Prepackaged foods from the store are really convenient, but you’d better believe that you’ll pay for the convenience of being able to pop a ready-made meal into the microwave, for example. You can save yourself a lot of money and enjoy the same kind of convenience if you just do some planning ahead of time. Take a look at some “convenience foods” that you can prepare in your own kitchen courtesy of Getting Freedom from Debt:

1. Pudding Cups/Dry Pudding Mixes: this tutorial shows you how to make vanilla pudding that you can store for single cup usage.
2. Pizza Pockets: make your own version of Hot Pockets to enjoy from the freezer.
3. Frozen Waffles/Pancakes: mix up your favorite recipe and let it cool. Throw on a cookie sheet and flash freeze in the freezer. Once all of your waffles/pancakes are frozen, toss them in a freezer bag and remove air.
4. Frozen Smoothie Cubes: once you’ve create your favorite smoothie, toss the extra into ice cube trays for a quick snack bite (or into single-serve containers for a full serving).
5. Spice Mixes: stop buying premade spice mixes and make things like taco seasoning and fajita seasoning out of the spices in your pantry.

For more great ideas, head over to Getting Freedom from Debt’s Do It Yourself Convenience Foods.