Slashing the grocery budget

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-10-2004
Slashing the grocery budget
8
Wed, 10-06-2004 - 11:53pm

I wanted to post this because there are some newbies who don't know where they can cut from their budgets to snowflake or even to get back on track.

 

Avatar for mquin73
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 10-07-2004 - 12:07am

Well I used to have tips on cutting the grocery budget, but since we are stuck in this town (dh is military) there is only one other grocery store and then a Super WalMart around and they don't double coupons (I used to love that at home).


signature 2008

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-21-2003
Thu, 10-07-2004 - 7:43am
Thanks for starting this thread - it always strikes me as a good idea to every now and then exchange ideas on how to save every day and with the most 'normal' things all of us do (like shopping for groceries :-) )

And this is the point where I have to admit: I love food. High quality food, freshly cooked meals, salads, everything. My idea of havong a good evening with friends is inviting them over to present them a three-course dinner and enjoy it together over a good glas of wine.

Which does not say I spend that much on food shopping - okay, yes, I do spend a lot more than the 80 $ per week, and we are only two, but food is my highest priority.

To keep costs low, I shop almost daily, at least for fresh things - always onthe look out for foodstuffs, fruits, vegetables which are good today, but will have to be thrown out tomorrow. Tomatos which already look to ripe for being put into the salad make an excellent base for sauces, stews, vegetable gratins of all kinds. Pasta, rice, etc. are bought in bulk when they are on sale - rice preferably from the asian supemarket, pasta and noodles from any supermarket. A good place to hunt for food bargains are ethnic shops and supermarkets.

One thing that really hampers any idea of working with left overs and buying meat etc. in bulk is the very limited size of my freezer: It is about the size of a pizza box wide and eight boxes high...

.. and if the going gets tough moneywise, I still remember all those recipes from my childhood when there were eight of us and only one income. Hotpot meals ('Eintopf' in German, literally meaning: One pot, as that is all you need, you put everything into one pot and cook it), vegetable soups (did you know that most vegetable greens are edible, too?) and a buttered slice of bread, mashed potatos, eggs and mustard sauce... I still like them, and they really don't cost much :-)

I am interested to hear what you do to cut down food costs.

Greetings, Jordis

ivy_jordis

Avatar for cl_phocid
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 10-07-2004 - 8:02am

This is not my strongest area, I admit up front.

All my best,
Danni

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-28-2003
Thu, 10-07-2004 - 9:23am
My tips for grocery shopping:

>Make a list based on what's on sale. Don't buy it if you normally don't use it just because it's on sale.

>Eat a small snack before you go. Food is much more tempting when you are hungry and it's amazing what will end up in your basket! If you can't eat before you go - allow yourself just ONE snack to end up in your cart.

>Use coupons only on items that you KNOW you will use.

>Shop just once a week. This relates back to the first item. If you have a list and plan a menu, it's much easier to go just once a week.

>Invest in the Fridgesmart system by Tupperware. We have a whole set of this and have found that fresh fruits and veggies really do stay fresher when we use it instead of leaving things out in the open or in the plastic produce bag. When we bring home fruits & veggies, the first thing we do is clean it all up, chop it and put it in these containers. Not only does it save time when prepping a meal, it also makes it easier to grab a healthy snack.

>Stock up on pantry items (sauce, broth, rice, pasta, etc.) when it's on sale. Make sure you rotate your "stock" every once in a while and know what's in there. It doesn't help if you are at the store and buy it because you don't think you have it only to come home and discover you have 4 jars of that same sauce in your pantry already. If you don't have a separate closet you can dedicate to this - use milk crates or some other type of free-standing shelving.

That's all I can come up with for now. I'll add to it if I think of anything else.

med12

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 10-07-2004 - 9:33am
I do something similar to Danni's method, except I also stock up on meats (and butter and cheese, and anything else that can be frozen or otherwise stored indefinitely) when they go on sale, so that some weeks I may spend $100 (this week chicken breasts are 99 cents a pound, ground beef is 88 cents, and whole chickens are 49 cents--so it will be a big grocery-purchasing week), but then I might go a week or two without buying anything other than fresh produce. On average, I spend about $45 a week on groceries, including detergent, bath products, etc.

Here are a few specific things I do:

I never buy broth any more. I keep a jar in the freezer and instead of pouring vegetable and meat juices down the drain, I pour them in the jar. It may have spinach juice, bean juice, chicken drippings, and leftover vegetable soup broth in it all at the same time. It is always tasty and always unique, and works just as well as store-bought broth for, well, not even a fraction of the cost, because it's free! LOL

I do something similar with leftovers when we get sick of them--it's called the leftover soup jar. As they begin to reach the end of their shelf lives, I may pour bits of leftover pork stir fry, the last dollop of bean soup, some crumbled hamburger, some sauteed green peppers and onions from fajitas, and an uneaten baked potatoe in the jar. I keep the jar in the freezer and when it's full, I dump it in a soup pot and heat (adding water if necessary). When it gets hot, I taste it and often add a little salt, possibly some worcestshire sauce, or whatever seems appropriate depending on what's in the soup. Again, always unique, always palatable, usually quite good, and sometimes truly fabulous.

I also bake my own bread. I buy yeast at Costco (other warehouses have similar deals, and you can't beat their prices on this item by a long shot--if you don't have a membership, ask a friend who does to pick you up a pound or two the next time they're there). Here is my very simple, very flexible, very yummy, quite nutritious recipe (passed on to me by a friend):

5 cups flour (try using about two cups of whole wheat and one of unbleached)

3 tablespoons of yeast

1 tablespoon of salt

1/4 to 1/2 cup honey

1/4 to 1/2 cup oil

2 cups hot (not boiling) water

Mix dry ingredients together. Add liquid ingredients. Mix and begin kneading. Knead until thoroughly mixed. Cover with a cloth and allow to rise, 1/2 hour to 2 hours (will rise faster if in a warm location), until double in size. Punch down, shape into loaves (or whatever--you can put it in a greased loaf pan too), and allow to rise another 1/2 hour to 1 hour, until double in size again. Bake in a 350 degree oven about half an hour or until golden brown.

This recipe can be altered, changing the type of sweetener, the amount of oil, the type of flour, and adding ingredients such as oatmeal, nuts, raisins, herbs, spices, etc. You can also turn it into hamburger buns, sub rolls, mini loafs, or other fun shapes.

Not only will this yield bread that is yummier, more nutritious, and cheaper than what you buy at the store, you may find as we do that your family likes it so much that they eat it instead of more expensive snacks.

That's my two cents for now.

Heather

P.S. One more thing--see if there's a salvage grocery store or day-old bread store in your area. Our salvage store often yields cuts of meat for less than a dollar a pound, as well as convenience foods that we wouldn't otherwise buy but that are so cheap as to be almost free, and certainly cheaper than anything I could prepare at home. The other day I bought yogurt for less than 10 cents per container (it was Dannon Naturals, and a day or two past its expiration date). They do this by buying surplus from grocery stores as it nears its expiration date, so you can't be squeamish about the expiration dates. But keep in mind that distributors put the expiration date well before the end of the product's shelf life, because they want to be on the safe side. So unless it's months old or a particularly volatile product, it's quite safe to eat things that have "expired."

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2003
Fri, 10-08-2004 - 5:04pm
How we have saved money on groceries is - I don't go shopping anymore. We used to go together, because it was fun, but lately it's just been him. This does two things: forces me to write a list and cuts way back on impulse buys. As in, he doesn't. It's really weird. I don't know how he does it. Sometimes he adds milk or cheese or bread to the list, but only if he thinks we need it and I forgot it.

He also decided a couple of years ago that we don't need to buy cookies or junk food, because I can bake it, and that saves us money, I am sure, because I've seen how quicly junk food gets eaten at my friends' places.

We buy meat in bulk, and freeze it in little packages.

He likes to go to the fruit stand every 2nd day.

I bake every 3 days- cookies or breads

So we probably spend about $200/ month on the 2 of us, including toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, toothbrushes, etc.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-22-2003
Fri, 10-08-2004 - 5:46pm
Gosh - you are all an inspiration on cutting the money on food. I have been spending $40 just to cook a meal for 2. That's not a joke, but mind you my BF is chosing meat that's $10 per lb, and he wants a pound then you can see where the costs are starting to rise. That's one thing that is hard for me to come to terms with, my parents always have great quality food in the house and I need to realise that $40 for one meal can be a little excessive, but it is also including wine and fish for me. I guess I need to make time to cook, but it seems to be the thing I want to devout the least time to. I am interested in the crockpot idea. I do use coupons, but I never actively look for them.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-21-2004
Fri, 10-08-2004 - 10:40pm
I plan my meals and make out a list and STICK TO IT!! But my biggest grocery bill saver is....... leaving dh at home. The man always sticks stuff in the cart that isn't on the list because he wants it. lol