But I'm taking action against mindless convenience meals driven by lack of time or energy. As such, I've redefined my concept of take-out food by opting to frugally take-out frozen food items from my freezer. This menu includes prepared and boxed frozen snacks and soups from the grocery store.
This heat-and-go menu costs more than DIY meals from scratch. But when I am in a hurry, spending $2 to $3 on a frozen entree is a lot cheaper than the $5 to $10 tab for a tuna fish sandwich and soup.
Teri Gault of the Grocery Game stressed the money-saving benefits of frozen foods when I interviewed her for a newspaper column. She pointed out that a family of four might spend $10 on four frozen meals ($2.50 x 4) versus about $30 to $50 at a restaurant.
Caution: Not all frozen food items are a bargain. Here are our numbers from a recent shopping trip:
Good Deals:
Potato & Cheese Dumplings $2.29 (about 57 cents a serving)
Toaster Pizza Pockets $3.49 (about 58 cents a serving)
Frozen Vegetable Soup $2.19 (about $1.10 a serving)
Not Good Deals:
Mexican Casserole $4.59 for a single serving.
Gourmet Pot Pie $2.69 for a single serving.
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The Frugal Duchess Booktique
The Frugal Duchess of Beauty Store
Book Shop of Fear
The Poetry & Drama Queen
Frugal Jazz & Blues
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