Help reducing grocery bill?

[RudeKittyLuvsTesla]

Buy in bulk and only when it is on sale. Then stock up the pantry and either freeze, can or store the majority of it.
Example: Meijers had carrots on sale. 10, 3lb packages for $1.00 per package and get the 11th one free. I can't grow them that cheap! We bought 40 packages, got 4 for free and canned every last one of them. That made enough pints of carrots to last us well over a year. We do the same thing with potatoes and fruits when they are in season.

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These buckets are full of salt, sugar, brown sugar, flour, beans, honey, rice, etc. ALL bought on sale and in bulk.
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Bulk soup mixes and some soup/broth that was on sale CHEAP!
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Yes, it takes a little time, a little planning, and some work to get this far ahead, but it is worth every penny, when you can just go to your pantry, and not the store, and pick out your next few meals.

WOW... this is beautiful and well put together. It is totally what was in my head and heart. Just wasn't sure how to accomplish until I saw this.

 

[Leta]

Ooh, maybe we should do a panty picture thread!

 

[edjanuary39]

I am posting this for the 3rd time so you may find it else where. I know how to extreme coupon. I am willing to teach you how, its fairly easy, time consuming, but highly rewarding. I am currently stockpiling my coupons. So if you dont use yours- would you be willing to mail them to me? If I get some interest I will start a thread. And now my soapbox - dont be greedy! Those people on the show have a huge stockpile of perishable food! If you get it free or for pennies- do you think you can share with someone? There is nothing but greed going on when you buy $100's worth of food and dont give some to someone you know needs help! We are all in need of food, family, friends or local food bank! Fill your house with love not box dinners! No 1 person needs 40 bottles of shampoo! But the homeless shelter does! So keep a few and share! You paid nothing for it! And you will go back and so it again! (its addictive and very rewarding) sorry but I get very emotional about this, makes me super mad! But anyway I will teach anyone who is interested. As soon as you get started, you will find you begin to save money on everything! I stopped do to circumstances and I get mad having to pay money for anything! Especially full price!1

 

[cheepo]

You have been getting some fantastic advice....
i agree with the spread sheet...is a bit of work but can be eye opening...
I was ashamed at how little I had in the fruit and vegi category..vs others...
can be eye opening...

you have done the first step awareness....the next steps...can be very impowering...
it is incredibly satisfying to can....and way better quality you know exactly what is in it...
I made the extravegant purchases this year of the canner and excalabur dehydrator...but am set...

there are ways...to safetly keep those large...sizes so they wont go bad...
a vacume packager can change your life...

it definately is a completely different lifestyle...
I aim to be as self sufficient as possible...
I am thrilled to now say I make my own pasta...and is so easy...with an extractor...got mine at the thrift store for $7
one step at a time...

you mention wine....try brewing your own..which i am starting...though my hubby still buys...
but it you go to u brew places it is 1/2 the cost if not less...and you are stocked....

I know all this talk of being stocked up...must seem overwelming...but is incredibly satisfying...

and you must must have a freezer...major way to get ahead...

 

[BusyBlonde]

LOVE being able to 'shop my pantry'.

QFT. It's so nice not to have to run to the store!

My in-laws, who live next door, LOVE to shop in my pantry!

 

[hqueen13]

Yes, it takes a little time, a little planning, and some work to get this far ahead, but it is worth every penny, when you can just go to your pantry, and not the store, and pick out your next few meals.

ZOMG. I have the biggest pantry envy I have ever seen!!!!!!!
The bad part is that in our house there is NO space for this kind of depth. We are lucky that we have a freezer over the fridge and a smaller freezer to store some extra frozen foods in. It is frustrating and limiting when the kitchen just won't hold anymore!

I do that a lot...I wonder, how could 2 people spend $100/wk on food??? Then I realize $25-30 of it is just on pet items (dog/cat food, cat litter, rawhide chews, pee pads, etc.) Then take out shampoo, mouthwash, TP, tin foil, detergent, etc. etc. etc. & I'm really only buying about 1/2 that amount in actual food.

There are a couple other hot spots that money could be saved: cleaning products. We are now making our own laundry detergent and the 5 gallon bucket lasts us 1 year for the two of us. The entire bucket cost less than $4.00 to make, and that includes the fact that we purchase our own water because we don't drink/use the tap water. It costs us pennies per load using our own detergent, and then distilled vinegar instead of fabric softener. I use dryer balls instead of dryer sheets, too (when I don't hang dry the clothes).
I am also just about ready to make my own dish washing detergent. That'll save lost as well.
Most of our cleaning is now done with vinegar and baking soda. Someone else posted a recipe on here for adding orange peels to vinegar to create an "orange cleaner," I'll be trying that next in the hope that it cuts grease a bit better than plain vinegar.
I no longer use shampoo or conditioner, either. Baking Soda (in place of shampoo) and Apple Cider Vinegar (for the rinse) are all that I use, and my hair is MUCH nicer than it ever was with ANY other kind of shampoo that I tried. Its a LOT healthier too - there are MANY chemicals in shampoos and soaps that are not safe when it comes to using them on your skin (but that is another discussion entirely).

Food is expensive, there is no way around it. And in order to stay healthy and out of the doctor's office and pill bottle, it is important to stick with quality food. So finding other ways to cut unneeded expenses (I really don't need to spend $13.00 on a container of laundry detergent that is only going to last a month) is a huge savings to the overall bills.

 

[edjanuary39]

Hqueen- can you give us your recipes? I would love to try making my own detergents. I will say im a bit scared that it won't clean well enough, I have a bit of ocd and part of that is the germs, so please tell me how well it works and if there are things that it doesn't clean well. Also on the shampoo- do you just use viengar? I have oily hair-does it cut the oil? And conditioner- does it really work that well? My hair has to be detangles as it is very fine and breaks and splits easily. I personally would love to try all the things you make, so if its a lot to post, feel free to pm me. And tell me about each one too! Costs, how well it works, anything it doesn't work on, any variations to the recipes and so on. Thank you!

 

[ORChick]

hqueen13 wrote:

The bad part is that in our house there is NO space for this kind of depth. We are lucky that we have a freezer over the fridge and a smaller freezer to store some extra frozen foods in. It is frustrating and limiting when the kitchen just won't hold anymore!

I have a small kitchen as well, and keep very little food there - just what is in the fridge/freezer, spices and oils that I use often, and one shelf with jars etc. that are also likely to be used often. Everything else, and all the bulk storage, is in the garage - which is down a staircase. In fact, most of it is under the landing of that staircase, which means I have to get down on hands and knees to access much of it. Its a pain in the ... back , but it works, and gives me room that I wouldn't otherwise have. So, my point is, have you looked outside the kitchen for storage? I have heard of people keeping boxes of food under beds, or in closets, or (with a pretty table cloth) beside the sofa as an end table. Yes, awkward to access, but better than not having it.
You might also think of storage containers that double as other things. I have a small trunk/foot locker that I use as a coffee table - for years it was all that would fit in the space; now that I have more space I could replace it with something a bit larger and more decorative, but I don't for the simple reason that I need the storage - Christmas is in that trunk ! The decorations for the tree and tabletops that is. I wouldn't know where to put them if I had a standard table. If I didn't need it for decorations though it would be perfect for storing food.
(I live in the west - we don't generally have basements out here, and I have never lived in a house with an attic.)

ETA - in our first apartment we kept a small freezer in the bedroom, lacking room in the kitchen for it. It buzzed, but we quickly learned to sleep through it

 

[moolie]

If you have any bare walls that you could "cannibalize", you can easily cut the drywall between the studs, put up shelves between the studs, and put a door on the front--making shallow cabinets that are very handy for cans and jars

A couple of links that show what I'm talking about:

www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-install-recessed-shelving/index.html

www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Create-Recessed-Shelving/

Adding a door is pretty simple, you just need a piece of plywood or mdf cut to size and some hinges--or you could leave it as open storage, or even put a curtain in front

 

[edjanuary39]

That's a great idea! Does anyone have any ideas for me? Single wide 2 bed trailer, no garage, attic, basement or cellar. I have 6 overhead cabinets 3 drawers and 1 big bottom cabinet. Barely enough room for my dishes. I do have a roll around cabinet/cart thing that my pans go in. Oh and under the sink storage. The great designers at Fleetwood did not design this to be modified with shelves, cabinets or any creative space modifications. We added , well I set it on top of the fridge, a little double cabinet-the kind that typically go above fridges, for medicine-because no room in bath, we also only have 2 closets, one in each bedroom- so some clothes came off hangers when we moved here. We have a carport that doubles as a garage/storage. And 2 little sheds that leak and are half full. I'm thinking of putting a chest freezer on the back porch and building some kind of cabinat around it, to help keep the sun and weather off it- I dont want it to look like we have a broken appliance on our porch after the paint rusts off! Has anyone tried this? We do have the idea to build on to the house, but that's a ways off, has anyone used their outdoor space in a clever way? And any pics for ideas? If we built a cabinet out back for the freezer to go in, im concerned about how to vent it, summers get hot here and I dont want it to overheat b/c of outside temps and being confined, granted my husband and I haven t talked too much about this, so he may already know how. But ideas on how to make it look nice and not like a junk yard, and still have some storage space that doesn't leak! Thanks!