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Wow! I thought our $700 grocery bill was over the top! Now I see we're average?! Insanity!

For the last three months I've been looking for ways to cut that bill and this month I got it below $500 with a LOT more bang for the buck.

The kids and I have been canning like crazy (next week I'm on the hunt for bushels of tomatoes for less than $10 each) and I'm making as many of my own cleaning products. (It's amazing what one can do with only baking soda and vinegar. Can't seem to give up the Tide and Dawn, though.)

All I need is a $300 engine hoist and some new blades for our Saws All and we can butcher our own steer. My daughter's boyfriend's grandfather has volunteered to take us to the auction to help us pick out a good (600 lb) steer and bring it back to our place. Slaughtering and quartering it isn't the problem, but I am a little concerned about making the finer cuts. I just don't want to pay 50 cents a pound for someone else to do it.

Breakfast cereal has been replaced with buttered grits and eggs. We're making our own cottage cheese and yogurt.

By the end of the year, the plan is to get our grocery bill below $300 a month. I thank my mother for teaching me a lot of this and I'm really happy to pass this knowledge on to my kids.

Wish us luck!

600 lbs. is awfully light for a slaughter steer (unless it's a light dairy breed). You can expect to be bidding against folks who intend to put the animal on a feed lot and add another 400-600lbs or so. These feeder steers sell at a substantial premium per pound to heavier slaughter steers.

For what it's worth.

Marie — cutting your grocery bill from $700 to $500 in three months is awesome! How many are in your family?

I have managed to cut my grocery bill down to $100 a week, including cleaning supplies and toiletries, but not pet food and supplies. I make my own laundry detergent out of Fels Naphtha soap, Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, and 20 Mule Team Borax. It costs 1 to 2 cents a load, depending on whether you have a front loader or a top loader. It works better than Tide. (There are many websites where you can get the exact recipe, so I won’t post the details here.) As far as the Dawn, do you have a CVS in your area? Check out the website www.moneysavingmom.com (sorry I don’t know how to do the linky thing) and learn how to use the CVS discount system to your advantage. I have 18 bottles of Dawn under my kitchen sink that I got either free or for pennies at CVS. Also, if you have an Aldi in your area, check it out! I paid $1.99 a gallon for milk this week!