sneakcheap

This is a super easy and cheap recipe, and a huge hit in our house. These thai-style chicken burgers are easy to make even on nights tight on time and require only a few ingredients, which I often have on hand. I like to serve with salad or vegetables. Although I prefer to make these with ground chicken, other ground meats could also be easily substituted. This recipe makes four burgers. Ingredients for Thai-Style Chicken Burgers: 1 lb. ground chicken 1 tsp. ground ginger 1 tsp. garlic powder 1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs Ingredients for Remoulade: 1/4 cup mayonnaise 2 tbsps. soy sauce 1 tbsp. ketchup In a bowl, combine ground chicken, ground ginger, garlic powder, and bread crumbs. Do not overmix. Divide the mixture into four equal parts and pat into patties. Place patties into a pan with a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Cook on medium for a few minutes each side until cooked through. Thicker burgers may take longer to cook. To make the remoulade, mix toget...

Have a Birthday party coming up?  Need to feed a lot of people?  Think it's going to cost you an arm and a leg?  Think again.  Here is how I pulled off a birthday party for under $100 for 20 people.  Follow these tips for a fun and surprisingly cheap birthday party extravaganza. Keep the Menu Simple You don't need to have a million items to have a full birthday party.  I like to have a couple of appetizers, a main course, and cake, of course.  I've hosted enough birthday parties to know keeping it simple is the way to go.  I dialed it back on a lot of items because I routinely was over spending and the excess menu items weren't eaten or there were ungodly amounts of leftovers.  This menu still left us with leftovers, but I can use it for dinners later in the week and I know the kiddos will eat it. The Menu Here is the menu I used for this party.   Appetizer 1 Chips and Salsa Appetizer 2 Crudites (veggies and dip) M...

We've all heard that old idiom "Keeping Up with the Joneses." You look at your neighbors who have an extravagant house, fancy cars, and take lavish vacations. It's easy to be jealous. It's easy to want all of the things they have and more. The problem is the Joneses are probably in debt up to their eyeballs, or they've saved nothing for retirement, or they have no college savings for their kids, or they were just born super lucky with a silver spoon in their mouth. The fact is, you don't know what the Joneses' situation was, is, or will be. You can only control your life and your family's future. So I'm here to tell you how I don't keep up with the Joneses. I try to evaluate what's important to me and my family and put my money into those goals. Here are some ways that I do NOT keep up with the Joneses. Housing Housing is probably your biggest expense as it is ours. And let's face it - housing costs are a bit ridiculous especia...

I have been pushing my kiddos on the idea of experiences over things for some time. It is sometimes a tough sell, but they always seem to enjoy the experience and it tends to bring our family closer together. The problem with experiences is a lot of them are expensive especially for a family of 5. Here are some of my tips on obtaining discounted tickets or free experiences. Check Discount and Local Sites Of course, everyone is familiar with Groupon and other coupon sites online, but they are fantastic resources for discounted tickets. The most important thing about checking these sites is to not be too picky. If you are looking for a museum, for example, be open to a number of different local museums. In fact, if you haven't been there before it may be an even more rewarding experience. There are also Facebook and other social media sites that advertise discount tickets. Before heading out, I always check these sites and check to see if any discounts are available. I also look...

Overnight oats are the easiest, most delicious breakfast around. The kiddos love them. They are easy to bring to work. They are satisfying. And they are cheap. What's more to love. My favorite overnight oat recipe is pretty basic, but can be livened up with optional ingredients and toppings. Ingredients: 1 cup instant oats 1 cup milk (Almond, Soy, Coconut, cow's milk) 1 tbsp. chia seeds 1-2 tbsp. maple syrup (to your taste) Add the instant oats to a mason jar or any other sealable container. I like the mason jar because they are easy to bring to work and easy to clean. It should fill about half of the jar. Add the milk. I really like the coconut milk beverage in the refrigerated section at Trader Joes. My husband likes regular cow's milk, but any milk will do. Stir in the chia seeds and maple syrup. These are both optional and substitutable. My husband doesn't like the chia seeds. They do act as a thickening agent so the mixture will be thinner without them. I...

This post contains affiliate links. See the disclosure policy for more information. When I was younger, I never truly appreciated the appeal of Disney. But now with three kids, Disney certainly is the most happy place on Earth. Granted there is a lot of walking, I mean a LOT of walking and it isn't always the most relaxing trip, but we love going and we always have fun. Of course, we are super cheap and refuse to spend an arm and a leg to go to Disney so here are the ways we have a great vacation without spending a fortune. Book a Budget Airline and Fly on Weird Days There are a number of budget airlines (and traditional airlines) that fly direct to Orlando. We have had good success with Frontier. I'm not a fan of Spirit, but if it's a short flight I may make an exception. I also like tracking the prices a few months before the trip. I've had success checking the website Kayak.com. I also monitor flights with the Hopper app. We have found great deals if ...