Help reducing grocery bill?

[lorihadams]

I googled coupons for gluten free foods. I found a website, can't remember it now, but supposedly they will email you coupons when they come available.

I don't have freezer space for milk currently but we are getting goats Then I don't have to buy it anymore.

My husband is a cereal junkie. I recently went into a fit of rage and left the house over it. Seriously. I believe the conversation on my end was as follows....

"There is plenty of food in this house to eat, you just don't want to cook it. The last time I checked cereal was not a food group. Get off your lazy butt and fix something, GOD....grow a brain"

*slams door*

When I got back from the grocery store an hour later he had made me a 1/4 chicken with roasted potatoes and mixed frozen veggies.

There's hope.....beating him with a chicken carcass just might work!

 

[AnnaRaven]

DH and I talked last night and he's fully supportive of me trying to save money on groceries (and other stuff). He suggested that some of the savings could be donated to the local food bank. I agreed of course. :bun

Anyways - time to go check the dehydrator. I did up a couple pounds of apple slices. And then off to the highschool for DS's talent show appearance.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

Well, thanks. I'm not gonna cook chicken just for the dog...

I thought that might be the case. I think most people wouldn't. Which is why I didn't go into a bunch of details. I gave my cats LEFTOVER turkey that I cooked for the family.

Though I may be looking into a raw diet for the pup, but ... that's another story altogether, and gets me no broth.

OTOH, I asked DH last night, and he said he's okay with chicken if it's boiled to death (so all the flavor goes into the stock) then properly disguised

LOL .... well ..... maybe the pork-flavored chicken then! Two of my favorite foods are chicken (except boiled!) and tomatoes so ... I dunno. You sound like you have some great ideas on how to handle it though.

 

[AnnaRaven]

Smart&Final has a special on First Street (their store brand) whole chicken at $.79 per pound. Safeway has a special on Foster Farms whole chicken at $1.29 per pound.

Anyone know if these are okay chicken to buy or are they horrible factory farms that abuse their chickens?

 

[TanksHill]

Your gonna have a hard time finding chicken that is not factory farms. Unless you know who and where it's coming from. Ever see the movie Food Inc? It's quite popular with the SS folks. A very big eye opener.

I still buy Foster Farms and chicken from my health food store. They are both hormone free. I don't think they are free range or even close to it. But short of raising my own it's the best I can do right now.

 

[philpatton]

SKR8PN it looks like you put in a lot of time canning product and organizing your shelves.

I would like to make a suggestion. It looks as if some of your shelves are starting to bow. Simple way of correcting/preventing this is to take 1x2s and connect them to the shelves. Set them upright and screw them to the boards. This should keep your shelve from sagging at very little cost.

I would also suggest that you put a 1x2 in front and on the sides of the shelves a little under the halfway point on your jars. This will keep the jars from falling and making a big mess.

 

[HEChicken]

Also, SKR8PN, I have a question for you about your canning jars. I am very new to canning but the Ball book seemed to indicate that the rings can be removed once the jars are sealed. It looks like you are storing your jars with the rings on, so now I'm afraid I shouldn't have removed mine. Does everyone leave them on after all?

 

[Dunkopf]

Works fine to leave the rings off in storage. DW does it all the time. New jars always come with rings and any time you get used jars they usually have rings.

 

[Wifezilla]

I leave mine on.

 

[Marianne]

Holy cow! We'd all love to have a pantry like that, huh!

I spend about $250 a month for two people, including any cleaning supply ingredients. The only grocery store around here is a little country market. The biggest help for me was learning that I could make pretty much everything from scratch. Google what things you usually buy, and you'll find decent (and oftentimes, better!) make it yourself recipes and mixes. About.com has lots of those.

BUT! We don't have any special dietary needs and both of us like simple foods. We also eat seasonally. I don't buy organic if I have to have something out of season. I do have a good sized garden every year, can and freeze.

Last year, I spent less than $25 to make an entire years supply of laundry detergent, daily shower spray, clean everything cleaner, vinegar for fabric softener, glass cleaner, eyeglass cleaner, on and on. That saves a ton of money if you aren't buying those things. I make my own personal products, use family cloth and designated washcloths instead of paper napkins. My husband won't. But that's still half the toothpaste, TP, deodorant, etc that I had to buy the previous year. I don't buy paper towel, but occasionally buy a roll of foil or a box of freezer bags (wash and reuse).

I buy meat only if it's on sale, otherwise it's the basic list - flour, sugar, milk, beans, etc. I buy tomato sauce and paste in the institutional size, then repack into smaller containers and pop them in the freezer. I do this when I need to make a big pot of spaghetti sauce, then freeze that in meal size containers, too. Not everything is cheaper in that size, however. I make my own pasta, soups, etc, etc. No convenience foods are bought. (You can make your own 'convenience' food mixes to have on hand, too.) We don't eat out, but I do make restraunt clone recipes.

If you put that jug of milk in the microwave on high for one minute, it will stay fresher longer. It's not long enough to heat it up.

Oh, I could go on and on. Yesterday I asked my husband if he felt deprived of anything (food related!!) or felt like he was eating like poor people. He said no, if there was anything different, the change was so gradual he didn't notice it. Just take it one step at a time.