Posted on 04/03/2009 6:12:57 PM PDT by JRochelle
...Plan out a week's worth of dinners before going to the store. Check the supermarket fliers and base your menu on what is on sale. By doing a week's worth of shopping in one trip, you really will save money and time. Raise your hand if you have ever gone into the store for "a few items" and come out with $79.43 in stuff you didn't think you needed. Uh huh, we thought so.
Store Brands are just as good as name brands (most of the time). Our pantries are full of delicacies like Juicy Magic, Woven Wheats and Magic Stars. Grocery stores contract with brand-name companies to provide the same items in store-brand packaging. We have it on good authority that Hood makes all the dairy products for at least one of our local chains. And by replacing at least some brand-name purchases with store-brand equivalents, you'll feel better about splurging on hard-to-substitute or nonnegotiable things like Heinz Ketchup and Stonyfield Farm's Chocolate Underground yogurt.
Limit out-of-season purchases. We know, it's hard to resist the juicy tubs of cut watermelon in the produce case, but it is expensive and not great-tasting. Buy the citrus and think about how good the local watermelon will taste in July, when you are sitting in the sun on the back porch, barefoot and parka free.
Don't buy toiletries in the grocery store: Not only are they more expensive than at the big box stores or the pharmacy, but the selection is more limited. We like to peruse all the flavors of Suave shampoo before making our choice.
Cook once and eat twice: This is the simplest advice for saving time and money. We've done columns on turning roast chicken and ham into a few nights worth of dinners, but this theory can apply
(Excerpt) Read more at concordmonitor.com ...
If you live near a Kroger Store, here are some great specials this week.
5lbs. potatoes- 97 cents.
1/2 gal. milk- 99 cents.
Avocadoes 4/$3.00.
One of the problems is that no one knows how to cook anymore. We’re too used to prepared stuff. There is a vast array of things available to us on the outer edges of the store...but everyone heads for the things that don’t require effort.
The prepared stuff costs more money.
Really, we are so blessed. A fine mist descends on our wide selection of produce for Heaven’s sake.
I’m from the midwest...where casseroles are an artform.
Anyone can learn how to scrimp and save. And cook from scratch too. And garden...
Think of all the money I've saved over the years by not eating them.
Fried rice. Soup with lots of beans, rice, and potatoes. Ramen noodles. taco bell cheesy beef burritos(89cents)
I bought a Food Saver last year and it has saved me a lot of money. I buy Walmart brand vacuum sealing rolls and even re-use them at times.
I cook huge batches of lasagna, chili, soups, etc. and freeze them in individual servings and eat them at work for lunch.
I use the store brand (Publix) containers to freeze the soups in, then pop the soup out and vacuum them with the Food Saver.
I look for sale items and take advantage (especially chicken). I’ll cook whole chickens on the rotisserie on my grill then halve them and vacuum them and freeze them. I ate one the other night that was from last July and it tasted as good as if I had prepared it that evening.
Get a Food Saver!
OK Foodie nerd time..
Study heritage foods, the foods of the common folk.. generally, these are the best tasting foods (and becoming the ‘in’ things in high end restaurants), use low cost ingredients, and are meant to feed a large group of people. Everyone should know how to make:
Cajun Gumbo
Brazilian Feijoada
French Cassoulet
Chinese Hong Sho Rou (Red Cooked Pork Stew)
Mexico Manudo
The key with a lot of these dishes is using the scraps or cheaper cuts and stretching them out. Have fun with frugal cooking..
Smart idea, even if you aren’t trying to save money, that sounds like a time saver.
Shop an Aldi store, if there’s one near you. Cheaper than WalMart. You can’t get everything you need, but what you can get is cheap.
Dried beans and legumes are really cheap and can make delicious meals.
Buy a freezer (chest freezers are relatively cheap and use very little electricity), then stock up on things that are on sale. Chickens this week were 79 cents a lb. at our local store, definitely worth stocking up on.
Oh no! You don’t know what you are missing.
1 avocado+juice of 1 lemon+salt+1 tomato=delish
I would only fix the Brazilian thing. What is it?
I’ve been doing the frugal thing all my life, but I’ve noticed that the dollar menu items at fast food places are getting hard to beat.
One of my favorites (having a wife that grew up in Brazil). Feijoada is a black bean stew with various cuts of meat, especially pork. There is a good recipe here:
http://www.brazilbrazil.com/feijoada.html
We buy watermelon and it’s not half bad. I had some tonight, yummy.
Avocadoes to humans are like baby seals to great white sharks - huge calorie intake. Lots of fat content, and actually good for you.
Hubby goes to Aldi’s every week. Most of their items are just as good as Walmart’s or even better. Their produce is pretty decent. And you can get raisin bagels for 99cents a bag. Not bad tasting either. We love Aldi’s.
>>>Avocadoes 4/$3.00.
>>Think of all the money I’ve saved over the years by not eating them.
Me too. :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.