You know, J is turning out to be a good helper in the kitchen. He puts the liner in the trash can for me, turns on the lights when it's time, and this afternoon he helped bag and put away ham for different recipes. Okay, so mostly he just watched and happily ate bits of ham that I gave him, but he did help put the meat into the freezer bags and then put them in the freezer for me. He's now waiting on the mac n cheese with ham that is baking off in the oven. So, what does J helping put things away have to do with saving money in the kitchen? It doesn't. I just wanted to brag on my young man a little. Mama's prerogative. ;)
If you're like me, and so many others judging by Pinterest pins showing up all over the place, you're looking for ways to save money. Now, if you're looking for budget tips, this is the wrong place because I am continually looking for ways to not have so much month left over at the end of the money! I have, however, figured out a few ways to save money in the kitchen. In no particular order, here are some ideas:
- Write out a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly menu plan. I've seen other bloggers such as Heavenly Homemakers discuss this. And bonus, Laura and other bloggers have menu plans on their sites to give you some ideas. A menu plan is something I'm trying to get the hang of still, but it can be done. As long as I have ideas of what to make written down, I'm less likely to want to blow good money we don't have on grabbing a burger or sending The Hubby to the store for a frozen pizza.
- Make a grocery list and stick to it. Most of the time. In most cases, it is wise to put in your cart only the things on your list. This helps keep those last minute items from jumping into the cart and thinning your wallet. But, there are sometimes good deals that you will find. Say, your favorite cereal is marked down and it wasn't in the flyer, and you happen to have a coupon, upping the savings. In cases like that, by all means take advantage!
- Use coupons wisely. After watching several episodes of Extreme Couponers or whatever it's called on Netflix, I got the couponing bug. The problem with me grabbing coupons for use is there isn't a whole lot out there in most cases for my family. I make most of our food from scratch and I make my own household cleaners. I do use things like tooth paste, spaghetti sauce, and a few other things, so the coupons do help some.
- Don't be afraid to buy an extra ham or turkey or roast when they are at a good price. I know most of us are ham and turkey'd out and don't want to see either for awhile, but when we can afford to do so, we grab them. These meats can make several different meals, thereby stretching your food dollars. For example, a ham gives you a nice ham dinner one night, with leftovers for ham and potato soup, maybe some ham sandwiches, and you can dice a few cups for salads, omelets, mac n cheese, etc. The bone and some fatty parts I use to flavor soups and beans so nothing gets wasted.
- Make your own broth or stock. It's fairly easy. Use the turkey carcass or other bones, add some carrots, celery, and onions, maybe a few spices, and let it boil for several hours. Food network has a few recipes for you to try.
- Beans and rice. They are inexpensive and very filling and delicious. Sometimes a good meal for me is pinto beans, corn bread and some turnip greens. Southern simplicity. Lentils and rice also makes a good meal. The family not big on beans? Sneak some into the hamburger meat to stretch it. Chances are they will never know the difference.
- Cook from scratch. It tastes better (in my opinion), is less expensive in most cases, and you know what's in it. It doesn't have to be fully made from scratch. As I've stated before, I use jarred spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce. I'd like to get to the point where I make my own, but one step at a time.
- Set up a garden. We haven't done this yet although we talk about it all the time. This year I'm hoping to get the ball rolling for one. Home grown tomatoes taste so much better than those things you buy at the store.
These are just a few ways I can think of right now. How do you save money on your grocery budget? I'd love to hear your ideas.
Ugh. Forgive the tiny link up there. I'm still learning the ins and outs of blogging. No matter. You see that Nutrimill up there beside the link? Heavenly Homemakers is giving one away, courtesy of Paula's Bread . How cool would it be to freshly grind your own wheat, or other grains at home? I don't have one but I really would like one. Go check it out and enter to win!
If you're like me, you have to watch your spending these days. For at least two years we've forgone cable, and have started using Netflix instead. We chose a mid priced plan that is acceptable for us, and I like it because we are more in control of the entertainment that comes into the house.
The hardest part, for me anyway, is saving money at the grocery store. I'm torn between knowing my budget is very tight and knowing that the cheapest route may not be the healthiest. Like many people, I have to compromise at times. I can't always buy organic, but I try to buy certain things, like potatoes, apples, and strawberries organic. The closest grocery store that sells foods without growth hormones and such, and has a good supply of reasonably priced organic items is about an hour and a half from where I live so I don't get there very often. I try to make it once or twice a month though. For many reasons I prefer to buy my hamburger meat there as well. I can't afford the grass fed beef or the bison but the ground chuck is at a comparable price to the chain store here in town, and I trust it more.
I make my own chicken broth and have been wanting to make my own beef broth so I finally got up the courage to ask the butcher at Earth Fare (my healthier grocery store) if they sold soup bones and such. He replied that they sold them as pet bones and they could be found in the freezer section. And as a further tip, he told me that is where that particular store also kept the packages that were needing to be sold soon. Most of that is packaged as 'mixed grinds', meaning that anything from bison to grass fed to ground chuck could be in them. Sometimes, I noticed, there are packages that are labeled lamb or bison or whatever. I picked up a few and will try them in my cooking this week. Each store may be different as to how they handle meats and such that will be discounted so don't be afraid to ask. Get to know the workers in your store, because most will be happy to help you.
Another tip? Add one or two meatless meals to your weekly menu. We have one standby we use quite often, Taco Style Lentils and Rice from Hillbilly Housewife. We make it just as the recipe tells most of the time, but we also change it up a little by substituting chicken broth, and changing around the seasonings a bit. Both ways are really delicious, and it's a very inexpensive meal. I have to quickly put away leftovers or there won't be any for lunch the next day. J inhales this dish! Most times I make lentils and rice I make my own tortillas. It's simple to make, but does take a little time. I'm willing to bet that they can be made ahead of time when you do a freezer cooking session and kept in the freezer. Let them thaw a bit, then warm them in the oven or in a warm pan and they will be pliable once again. Other choices we like are pinto beans, collard greens and corn bread, and red (or black) beans and rice. I am also looking into other meatless or vegetarian meals to add a little variety into our diets.
Other ways to save:
- Leave the kids and whichever spouse is most susceptible to impulse buys at home. In most cases, that would be me. However, The Hubby and I often have differing views on what is acceptable in nutrition and store brands so if I choose to stay home, he gets a list of what we need with some notes on what is absolutely disgusting. I will say though, that he does rather well in shopping, finding great deals, keeping an eye out for things we like, and it keeps me from temptation (mostly known as the magazine rack and a few other spots in the store).
- Learn to stay away from convenience food and make your own mixes. In those boxes that say just add hamburger (or tuna or chicken), there is an awful lot of sodium in that box. Cake mixes, you have ingredients that you can't pronounce. It's much cheaper to make your own mixes, or just make from scratch when the mood strikes. Same with sandwich bread and tortillas. In the interest of honesty, I don't always make my own mixes, but I am working my way to that. I love cooking from scratch. The cleanup, not so much, but that's another post for another day. As for bread, I can make tortillas easily. No, they aren't perfectly round but they taste a lot better than the ones from the store. Corn tortillas I leave to The Hubby or I just use the flour ones. Learning to make biscuits and bread is on my to do list.
- Use coupons, but carefully. I don't use them often because a, I forget, and b, I rarely find ones I can use. I don't buy a lot of boxed items and I only use my own cleaning products that I make at home.
- Check out the dollar stores. Again, carefully. Know the prices at the grocery store and read labels. We go through a lot of cheese in this house so I bought what I thought was cheese at a dollar store where everything was a dollar. What I bought was a fake cheese whose main ingredient is cornstarch. A bargain is not a bargain when it goes into the trash.
- Speaking of cheese, it is generally cheaper to buy it in block form and grate it yourself. Check the price per ounce to be sure though. Sometimes they surprise you.
- Buy in bulk. Seasonings do expire so if you use cardamom only at Christmas time, go to a store that sells it in bulk and buy the few teaspoons that you need. Food that goes in the trash is wasted money. Things like sugar, flour, oatmeal, are also things you can buy in bulk and save.
It's now your turn. How do you save money at the grocery store? Share your tips!
Who doesn't need to save money these days? The economy is such that we need to watch our pennies, as my mother says. Beth, over at My Simpler Life is starting a spending fast tomorrow. That means eating from your pantry, staying out of stores, doing things that will help you save some money. Click on the purple link to her page to learn more about her spending fast.
Will I be doing it? Well... to be honest, I'm going to start mine on Saturday. And it will be modified just a hair or two. My pantry is pretty bare at the moment so I need to do some shopping to get my staples, come up with a game plan as far as menus, that sort of thing. Also I have an anniversary coming up on Friday and my family has three birthdays coming up this month. I'm going to get a little creative on those, and see what happens. One more thing: I have my business to run so I have to place an order for supplies this month so I need to figure that in. Hmmm... am I talking myself out of this? I hope not! This is a really good idea. What about you? Will you be trying it? Let me know the results! As for me, I will post again about this on Saturday.
