What a great surprise! Thanks Sydney for joining in on this adventure. I hope Christine continues to have brave people like you to join her in these videos.
Better than bouillon is my secret ingredient to everything. My husband is a chef and I finally told him my secret and he was like man that makes so much sense you’re food has improved so much the last year or two 😂 I buy every flavor and add it to everything.
Christine, thinking of a video idea for you… Do one on your tried and true recipe book that you keep and how having a list of favorites can save you money because you always have those ingredients. Show how to keep a recipe book. In this digital age it’s often forgotten the quick visual of paper. Your suggestion in 2020 helped me with with what to buy and menu planning:)
I don't buy taco seasoning packets anymore. I make my own from bulk seasonings from Sam's. You can buy bulk taco seasoning from Sam's and save money, but I prefer to make my own.
I don’t think I have any where we live that has much clearance. Our darn Italian bread at Walmart has gone up to $1.48 and the clearance is never below $1.03. So exact, I know! 😆
Way to go, Sydney! Being on camera and opening your life up for criticism takes courage!! Two suggestions: check the freezer section for frozen asparagus when it's off season, and don't throw away the bones/skin from the chicken thighs!! Even if you cook them with bones in, cook the bones and skin in a crockpot filled with water overnight. Strain out the yuck. Voila! "Free" broth. Let it cool and pour into quart sized ziplocs, freeze flat. Now you have super cheap broth to add to soups, casseroles, etc.
yes! home made bone broth is great, if I just have a few I’ll throw the bones🦴 in a freezer bag with our carrots butts and celery cores and add them to the next batch of broth.
She was perfect. She is already on board..and she appears to be a wonderful mom and beautiful and lovely wife..this world could use more young women like her..
Those reusable pouches SUCK! I bought them for my grandkids and it was terrible! They don’t even fit enough food in them to satisfy a 12 month old! They are a pain in the tush to clean as well. We ended up sending them back!
This is Great Christine. Would you consider doing a follow up video , say, six months later to see how the students of the "frugal fit academy"😃 are faring on. love your content.
I think it would be so cool if you could do this but go through a whole month with them. I think that would really help reenforce the lessons but also prove your point with us and we could see how much lower the monthly cost was.
I've been doing those things for YEARS. I (many years ago) worked with 13 families to get them the best deals and then reimburse me when they had the cash instead of them buying those SAME items at full price. After about a year, all of them were MUCH more self sufficient and were "on their own". Now, a few still call me or text me about specific items, but most are doing great.
Sydney has such a beautiful spirit about her & was so willing to make changes to better her shopping experiences :) very inspiring video Christine! God bless you ladies
Those amazing discount produce bags can be sliced, diced and frozen for use later in casseroles, tacos, soups, etc. I love having onions diced and frozen in the freezer.
The powedered beef broth is a high salt content item. I sometimes buy canned beef broth -- I don't use it very often. Sometimes, I don't want the high salt itemin whatever i'm cooking.
When I was raising my kids all I knew was to buy things on sale plus normal staples to make meals. There wasn’t social media or meal planning. That’s also how we learned to be more creative when coming up with meal ideas. My mom was the queen of casseroles!! Unfortunately we didn’t always know what were in them!! Once I became a mom, I swore off several things from my home, casseroles being one!!
I was pregnant in Germany and craving asparagus like nobody’s business! Finally found some and it was, I kid you not, 18 dollars!!! Didn’t get it, but to this day I am grateful everytime I find it at a normal price
For the 411 Walmart has a fresh frozen asparagus for less than 2 dollars for 12 ounces. Cooks up almost the same as fresh. It is in a steamable bag but I put it on a baking sheet with olive oil and kosher salt. Delicious!
Making veggie soup tomorrow. I found a veggie tray red-tagged at Kroger. I got medley potatoes to add. It is all a big time saver, too. Yes, better than boullion. I live alone so there will be plenty to freeze.
I swear... somehow, I just knew she was a military spouse. 😂 Y'all did great! The commissary is awesome for just about everything except produce in my experience. I can still regularly get chicken breast for under $2 a pound.
My family is the exact same size, and my kids are almost the exact same ages! We’re doing $500/month right now. We have some food allergies, so I have to make a lot of things from scratch to swap out ingredients. It’s time consuming, but I think we’re definitely saving money by doing that!!
Sydney, you did a great job! The more you look for the stickers, the easier it will get. Before you know it, you will just automatically be looking for them. 😀
Way to go Sydney! You did a great thing for so many people in your situation. Thank you for being open to learning in such a public way. You were a joy to meet too! Thank you whoever thought this would be a good series, we are all in.
Thanks, Sydney for being so vulnerable. People are not born knowing how to manage money and a household so they need to be taught. Christine does a great job of showing how to save money. I love her videos!
I buy the clearance peppers and chop them, and freeze them for casseroles. Freeze on a cookie sheet and store in a clean empty Miracle Whip jar, freeze.
Love going into store because can get the marked down clearance items! Also, love Sam’s scan and go! Don’t have to wait in long line. I wish other stores adopt that.
As a former Army Brat. The Commissary is at cost and no taxes. Then fresh produce has always been bad at the Commissary. You can use coupons. I think you can still use expired coupons too. My mom would double check prices on personal care items between the PX (Post Exchange) and the Commissary. Love these styles of video.👍
As a current commissary shopper, things are not always at cost, but we do get some really great deals. No problem with produce at any of the bases we lived at in the last 20 years. And while technically no tax, all commissaries charge a 5% surcharge that they put back into the stores. So for the customer, it is kind of like a 5% tax. Our state doesn’t tax food, so Walmart can sometimes be better price wise, but for those that do tax food, it may be better at the commissary.
Retired military can go, but veterans cannot, if that makes sense. Like my husband didn't retire from the military but he's a veteran and we cannot.@@CHSwildcats19
It probably varies per commisary but I like to shop the sales! I find it cheaper to shop at Aldi but commisary can be cheaper on certain items than Walmart for any name brand stuff I need. But the sales can be super good, like today I bought 2 boxes of cereal 1.65 each and there was a digital coupon for 1 off 2.
For those of you looking for reusable pouches! Get the baby brezza pouches. They are amazing! They are transparent so you can see if they are clean. They opened along the side so they are easy fill and wash. And to top it off I feel like they hold up well too!
You can chop the peppers and freeze them for later. Then you don't have to use them right away. Peppers do not require any fancy prep-work before freezing, so no blanching or anything like that.
I, too, like to chop and freeze peppers, onions, celery, and carrots. I never use up bunches of celery and carrots before it goes bad so this is a great tip!
My husband is retired Air Force. Now that he is retired we don't live anywhere near a military base. I really miss the commissary! ☹️ They have always taken care of their military members. The case lot sales they had a couple times a year were the best!
The commissary sometimes has GREAT deals. Go the day after Halloween and the day after Christmas, for 50% or more. I stock up on all my ziplocs and paper goods for the year. Okay, and candy.
Great job! I shop at a Kroger and rarely buy produce that is not on a good sale or is clearance tagged. One thing I would suggest is making your own taco seasoning, especially if tacos are a regular menu item.
Good advice. There are so many seasonings you can prep at home. Added advantage is you can make them without the excess salt, added food color and preservatives.
There are two Kroger stores near me: QFC and Fred Meyer, and boy, are they different. QFC , a half mile away, is food only, and all the produce is way more expensive. Fred Meyer is 3.5 miles, and has everything, clothing, paint, garden etc., has mail and online coupons, and reasonable prices on produce. I guess you know where I go.
I just love Sydney, she's so cute and sweet. She seems natural in front of the camera. I think if I did one of these my personality would not come through and I'd just be super awkward 😂
Kudos to Sydney for giving us the experience of learning while going shopping with you both! Kudos to her kids for liking and requesting vegetables! Great video!! I need some Christine glasses also🤣
Seriously! A five year old who loves veggies is a good problem to have, and promising asparagus is a good deal. Well done, Sydney and thank you both for bringing us along. I hope we get to see how this progresses!
Christine, I would love to see a resource created by you for us newer shoppers listing average prices of popular foods. I have such a hard time knowing my prices and I know you say a lot that it's necessary. I'd love to have a quick reference guide on prices.
How cool that you got to go to the Commissary! I try to explain to the younger Airmen and their spouses how much you can save. Sure, you have to get bargains everywhere, but don't discount the privilege you earn by being military. Thank you so much Sydney for being brave and having Christine come along with you. I'm sharing this video to our Base Savings page to hopefully help them out.
I absolutely love clearance items and stocking up when there are deals. Be sure to couple deals with digital coupons and apps for even more savings. Yesterday, I found clearance 1/2 gallon milk in glass containers for $2. Our store gives you $2.50 if you return the container (no deposit was required, so I actually make 50 cents each). The milk is dairy milk and lasts a good 2 weeks after the expiration because the glass keeps it so cold. Seriously , they paid me to "buy" gourmet milk. So fun
Download the FREE Upside App at upside.app.link/frugal to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas.
I love upside! I don't have groceries as an option. I wonder if that varies by location?
I signed up, but it didn't take your code. :(
The trick is to still go look at the clearance options even when the list is short to keep those stock up items coming! Way to go Sydney! ;D
Am I the only one that heard "my husbands need for sex", when she asked what the main leak in the budget was? Hahaha!
lol I had to go back a few seconds to replay and was like oh snacks
I came to the comments to see if I was the only one who heard that.
Totally!!! 😅😂
What a great surprise! Thanks Sydney for joining in on this adventure. I hope Christine continues to have brave people like you to join her in these videos.
I hope so too!
This was really fun :)
And Christine didn’t knock cookies out of her hand!?😂😂
I just purchased my first crockpot! So I'm watching ALL OF YOUR "CROCK-TOBERS!
Better than bouillon is my secret ingredient to everything. My husband is a chef and I finally told him my secret and he was like man that makes so much sense you’re food has improved so much the last year or two 😂 I buy every flavor and add it to everything.
It a game changer
Agree!! And it lasts forever in the fridge!
Same!!!
I was dismayed to find it has dairy in it! At least the beef does. That makes it a no go for my family (dairy allergies)
@@erinknight7953 I just checked the Roasted Chicken BTB in my fridge and I don’t see any dairy listed, if that helps 😊
So happy to see you with a military family!!!!! & at the commissary no less! :)
I LOVED this! School her Christine!!! She did great
Christine, thinking of a video idea for you… Do one on your tried and true recipe book that you keep and how having a list of favorites can save you money because you always have those ingredients. Show how to keep a recipe book. In this digital age it’s often forgotten the quick visual of paper. Your suggestion in 2020 helped me with with what to buy and menu planning:)
You go, Sydney!!! 👏👏👏
I adore this video. More please. And Sydney, 👏👏👏👏👏
Petition to have a Grocery Audit/Financial Audit crossover. Caleb sets a grocery budget for someone and then Christine slashes it in half
That would be epic
Love that idea!
Yes!! That would be amazing
This!!!
Epic!!! Doooi ittt!!
I love that you do these videos! Thank you!❤
We’re I live the chances of finding clearance items is like the 1 in 1 million chance of it snowing
👏🏼 Yes!!! This was great and so much fun too! 🤓 💰
Nice job Sydney - being a military family like you - I remember the days of the commissary!!!
👏So proud of you girl!!! 🙌
Sydney is so lucky! She got to hang with Christine for the day! Haha great video❤️
What a great video! Thanks for sharing with us Sydney! ❤❤
loved seeing Sydney and you shopping!
Yay! Good job, ladies!
👏👏👏👏👏...Sydney!!!!!
Sydney is such a natural on camera, she should have a UA-cam Channel!
I was thinking that to
My husband is the same way!! Snacks are a must for him..chips, nuts, chocolates, cookies, couple pks of debbie cakes, 24 pk of sodas a wk...ugh!!!
I don't buy taco seasoning packets anymore. I make my own from bulk seasonings from Sam's. You can buy bulk taco seasoning from Sam's and save money, but I prefer to make my own.
I don’t think I have any where we live that has much clearance. Our darn Italian bread at Walmart has gone up to $1.48 and the clearance is never below $1.03. So exact, I know! 😆
👏 Sydney! You'll do great with Christine's tips!
Yeah! Sydney. Good job.
Way to go, Sydney! Being on camera and opening your life up for criticism takes courage!! Two suggestions: check the freezer section for frozen asparagus when it's off season, and don't throw away the bones/skin from the chicken thighs!! Even if you cook them with bones in, cook the bones and skin in a crockpot filled with water overnight. Strain out the yuck. Voila! "Free" broth. Let it cool and pour into quart sized ziplocs, freeze flat. Now you have super cheap broth to add to soups, casseroles, etc.
Add a glub of vinegar and it helps add calcium to the broth.
@@nancybrewer8494a glub of vinegar 😂 That's an actual measurement ❤❤❤ I love it
Also, because it's bone broth it has natural collagen in it, so don't be surprised when it looks like gelatin in the fridge.
@@nancybrewer8494 Hmm... I haven't heard this before. Lots of great benefits from foods cooked from scratched.
yes! home made bone broth is great, if I just have a few I’ll throw the bones🦴 in a freezer bag with our carrots butts and celery cores and add them to the next batch of broth.
She was perfect. She is already on board..and she appears to be a wonderful mom and beautiful and lovely wife..this world could use more young women like her..
I thought it was another video submission, so I jumped when Christine suddenly appeared in the shot! Felt like editing magic or something 😂😂
These grocery audits are my absolute FAVORITE!
Way to Go SYD!!!!
Would love to see a month after follow up of how her pantry and freezer look.
Christine, it's like you've broken the 4th wall! Love these grocery audit videos...and freezer meals...and pantry challenges...love it all!
If someone came and looked through my refrigerator and pantry I might go into heart palpitations. Good for Sydney. She's a brave woman!
Those reusable pouches SUCK! I bought them for my grandkids and it was terrible! They don’t even fit enough food in them to satisfy a 12 month old! They are a pain in the tush to clean as well. We ended up sending them back!
This is Great Christine. Would you consider doing a follow up video , say, six months later to see how the students of the "frugal fit academy"😃 are faring on. love your content.
👏👏👏👏👏👏Sydney!
I just LOVE these videos! 💕🥰💕🥰Seeing people save money on groceries makes me happy!
Christine's clearance glasses!!😂😂😂
👏👏👏👏👏yayyyy Sydney!!🎉🎉🎉
I absolutely love these videos! And her personality reminds me of your sweet Haley!
I think it would be so cool if you could do this but go through a whole month with them. I think that would really help reenforce the lessons but also prove your point with us and we could see how much lower the monthly cost was.
I've been doing those things for YEARS. I (many years ago) worked with 13 families to get them the best deals and then reimburse me when they had the cash instead of them buying those SAME items at full price. After about a year, all of them were MUCH more self sufficient and were "on their own". Now, a few still call me or text me about specific items, but most are doing great.
Great video. I'm so glad she did this with you.
Sydney has such a beautiful spirit about her & was so willing to make changes to better her shopping experiences :) very inspiring video Christine! God bless you ladies
Good video, rekindling the clearance flame 🔥 as I’m watching.
Those amazing discount produce bags can be sliced, diced and frozen for use later in casseroles, tacos, soups, etc. I love having onions diced and frozen in the freezer.
Thanks sydney for allowing us to see your pantry. Congrats your willing to learn and wanting to lower your bills. christine another great show.
These are my new favorite style of videos from you!
The powedered beef broth is a high salt content item. I sometimes buy canned beef broth -- I don't use it very often. Sometimes, I don't want the high salt itemin whatever i'm cooking.
When I was raising my kids all I knew was to buy things on sale plus normal staples to make meals. There wasn’t social media or meal planning. That’s also how we learned to be more creative when coming up with meal ideas. My mom was the queen of casseroles!! Unfortunately we didn’t always know what were in them!! Once I became a mom, I swore off several things from my home, casseroles being one!!
I was pregnant in Germany and craving asparagus like nobody’s business! Finally found some and it was, I kid you not, 18 dollars!!! Didn’t get it, but to this day I am grateful everytime I find it at a normal price
Sydney you are so wise and brave and a natural on camera! You did really well with Christine on your shopping trip.
👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 Good girl !!
I wish our Kroger had deals like this.
For the 411 Walmart has a fresh frozen asparagus for less than 2 dollars for 12 ounces. Cooks up almost the same as fresh. It is in a steamable bag but I put it on a baking sheet with olive oil and kosher salt. Delicious!
I will have to try that!
Making veggie soup tomorrow. I found a veggie tray red-tagged at Kroger. I got medley potatoes to add. It is all a big time saver, too. Yes, better than boullion. I live alone so there will be plenty to freeze.
I love how your helping your followers this way, I would love to see you do these on a regular basis :)
I swear... somehow, I just knew she was a military spouse. 😂
Y'all did great! The commissary is awesome for just about everything except produce in my experience. I can still regularly get chicken breast for under $2 a pound.
Yes, they have good deals on meat.
👏 Sydney!
?
My family is the exact same size, and my kids are almost the exact same ages! We’re doing $500/month right now. We have some food allergies, so I have to make a lot of things from scratch to swap out ingredients. It’s time consuming, but I think we’re definitely saving money by doing that!!
I shop using the ads and then keep my eye peeled for the discount stickers. Saves bunches🎉❤
Great job Sydney! Shopping on a budget for good and healthy food is difficult. So glad you are willing to learn new things.
Sydney, you did a great job! The more you look for the stickers, the easier it will get. Before you know it, you will just automatically be looking for them. 😀
I love you Christine, but our grocery stores rarely if every clearance items of food. I look at these videos and get so jealous.
My son’s favourite is asparagus too…and yes I buy it regardless since a 6 year old eating multiple serving of green veggies is not to be trifled with
Way to go Sydney! You did a great thing for so many people in your situation. Thank you for being open to learning in such a public way. You were a joy to meet too! Thank you whoever thought this would be a good series, we are all in.
Thanks, Sydney for being so vulnerable. People are not born knowing how to manage money and a household so they need to be taught. Christine does a great job of showing how to save money. I love her videos!
I buy the clearance peppers and chop them, and freeze them for casseroles. Freeze on a cookie sheet and store in a clean empty Miracle Whip jar, freeze.
Love going into store because can get the marked down clearance items! Also, love Sam’s scan and go! Don’t have to wait in long line. I wish other stores adopt that.
I am HERE for this grocery audit series!!
I spy with my little eye...CBS memory verses on the fridge!!🥰
Thank you Sydney for allowing us to tag along! Thank you also for your family’s Service!
Peppers freeze so well too! Always grab the dollar bag of peppers!
👏👏👏She’s going to be rocking that budget once she gets the hang of things.
Thank you Sydney for opening your grocery haul to Christine’s UA-cam community! Way to go on finding the deals!!
As a former Army Brat. The Commissary is at cost and no taxes. Then fresh produce has always been bad at the Commissary. You can use coupons. I think you can still use expired coupons too. My mom would double check prices on personal care items between the PX (Post Exchange) and the Commissary. Love these styles of video.👍
As a current commissary shopper, things are not always at cost, but we do get some really great deals. No problem with produce at any of the bases we lived at in the last 20 years. And while technically no tax, all commissaries charge a 5% surcharge that they put back into the stores. So for the customer, it is kind of like a 5% tax. Our state doesn’t tax food, so Walmart can sometimes be better price wise, but for those that do tax food, it may be better at the commissary.
@@dianaq710 Are base commissary stores only for active duty? (Was wondering if veterans could use them ....)
@@CHSwildcats19 My grandfather shopped there his entire life - he was retired for 30 years.
Retired military can go, but veterans cannot, if that makes sense. Like my husband didn't retire from the military but he's a veteran and we cannot.@@CHSwildcats19
It probably varies per commisary but I like to shop the sales! I find it cheaper to shop at Aldi but commisary can be cheaper on certain items than Walmart for any name brand stuff I need. But the sales can be super good, like today I bought 2 boxes of cereal 1.65 each and there was a digital coupon for 1 off 2.
❤❤❤🎉😂😮 Love Asparagus ❣️❣️ I get them when they look nice at my grocery store and are at a $2.99 or less per pound is our price point.
5, 3 and 6 months! Thats my boat too. I wish I had a kroger near me. Iowa doesn't have many grocery chains, but they do have Aldi! Woo!
Yay Sydney! (Love this series, Kristine. I hope you continue to have brave souls volunteer to have you slap cookies out of their hands)
I hope so too!
For those of you looking for reusable pouches! Get the baby brezza pouches. They are amazing! They are transparent so you can see if they are clean. They opened along the side so they are easy fill and wash. And to top it off I feel like they hold up well too!
You can chop the peppers and freeze them for later. Then you don't have to use them right away. Peppers do not require any fancy prep-work before freezing, so no blanching or anything like that.
I, too, like to chop and freeze peppers, onions, celery, and carrots. I never use up bunches of celery and carrots before it goes bad so this is a great tip!
You never fail to impress! Thanks Christine for all you do. 😊
My tip for syndey is to try to cook the same
meals on a rotation so you're always buying the same things and random ingredients dont go to waste!
My husband is retired Air Force. Now that he is retired we don't live anywhere near a military base. I really miss the commissary! ☹️ They have always taken care of their military members. The case lot sales they had a couple times a year were the best!
The commissary sometimes has GREAT deals. Go the day after Halloween and the day after Christmas, for 50% or more. I stock up on all my ziplocs and paper goods for the year. Okay, and candy.
We moved to Oklahoma in 2019. We don't have any Kroger stores. We have delivery, but I refuse to pay for delivery.
I LOVE how excited you are about helping her and shopping!!!❤❤❤
Great job! I shop at a Kroger and rarely buy produce that is not on a good sale or is clearance tagged. One thing I would suggest is making your own taco seasoning, especially if tacos are a regular menu item.
Good advice. There are so many seasonings you can prep at home. Added advantage is you can make them without the excess salt, added food color and preservatives.
I've been doing that for ages now. I also use taco seasoning in black beans
There are two Kroger stores near me: QFC and Fred Meyer, and boy, are they different. QFC , a half mile away, is food only, and all the produce is way more expensive. Fred Meyer is 3.5 miles, and has everything, clothing, paint, garden etc., has mail and online coupons, and reasonable prices on produce. I guess you know where I go.
Thanks Sydney! ❤
Scan and GO!! LOVE IT!!
I just love Sydney, she's so cute and sweet. She seems natural in front of the camera. I think if I did one of these my personality would not come through and I'd just be super awkward 😂
Kudos to Sydney for giving us the experience of learning while going shopping with you both! Kudos to her kids for liking and requesting vegetables! Great video!! I need some Christine glasses also🤣
Seriously! A five year old who loves veggies is a good problem to have, and promising asparagus is a good deal.
Well done, Sydney and thank you both for bringing us along. I hope we get to see how this progresses!
👏👏👏 Way to go Sydney!!!! This is so awesome! I would love to see more!!
Christine, I would love to see a resource created by you for us newer shoppers listing average prices of popular foods. I have such a hard time knowing my prices and I know you say a lot that it's necessary. I'd love to have a quick reference guide on prices.
How cool that you got to go to the Commissary! I try to explain to the younger Airmen and their spouses how much you can save. Sure, you have to get bargains everywhere, but don't discount the privilege you earn by being military. Thank you so much Sydney for being brave and having Christine come along with you. I'm sharing this video to our Base Savings page to hopefully help them out.
I absolutely love clearance items and stocking up when there are deals. Be sure to couple deals with digital coupons and apps for even more savings. Yesterday, I found clearance 1/2 gallon milk in glass containers for $2. Our store gives you $2.50 if you return the container (no deposit was required, so I actually make 50 cents each). The milk is dairy milk and lasts a good 2 weeks after the expiration because the glass keeps it so cold. Seriously , they paid me to "buy" gourmet milk. So fun
So cool sydney! Love this Format Christin! Love from germany