Beans and Rice...

"Beans and rice and rice and beans," is what Dave Ramsey often says one should live on during baby step number two to get out of debt.

I've been comparing prices every week in the ads I get in the mail to get the best deals.
I've been going to different stores and know which ones to stick to, to get the best deal (Sprouts always has the best prices on produce in our area!).

I don't eat out for lunch ever because we are only allowed thirty minutes to eat at work and I usually have students in my room that I am helping with an assignment, so I'm used to packing. However, with a teen home for the summer and a little one, I have to pack snacks every where we go, just in case we they are hungry!

I visited my sister a few days ago and packed lunch to make there (almond and jelly in tortillas!).

Another way we save is by bringing water bottles with us everywhere we go.

I bought Nalgene bottles for my husband, oldest daughter, and I a year ago and they have been a great investment! We had been using other bottles for a while to save and reduce plastic waste💚, but they were usually cheaply made and we replaced them often. These Nalgene water bottles hold 32 ounces and they are a lot less expensive than most high quality water bottles out there! We purchased ours for around $11 each. We are already in the habit of packing water bottles everywhere we go because we are used to drinking so much water and this helps us to avoid wanting to stop somewhere to grab a drink when we are thirsty. 

Here's the site we purchased our water bottles from: www.nalgene.com

We will also be participating, as we do every year, in our city's summer lunch program. "Free lunches" is what we called them growing up, and they are served to children aged 1-18. They help out a ton by helping us save on one meal a day for the kids.

Here's some tips we're using this summer to avoid eating out or stopping for unplanned purchases (: Hope this helps someone out there and I'm planning on doing this all summer so we can save!