What’s up beautiful frugal people, here’s a new meal I tried at home today. My first ever attempt at homemade Chicken Katsu in the air fryer, I don’t like using so much oil now and I utilize our air fryer for new recipes and not only do they come out more healthier than deep frying things but I also save a lot on the oil expenses. Now, first-most, I am not afraid to buy the generic foods like Kroger brands or store brand food items. It saves me money and I really don’t think the quality is that much different. Secondly, I do a small amount of bargain shopping so I usually buy things on sale and store them or vacuum freeze them. That’s why I’m able to cut my costs so low. Also foods like seasonings and rice last a very long time.

Anyway, here goes. For the rice, I bought a little rice cooker that can make 3 cups for $15.00, enough to feed a whole family, I LOVE it and it saves me money and time, not much to it than to measure, wash your rice, and throw it in and season it. Takes roughly about 40 mins to have it come out how I like it, in the mean time I work on the other food or do something else.

For the chicken Katsu, Ive never made it before, but it’s basically the same as making fried chicken, however it was my first time making in the air fryer.

1) Beat your eggs in a bowl

2) in a separate bowl you mix your flour with your seasonings, I like to add salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and some chili powder, then I added some Panko bread crumbs. I bought the cheap generic brand and only spent about $1.70, however you can always make your own at home and save more money.

3) Then I grabbed my chicken breast (slice it in half if its too bulky), pat it down dry, dunk it in the egg wash, then in the flour mixture until it is fully covered.

4) Then I spray it with cooking spray on each side and set it in the air fryer.

5) I set my air fryer to 360°F and cook on one side for 7-8 mins, then turn it over and cook it for another 7-8 mins. Thats a total of 14-16 mins of cooking time, however each air fryer is different, sometimes you might have to cook it an extra 1-3 mins to get a crunchier exterior how I like it, it just depends how u like your meal. Just check the internals of your meat using a food thermometer. I believe properly cooked chicken is 155°F.

6) As the chicken is cooking, I start on the gravy. I had left over steak juice from last night when I had made steak in the pressure cooker. It was about a cup of water, a splash of some red wine, and some seasonings, with the steak drippings, but you can just use a can of beef broth or even chicken broth (I prefer using beef because it helps brings out the chicken flavor, imo)

7) I pour it into a sauce pan, mix in some masala powder, curry powder, salt and sugar, until taste, I cook it on high heat.

8) Then I mix in some flour or cornstarch, maybe about a tbsp or slightly more depending on how the consistency looks. It should thicken up. I didnt use a recipe for this curry, I just winged it and did my own thing until I liked the flavor.

9) Once everything was done, I put everything together and topped off the chicken Katsu with some slices of onion and the homemade curry gravy with some sliced radishes.

I usually like to add more, but I needed to go to the grocery store this weekend and this was all that I had, however I will admit that this meal came out FANTASTIC! My picky sister LOVED it, she couldn’t get enough of the gravy and asked for a second serving. She gave it an excellent 9/10, she wished I had made more gravy. I know the presentation wasn’t great and I should have sliced the chicken katsu into more slices, but I was a starving man. My sister was impressed by how well everything tasted and especially the chicken fried in the air fryer. I am a fan of air fried chicken from now on.

Now, I went over my costs and I do think I over-calculated here, however I would rather over calculate than under. Here’s a list of ingredients and what I paid for each serving.

Chicken breast (½ breast) $1.00 (pack of 5lbs for $10.00)
Eggs (2 whole) $0.28
All-purpose flour 1 Cup $0.16
Panko breadcrumbs $0.21
White rice (1¼ cups cooked) $0.10
Onion (Ring slices) $0.08
Radish (½ radish) $0.20
Seasonings and spices $0.25
Olive oil spray $0.06
Leftover steak juices $0.00
Water $0.00

Total : $2.34

Anyway, this meal really was fantastic and I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did, cooking really is the way to go, you can save so much by going this route. Ladies, I’m single btw 😉.

My dog sleeps on my bed, so expensive bedding feels hard to justify with constant washing and wear. I'm considering rotating two affordable Bedsure sets instead of buying premium sheets. Has anyone tried this with pets? Do they hold up well after frequent washing? I'm hoping to find something comfortable, durable, and budget-friendly that can handle daily use without needing constant replacement. Is rotating two sets worth it long-term?

Halloween (and most holidays) tend to get pretty spendy. Has anybody seen the price of a bag of candy recently?? This year, I'm trying to be more conscientious both for frugality's sake and be less wasteful.

Halloween costume came from the thrift store and decorations are either natural items or creative re-uses.

Would love to hear other's tips! This community always has great ideas.

Image from: 1 Million Women (an Australian climate focused organization). I'm not affiliated with them, just like their stuff

PS: I wish we had a holiday flair

I live in a tiny, old, uninsulated, and electrically inefficient apartment. One of my windows is stuck open (top half won't stay up about 2in) and creates a draft. The heaters are electric and the main one takes up the length of the southern wall in the unit, and I'm scared to use it cause it makes contact with my bed. Bed is in the southwest corner, TV is on the east wall, dresser is on the north wall next to my closet. I live in North Dakota.

I'm wondering if it would be better to use a space heater in the main room, or if I should switch my bed and dresser around. The electric heat is more expensive than running my window A/C all day. Really don't want to burn down my building. The kitchen and bathroom heaters are shorting out, and the electrician said not to use them. :(

I live in an old rental that has rotted windows. I want to cover them year round. They are cold in the winter, and let in moisture and humidity in the summer. My electric bills are insane!!!

Has anyone ever used clear vinyl? The heavier kind...like 20 gauge? I was thinking I'd buy magnetic tape with steel tape so that I can remove it if necessary. I can use some nails to hold some of the weight at the top. I plan to use painters tape to avoid damaging the wall.

Just wondering if anyone has tried this? I can't find anyone on YouTube who has used this method for window coverings. Thank you!

I just had my electric bill contextualized in a way I hadn't before- my 1950s 950sqft home is costing over 10% more than my parents' 1750sqft new build. I'm sure having all new lights and other electronics makes somewhat of a difference, but it's a large enough gap, in a house twice as big as mine, that I'm second guessing my electricity use.

I don't unplug things, but I do turn them off when not in use. I don't have anything insane pulling in a ton of power, I think, and I'm in that sweet spot season-wise where my AC has been put away for weeks and my heat isn't on yet. Water heater isn't electric.

Most days, 1 TV is in standby mode or off entirely, the other is playing in the background while I WFH. WFH station is plugged into 2 power strips, for laptop, an extra monitor, some other little electronics. Lights are off most of the day and evening, maybe a lamp in the living room or the overhead light in the bedroom right before bed.

I've got little things plugged in that are either using minimum power throughout the day, or in standby mode (plugged in but not on)- some pet water fountains, table lamps, phone chargers, electric blankets, a lighted plant stand on a timer, dehumidifiers.

The only things I consistently have plugged in AND running all the time are security cameras and an electric doorbell.

Almost every plug has a surge protector with extra sockets plugged into it. Again, I don't unplug anything, but almost everything is in standby most of the day. Am I misunderstanding standby mode? Does it actually use a ton of electricity? Should I be unplugging everything unless I'm actively using it? Or is something else going on with my electric bill that a house twice my size is costing a not-insignificant amount less in electricity every month?

Some milk spilled in my fabric-clad car a few days ago.

I have deep- cleaned it - vacuumed it thoroughly, washed floormats.

Some here suggested that I put baking soda in a container, roll down windows, and spray w essential oil+water mix. (I can't find my previous post)

I have done all of that, too. The dried milk smell in the fabric isn't going away.

Taking it to a cleaning place is out of question. It's north of 150$+ where i live.

Can someone recommend anything?

I was dealing with terrible eye strain working long hours on a small 6-inch phone screen, so instead of buying an expensive external monitor setup, I built my own budget cyberdeck out of scrap and repurposed materials.

Total build cost was practically almost nothing, roughly under 10 dollars (around 600 to 800 INR) since most parts were salvaged.

Here is what I used:

An old broken EVD video player housing as the base enclosure

Scrap PVC pipes that I cut and flattened to shape the custom chassis

A screen magnifier lens to blow up the phone display from 6 inches to roughly 12 inches without external power

A standard USB hub glued inside with custom cutouts for peripheral access

An old external keyboard I already had lying around

My daily smartphone running an Ubuntu Linux desktop environment

The phone sits inside, the magnifier enlarges the screen enough to comfortably code, write scripts, and work without hurting my eyes, and the whole thing feels like a rugged, practical cyberdeck Here how https://youtu.be/Du03X_asRKI Would love to hear feedback or suggestions for version two