The Canny Couple

We are a homestead family living debt free living while merging frugality, homesteading, traditional skills, and modern enhancements into our everyday lives.

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

Do you prep your bulk meat right away, or freeze it raw?

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

Bulk Meat Prep Took full advantage of a $3/lb ground beef sale this week! 🍝 Kept my kitchen stove busy browning it all at once to divide into two months' worth of meal portions for the freezer. It saves money up front and makes weeknight dinners effortless.

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

Old-School Frugal Advice
My Gramie taught me how to hunt down a deal and stack savings, whether an item was new or used. Some of the best money habits are the ones passed down from family! What's one old-school frugal tip you learned from your grandparents that you still use?

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

Cheap & Easy Dinner Under $2 to feed the family tonight! 🙌 Making a big batch of taco rice and beans in the Instant Pot. It's fast, incredibly frugal, and everyone eats it without complaining. What's on your menu tonight?

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

Frugal Win of the Week: A win is a win, no matter how small! 🥳 Our go-to emergency breakfast bars were marked BOGO this week, dropping our cost from $0.66 down to $0.50 a bar. Might only be a few cents, but those small savings add up big over time on our grocery budget.

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

you can often find brand new items for less than thrift store prices. What's one popular "frugal hack" you think is actually a waste of time or money?

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

Buying used is not always the best deal! I was scrolling Facebook Marketplace recently and saw a beat-up tool set listed for $200 — the exact same price it costs brand new at the store. 🤯 I see the same thing with clothes: by the time you dig through clearance racks,

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

Would this have been an instant add-to-cart for you, or a pass?

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

Found these kids' shoes at a yard sale for just ONE dollar. 🏷️ They've got plenty of life left, so even though my little one can't wear them today, into the stash they go for next year! I know secondhand isn't for everyone, but at this price I couldn't walk away.

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

What's one simple habit that keeps your produce from ending up in the trash?

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

$1.69/lb grapes are only a deal if you actually eat them! I've learned the hard way that if I just throw produce in the fridge as-is, it gets forgotten. Taking ten minutes to wash and stem these as soon as I got home means zero waste and easy snacking for my daughter.

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

It's amazing how much money you save over a year just by taking an afternoon to sew up seams, mend clothes, and glue broken toys back together instead of instantly replacing them—and it teaches our daughter that broken doesn't mean trash. Anyone else tackling a repair pile?

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

My "fix-it" bag used to just be Aaron's work pants that needed a quick mending. But as our little one grows, the contents of this pile change constantly! Now it's stuffed with beloved stuffed animals that lost a seam, blankets that need a stitch, and fav socks with tiny holes.

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

When was the last time you checked your monthly auto-pays?

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

How many subscriptions are you paying for right now that you don't even use? Be honest! When Aaron and I first got together, we used to binge-watch TV series all weekend long.

As life shifted and we got busier, we stopped having time for it—but we kept paying $8.99+ month after

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

month for streaming services we literally never turned on. We did that for years out of pure habit. We weren't paying for entertainment anymore; we were paying for a ghost habit. Take a few minutes to check your statement auto-pays, and it can put money back into your pocket.

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

You don't have to spend a fortune to keep your kids creative—just keep an eye out at yard sales and clearance racks! How do you save on kids' art supplies?

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

Our little girl loves to paint and create, and I want to encourage that creativity as much as possible. But man, craft store supplies add up fast!

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

Instead of buying new at full price, I let her use my older paint supplies, and we find most of our items at yard sales or on deep clearance. We've found 25¢ ceramic animals at yard sales, $1 wooden Christmas ornaments, and a $2 craft "gingerbread" house off-season.

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

We go by the math, in the store, and go with what is going to save us the most at the time—it comes down to price, sales, and what your family actually enjoys eating. What about you?

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

7 times out of 10, we're buying the store brand. We check ingredients, compare prices, and taste-test, and generic usually wins. But we aren't total purists—there are exceptions!

[The Canny Couple @thecannycouple]

I'm picky about my peanut butter and cream cheese, so I stick to my favorite name brands (I swear I can tell the difference!). On the flip side, boxed brownie mix on sale is way cheaper than making it from scratch, and name-brand peanuts were actually 50¢ cheaper than generic.