Recently, I split my grocery bill between the sale and 50% items at Fresh N Easy and the $15 per laundry sized basket local produce co-op.
This is the time to pull out old cookbooks and family recipes that are simple. Talk about basic menus. Just little things that help economically. Let's see if we can get a thread going.
COUPONS and SALES and PLANNING.
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/index1.htm
Hillbilly Housewife has 2 emergency menus.
$45.00 a week can feed a family of four.
Lots of recipes and links for frugal living.
Shepherd’s Pie is a favorite of ours - a layer of ground beef (browned and fat drained off) with a little onion, then a layer of creamed corn, topped with mashed potatoes.
Ping for later read and post.
Use the Dave Ramsey method of putting your grocery budget in cash in a monthly or weekly envelope- and when it is gone, live off what’s in the pantry!
I find it hard to budget when I shop with the check book
One tip- my kids “LOVE” having “breakfast for dinner” one night a week- omelets, pancakes or french toast. We mak a big batch of pancakes for Sunday breakfast, then freeze the leftover pancakes for dinner on Thursday night
Fresh & Easy is the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I head there 2-3x week for the 50% off meat, and freeze it. Chuck roast is 1.99/lb there right now!!
And I’m going in with a friend for the $15 co-op fruits and veggies - we’re splitting them since neither of us can eat all of it. (we both have husbands and toddlers, no big kids)
I didn’t realize you were here in AZ!!
My four dependents eat up the bulk of my grocery money - 2 dogs and 2 cats!
It’s hard to find anything as good and as cheap as the old standby; pinto beans and cornbread. And when you’re feeling a little crazy fry some potatoes to go with it. HMMMMMMMMMMM
2) Avoid 'convenience' foods. A carton of chicken broth costs $2 on sale. Buy a whole chicken, boil it for 45 minutes to cook it, and you have both broth and chicken that way.
3) Figure out which store brands are good, and when they are on sale, stock up, those will be your best deal.
4) As someone else noted, pay attention to sales and coupons - buy your meats and plan you menu by what is the best sale that week.
5) Check out produce stores if you have a large family - some have dirt-cheap prices for large purchases, but shop carefully for quality.
6) Be wary of sales that are not really good sales - for example, Redner's runs a 5-for-$20 promotion - 5 packs of a range of meat products for $4 each. However, often times, for a given item, that is NOT the best sale price you will see over the course of two months - a whole chicken might be $4, but will be a cheaper price per pound when on sale separately.
7) Create dishes where meat is a seasoning, and not the main course, such as ham-and-bean soup or chili. Beans are an excellent food source for protein and nutrients. Beans and cheese and rice are a complete protein source without meat.
8) When shopping for bread, make sure you are not paying for air - compare weights and not just loaf price.
Bump for later reading.
I dropped my grocery bill with canning.
I had to invest $300 in supplies, which paid for itself in one month.
My favorite things (so far) are:
beef stew
chicken stew (very cheap!)
split pea soup (vegetarian)
chili
Next year we’ll have a garden, that that will go down more. I’m hoping for a good tomato crop for sauces.
A freezer is also a great investment. You can buy things on sale and stock up.
Finally, DON’T WASTE LEFTOVERS! :-) Keep your bits!
About once a week we end up having a leftover night where one person gets spaghetti, another gets chicken and potato salad and someone else has to live with MORE SOUP! lol!
(I love this topic!)
:-D
I buy things in bulk. Oatmeal, gluten, flour, rice, beans, etc. I prepare food ahead. I’ll buy all of the ingredients for meatballs, and either precook them, flash freeze and package or will flash freeze some on a cookie sheet and then bag. Same for meatloaf, stuffed bell peppers, etc. I also precook ground hamburger and freeze in quart bags, so they are ready for anything that uses crumbled ground beef, for example, spaghetti.
Make our own yogurt, will buy occasionally, and breakfast is usually egg or oatmeal based. I will cook up eggs and side meat,or grits and gravy, biscuits , oatmeal, granola and yogurt, muffins, bagels, pancakes. Very rarely is it cold cereal.
For snacks I have celery and carrots in a Tupperware container all ready for easy munching, and will boil small eggs to keep in a bowl. I always have fruit available, whatever is on sale.
Making things from scratch is the most cost effective for us.
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i buy staples (tuna, PB&J, wheat bread, rice milk, eggs) and then whatever i feel like but i keep it underwraps for the most part.
it is impossible for me to buy bulk. and i dont cook much other than breakfast food.
any cookbooks that cater to a guy like me?
You’re probably not gonna like it, but since I went vegan, my grocery bills have decreased considerably. Aside from the cost of meat, cheese costs a ton as well.
Being vegan also reduces the amount of snack foods I buy (tho there are plenty of vegan-friendly snacks out there), so I’ve reduced my spending there. On the whole, there is a lot less spending on impulse foods and general garbage. I have also started baking my own snack cakes/cupcakes, tho I don’t know if the cost is less than a store bought item on sale. I think cooking your own food, as opposed to prepared items, is also a good way to reduce the cost.
My son lives with me and mostly eats what I make, tho sometimes I will make him a bunch of chicken breasts that he can add to the veggies/noodles/rice/potatoes with his dinner.
I’m not saying you need to go veg, but you might want to eat plant-centered meals a few times each week. And as others have said, sales and coupons.
I eat almost nothing myself, but I’m having a heck of a time feeding a teenage football player. This kid eats anything that can’t outrun him. He absolutely gorges six times a day and still complains of hunger. He doesn’t have an ounce of fat on him and his pediatrician says to keep on feeding him, he obviously needs it. He wants to eat real food as well as pizza and chicken nuggets, and I don’t know how “planning” can lower the cost of pieces of beef.
Last year a friend gave us a deer, and that helped enormously with the grocery budget. This year I may have to go get a couple of deer myself, which I’ve never done.
They feed 7 people on $350/mo. Pretty impressive.
There is a book called “Grandma’s Wartime Kitchen” that has some economical meals made with less.
My husband and I both pack our lunches. I take leftovers and he takes lunch meat, cheese, fruit and vegetables. If we went out every day, that would be at least 30 per week for each of us = 60.