Frugalicious :: Balsamic Vinaigrette Steak Salad

By: Mrs. FrugalEnginerds

Being new parents, we rarely have time to sit down for a proper meal at home and when we do, I try very my best to make it quick, efficient, and delicious. Sometimes I find myself making dishes that I don’t necessarily craved but rather upon availability, and to our delight, our meals turn out quite satisfying. One of our favorites is steak salad. It’s a well-balanced meal with just the right amount of veggies and proteins.

Frugalicious :: Crawfish Boil

By: Mrs. FrugalEnginerds

When we started assessing our financial problem areas, one major bill that stood out was our grocery bill. We spent more than $1,000 a month for two, not counting dining out. This is someone’s mortgage! I grew up in an immigrant family of four kids, and I don’t think my parents ever spent that much within a month for food, ever! It was a horrendous, excessive habit. We knew we had to do something. By living frugally means we’d need to do some serious cutback, but without deprivation. One saving grace for me is I enjoy cooking. I figured if I had to start somewhere, then food would be it. I plan to cook more at home with dishes that we both love. Real delicious, restaurant inspired food that will not break the bank. On this series, I will track our food spending and including a cost analysis/comparison of home cooked meals versus restaurant meals.

This is my Frugalicious series of home cooked meals, homemade crafts, and DIY projects.

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It’s Spring time! Here in New Orleans we’re known for abundant seafood, and one of our family’s favorites is crawfish – and Spring is their prime season. These tiny creatures look almost like mini lobsters, and taste similar to shrimp, except they’re a bit chewier. Mr. FEN usually can devour 5 pounds in one sitting, and with drinks and all the extra fixings, it can be an expensive pastime meal. What we’ve started doing is buy these crawfish live from the seafood market and boil them at home. Not only they cost a fraction of the price compared to restaurant, but the best part is we can enjoy getting messy in the comfort of our home.

After many trials and errors, I’m finally happy with my very own crawfish boil recipe and Whole Shebang sauce.

Achieving Financial Independence

By Mr. FrugalEnginerds

**We are super excited to post our very FIRST post, it’s like unwrapping presents on Christmas morning.**

The future is bright, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

As of this blog post, we are approximately 25% closer to achieving our goal of Financial Independence aka “FREEDOM” in 10 years. Maybe even sooner if our investments exceed our expectations, time will reveal the truth. Our saving and investing rate is currently at 45% of our combine income. Definitely, improvements are much needed in this department. Our short term goal is to reduce our spending and increase our saving and investing rate to 50% by the end of the 2016. Perhaps even