Posted on 10/15/2008 8:22:08 AM PDT by HungarianGypsy
While reading another thread I noticed someone speaking of how they were able to spend $400 per month to feed their small family very well. So, I had an idea of asking how everyone budgets for groceries,
GARDEN and GUN, and CANNING.
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.
LOL... at my house we call those nights "Mom's Mystery Meals!"
Let's try to stay on topic. Sorry. :)
Brown 4-6 pork chops (with the bone in, if possible), put ‘em in a slow cooker with a few sliced onions, a can of cream of mushroom soup & a can of cream of chicken soup ( both undiluted ). Cook on low for 12 hrs. or on high 8 hrs.& serve over rice. Cheap, easy and tasty!
bump
I am not sure they have one in my area, ut if they do....
I have friend who’s famly has been buying the meat packs from the local food bank. I thought of it, then realized the distance from my house wouldn’t save much (re: fuel) in the end. I have actually been impressed by the amount that I have gotten at Fresh N Easy (as I mentioned the half priced items). Now I just need to buy a cow. :)
I want your chuck roast. Gosh, that’s a good price. It’s $2.57 here.
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?
I think it was tomato soup instead of mushroom. :)
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 hope to see a leftover some day.
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.
You can also put in some garlic, taters, and a dash of oregano. Even yummier. :)
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.
Holy cow I need to read this thread! I waste more money at the grocery store -
Marie, we do the same thing. I save up the leftovers, and on one day a week they can choose off the menu. Some items are highly desired, so they have to come to mom and claim it first.
We can too. Nothing like seeing a row of jars full and waiting for the rest of the year. Love the sound of the seals popping.
Ditto on the freezer, we have the chest and then the refrigerators. One freezer I have dedicated to bread and rolls, and the chest is mostly meat, the other is mostly vegetables.
I use LDS sites for menu planning and food storage. No use reinventing the wheel, they have it down pat.
I make a Shepherd’s Pie with home canned sausage.
Peel, slice, and cook potatoes. Open a can of sausage and heat it in a cast iron skillet. Drain the grease and add a chopped onion. When potatoes are cooked, drain the water and add potatoes to skillet with sausage. Scramble about 10 eggs with a little milk and salt and pour over the potatoes. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and bake until eggs are set.
Come to think of it, that may be supper.
How do you keep your potatoes? I have the hardest time keeping them from going bad, I’m talking a few days max.
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