

When someone told me that you can order glasses online for less than 12 bucks, I thought it was too good to be true. Even the bottom of the barrel frames at my usual optometrist start at over $100, not to mention the lenses. Surely the lenses on these websites must be outrageous. Oh, they’re included? (Well, unless you need specialty lenses or bifocals). How come nobody told me about this sooner? The two big players in this cheap eyewear space right now are ZenniOptical.com and Firmoo.com. Today we’re going to put them head to head and declare a winner. Or at least let you decide whic ..read more

One of the best ways to save money while still enjoying great food is by figuring out how to make your favorite restaurant recipes at home. Even something as cheap as an Egg McMuffin is a fraction of the price if you make it yourself. Not to mention most of these recipes will be even better when you make them. You can customize them to suit your taste, or whatever you have in the pantry.  This post contains affiliate links. For more info, see our affiliate disclosure. Clone recipes make for a great cheap date night. Don’t get me wrong, we still love to go out and let someone else d ..read more

Quite possibly the easiest lasagna you’ve ever made. Pasta has to be one of the cheapest meals to feed a crowd on the planet. I can never understand why people pay so much at Olive Garden for noodles with sauce on them. If I’m eating pasta, I’m cooking it myself. This super easy lasagna recipe takes it one step further, you don’t even have to boil water thanks to the frozen ravioli. This post contains affiliate links. For more info see our affiliate disclosure. Wait… is it lasagna or ravioli? According to Merriam-Webster it’s technically not: 1. pasta in the form of broad ..read more

It sounds simple because it is, but if you’re not making a meal plan and a grocery list before you shop, you are spending way more than you need to. And you’re not really grocery shopping on a budget. But you probably already knew that, that’s why you’re here. I’ve put together some tips that have been helpful to us on how to make the best grocery list possible and how to stick to it. This post contains affiliate links. For more info see our affiliate disclosure. 1. Make a meal plan, but be realistic. While we’re not the type of people that can plan ahead enough to pre-cook an ..read more

The word budget strikes fear into the heart of some. I remember the days of swiping the debit card, thinking “there’s no way I’ve spent my whole payday yet”, then checking the balance and saying “time to switch to the credit card.” This almost gives me a panic attack just thinking about it, but I know people who live this way. Lots of them. Budgets are simple. How much comes in vs. how much goes out. Nothing more. You get to decide how much goes where, so you are the one in control. The simple act of tracking how much you actually spend is eye-opening. It can be a bit of an adjustment ..read more