Not Made Of Money

With Memorial Day rapidly approaching, I am making my plans now for how we will celebrate the holiday. We’ll be having a backyard cookout and will drive to our city’s downtown area for a wonderful Memorial Day parade. I found that planning early helps me to save money and enjoy the day! Since most Memorial Day celebrations including cooking out on the grill, I’m planning ahead now for our party celebrations:

1. Studied the grocery sale ads and made my menu. I’ve browsed my local grocery store sale ads to find the best deals. Based on taking advantage of the “Buy One Get One Free” sales shows that we’ll be grilling hot dogs, baby back ribs, and hamburgers on the grill. Side dishes will include chips that are also on sale and a potato salad I’ll make from scratch, a tossed salad, and a fresh fruit and veggie tray. Dessert will be homemade cupcakes with a patriotic theme! My shopping list is already made and ready to take with me when I make my grocery store run on Sunday morning.

2. Purchased party decorations. I made a visit to the dollar store to purchase the party supplies including paper plates, tablecloth, napkins, and red/white/blue table decorations. I will also decorate with small flags and a few other patriotic themed accessories.

3. Planned food preparation times. On Sunday evening I will prepare the foods I need to bake or get ready ahead of time including the potato salad, tossed salad, fruit and veggie tray, and the cupcakes. These items will be prepared while I am cooking the Sunday dinner – lots of multi-tasking involved here but well worth the effort when I can enjoy Memorial Day without the stress of food preparation!

By doing all this in advance I’ll be able to watch the Memorial Day parade without stressing about the food. When we get back home after the parade all we’ll need to do is light the grill and start cooking! The key to a stress-free celebration is planning in advance – It’s a great way to save money too!

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