Budget Meal Plan - How to Eat Well on 20 Dollars a Week

When people ask me how I save so much money, they never believe how simple the answer is. Simply cooking your meals at home has such a profound impact on your budget, it has got to be the number one way to cut costs without sacrificing anything. By simply cooking more meals you will absolutely save hundreds of dollars per month. Depending on your habit, you may even save more than hundreds of dollars per week. You don't even realize that on an average day, where all you get is a fast food meal and Starbucks in the morning, you've already dropped 10 dollars on horrible food. That's already 300 dollars per month - Do you get where I'm going with this?

Here are some things you NEED to pick up and start working with in your kitchen. These are basic staples that can be used to create thousands of different recipe ideas, and help you learn how to be a better cook:

How To Decorate And Live Well

Eggs
Bread
Oil (sunflower, vegetable)
Rice
Pasta
Canned Beans
Various spices (salt, pepper, a few others)
Tomato/Pasta sauce
Meat that's ON SALE
Vegetables that are ON SALE

For breakfast (god forbid you wake up 5-10 minutes earlier) you can make dozens of things with eggs. Overeasies, scrambled eggs, poached eggs, 500 different omelletes, on bread, by themselves, etc.

For lunch you can make pasta, rice, chicken/turkey sandwiches, anything - And you can bring it with you to work.

For dinner, pasta and rice combined with various meats, vegetables, and spices can be combined into thousands of dinner ideas. For specific recipes simply google "chicken dish", or "cooking with rice". It isn't complicated - there are hundreds of recipes that are nearly impossible to screw up, even for virgin cooks.

Some of these meals will only cost you 50 cents when you look at the ingredients. Rice is dirty cheap and a staple around the world, yet neglected in the west. The possibilities are endless - Believe it or not you can eat well for less than 3 dollars per day. If you get a drink from starbucks in the morning, eat lunch out somewhere, then pick something up for dinner (or make a frozen meal), you're spending close to 15-20 dollars without realizing it. That's 600 dollars a month. How much can you save? You do the math. I just recently got a good friend and my sister on this plan, and they're paying their rent with the difference.

Budget Meal Plan - How to Eat Well on 20 Dollars a Week

For tips and secrets on getting groceries for dirt cheap when you're out shopping, as well as tips on how to get dirt cheap airfare, save gas with your car, and more, visit budget meal plans. Savings are in the hundreds, arm yourself with the knowledge to change your lifestyle for the better.

Christmas Decorating on a Shoestring Budget

Wondering how to cut back on the costs for your Christmas decorating this year? There are some things that you can do that will still make your Christmas decorating look fantastic, but that will cut back on some of the expenses of decorating.

Thrift Shops and Garage Sales: Many people like to buy brand new decorations every year, and they often give their older decorations to thrift shops. You can often find great deals when you shop in thrift stores for Christmas decorations, and you will most likely find that they are still in very good condition, especially if they were only used for one Christmas. Likewise, keep on the lookout for Christmas decorations at garage sales too, you can often pick them up for almost nothing there.

How To Decorate And Live Well

Christmas Lights: Instead of buying new Christmas lights because your old ones just aren't working, invest some time instead. Buy some new bulbs, and then set to work to find out exactly which bulbs are blown. It can be a bit time-consuming, but it can also be a great job for one person in your family to do who perhaps isn't that gifted at decorating. This can really save a lot of money.

Reuse old Baubles: If you have Christmas tree decorations or baubles that have lost the string for hanging them on the tree, you can still use them. Set them together in a basket to make a colourful Christmas bauble display. Then set the basket--a glass bowl will do just as well--on a table, shelf, or on the mantelpiece.

Candles: You can usually pick up nice looking candles fairly cheaply. You don't necessarily have to buy fancy patterned candles, but just choose simple red, green and white candles and put them on a candlestick or buy clay and stand them in the clay. Then, cover the clay up with Christmas cloth, or ribbons, or pine needles. Cheap and effective, they look great sitting on the table or set around the living room. You can also match silver, gold and blue to make a great Christmas color scheme as well.

Bake Cookies: Not only will you save money on store bought cookies and cakes, but you will probably have a lot of fun if you get a few people together and bake your own cookies. Play Christmas music in the background, drink a glass of wine or hot chocolate, and start up your own Christmas tradition of baking. It can be lots of fun and really brings out the festive spirit of Christmas.

Christmas Music: No Christmas is complete without Christmas music wafting throughout the house. It is great to play during meal times, soft muted Christmas carols or instrumentals, and it's also fantastic to work to, to decorate to and to bake to. Make sure you have a big enough selection though so you're not listening to the same songs or album over and over again. Once Christmas is over, pack away the Christmas music till next year.

Pine Cones: If you live in an area where you can freely gather pine cones, do so. They make great Christmas decorations. Either leave them natural looking, or you can paint them silver or gold, or even spray 'snow' on them. Scatter them under the tree and in other areas around your room, to add to the Christmas look.

Decorate your Table and Bring out Christmas Table-wear: Look for your most Christmassy looking tablecloth and use that for your Christmas meals, and dinners leading up to Christmas. Also bring out your most colourful dinnerware and serve your meals on that. If you want to, you can invest in this type of tableware during the year, or over a few years, so that you gradually build up a special Christmas set. Again, once Christmas is over, tuck it away till next year.

Table Piece: Design your own center piece for your table. It can be easily done with a sawn off tree branch, some ribbons, a bit of clay and candles. Be inventive and make up a natural looking Christmas center piece for your table. If you make it sturdy enough you can use it year after year.

Christmas Teddies and Dolls: Get your children in on the act. It's really fun to see little teddy bears or dolls all decked out in Christmas outfits. If you don't have anything specifically Christmassy for them, just tie ribbons around them and give them a little Christmas present to hold under their arm or to sit on their lap. Cluster the teddies and dolls around the room, for a real cute festive look.

These are just a few ideas of how you can cut costs this Christmas. Just think, if you are able to save on your decorations you'll have more money to invest into either your Christmas presents, or your Christmas celebrations. And, it can look just as nice as if you had spent a lot of money on expensive ornaments and decorations.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Decorating on a Shoestring Budget

Susan L. West, a professional interior decorator, offers advice on how to decorate on a budget. For more ideas on how you can save on Christmas decorations this year, read her article, Christmas Decorating on a Budget.

4 Simple Ways to Decorate Your Dining Room Table on a Budget

Decorating a dining room table is not as difficult as you may think it is. Although there are some people who may spend thousands of dollars just decorating the dining table, it may not even take a hundred dollars to get a beautifully decorated dining room table that you can be proud of. With a little creativity and careful use of things that you already may have, you can come up with a great looking dining room table on a budget.

Use Placemats or a Tablecloth on the Dining Set Table

How To Decorate And Live Well

One of the easiest ways to add instant style to a dining table is to add placemats or a tablecloth. Some tablecloths and placemats are quite expensive, but it is not that hard to find inexpensive pieces at department stores or discount stores. To save some money, you can even make your own placemats or tablecloths by buying inexpensive fabric and using your sewing machine.

The fabric that you choose for your dining table is going to set the style for the table. If you want something clean and simple, use plain colored fabric and if you plan on only having placemats or the tablecloth on the dining room table you can go with patterns and designs.

Utilize the China You Already Have

Instead of just simply storing your good china in a kitchen cabinet or hutch, display it on your dining table. Lay out the china settings to add some interest to the table. It doesn't matter if you don't ever use those china settings, they are only for décor reasons and not for use. Since you already have the good set of china, you don't have to pay any money for a new setting to display on the dining room table.

Look to Nature for Décor Pieces

Nature provides us with so many different decorating options that are free. You can come up with some really beautiful and unique dining room table centerpiece ideas when you're outdoors.

· Vases of freshly picked flowers not only smell nice, but make a pretty centerpiece for the table.

· A bowl filled with pinecones and dried flowers can really set your dining table ready for the fall season.

· Or maybe you have an apple tree or know someone who does that can give you some apples to put in a bowl for a centerpiece.

· You can also use fruits such as lemons and limes.

· A simple potted plant also works well for a clean look on a dining room table.

Use Candles to Decorate Your Dining Table

Candles on your dining room table will not only add a romantic ambience to the dining room but can also add some great interest and style to the table. You can easily find inexpensive candles that can be placed in a row or a circle on the table and act as a centerpiece. You can also choose candelabra for the centerpiece as well.

Another creative idea is adding a glass bowl with water to the table and place floating candles in the bowl. There are so many different candles to choose from that you are bound to find something that looks great on the table and fits your decorating style.

There is no need to spend a lot of money decorating your dining room table. Instead stick to your budget and use these great dining room table decorating ideas for a stylish and unique table for your home.

4 Simple Ways to Decorate Your Dining Room Table on a Budget

Leon Tuberman has been in the furniture and interior design industry for 40 years. He owns and operates a popular furniture store in Los Angeles. They offer a huge assortment of solid wood furniture for your living room, bedroom and dining room that's built in the Heartland of America. It doesn't matter whether you're shopping for a mission dressers for your bedroom or a wood file cabinet for your home office then they carry everything you need.