Reducing expenses

[freemotion]

Use less toilet paper, keep the cheese!!!

 

[i_am2bz]

 

[Wifezilla]

Do not reduce cheese intake. Seriously. Brain cooties are much easier to manage on a diet high in healthy fats and that includes cheese!

 

[me&thegals]

IMO one of the best ways to save money on grocery bills is to stop buying things that coupons are even *offered* for

(Yeah yeah, I know that *occasionally* you will encounter a coupon for flour or butter or cans of tomato sauce or such.... but about 99% of the stuff coupons are offered for is either pricey processed packaged not-good-for-you-anyhow food, or unnecessary cleaning products )

Pat

I completely agree. The more I've pared down our groceries, the less I can use coupons. I occasionally find some for organic or Surejell, but that's it.

Get food to its most basic form. Rather than Kashi hot cereal packets, get about 4 times the grains for the same price and mix and cook them yourself. Rather than hamburgers (1 lb for 4 people), use that burger in a huge pot of soup that can last about 8 times longer. Stretching out meat is a huge $ saver. Skip chips, ice cream, soda, alcohol, cigarettes, etc.

Pretty much anything bought in processed form can be made from scratch, more healthily and much cheaper. There are tons of threads on here about that, including one for typical "mixes" that can be made from scratch.

Good luck!

 

[Wannabefree]

Good point. When nobodys looking I will put a little oatmeal in burger patties to stretch the meat a bit further. Nobody ever knows the difference.

 

[abifae]

coupons no. but checking the store ad, yes. meat sales and veggie sales!



I haven't used a coupon in a LOOOOONG time lol.

 

[patandchickens]

coupons no. but checking the store ad, yes. meat sales and veggie sales!

Also, in some stores, during whatever part of year you don't have lots of fresh veggies/fruit of your own, keep an eye on the "scratch and dent produce" rack. (Whatever you want to call it -- where they put out older or damaged produce for like 50% off or sometimes even better. Not all stores do this). You just need to learn what is good and what is not. Like, cauliflower with little black speckles is fine as long as there's nothing else wrong with it - skim the speckly tips off and use it in a gratin or something and nobody will ever know. Old apples make *fine* applesauce. Etc. OTOH slimy rotting stuff should be left on the rack ). A lot of the stuff will need to be used as soon as you get it home but you can have it for dinner or prepare it into a form that will keep longer e.g. in the freezer.

Pat

 

[FarmerChick]

I completely agree. The more I've pared down our groceries, the less I can use coupons. I occasionally find some for organic or Surejell, but that's it. Good luck!

Yup that is me also to a T

as I use less processsed foods, the stupid coupons are going away lol

 

[savingdogs]

I think coupons have changed, too....now they seem to always be for the highly processed foods whereas it used to be a smattering of everything.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

I usually stock WAY up on meats and cheeses on sale. Usually I buy ONLY what's on sale at a GOOD price any given week. Some weeks that means no shopping and I eat what I already have.

Can you buy cheese at, say Costco? Here that's the only place I can find a decent price and my blocks in the freezer are dwindling. I try to pay $2 a pound or so, and I used to find it on sale for that in Cali. Now I have been buying 5 and 6 pound bags at Costco for about $11. Same with butter -- it's ridiculous here and I buy 4 pound blocks at Costco for $8. BTW, I initially compared Sams and Costco and found Sams to be a bit cheaper, but Costco carried much more organics and high end quality products for just a bit more, so I chose Costco.

I also look for meals where the meat will stretch. I can make a HUGE dish of oven spaghetti with only one or two shredded chicken breasts (I use angel hair pasta, a little bit of tomatoes, and stir in cheese sauce) and that will make about 8 meals vs. what you get from say fried chicken where it uses 1-2 pieces of chicken per serving. Not that I never make cried chicken -- I do -- I just balance it with meat-stretching meals.

Homemade soup is one of the cheapest meals. Speaking of which, don't throw out your bones unused! Be sure to boil them down for stock. I keep a container in the fridge for chicken bones and save until I have a bunch.

I also watch what meats are cheap. I used to buy ground turkey under $1 a pound. Here it's over $2 and I won't pay that. I could grind my own for far less. But Boston butt has been under $1 a pound, so I'm using it a lot more. Along the same lines, I used to make chili using ground meat and stew meat. Stew meat costs double what it used to, so I tried subbing a chuck roast at about $1.60 a pound and discovered that it shreds itself so much that every time I heat the chili I have to add extra tomato juice to it and I end up getting lots and lots of meals. Somehow this "magic" doesn't work if you eat too much of the chili when it's first made, but I normally make enough to eat for about 5 days plus plenty to freeze for another 5-10 days' worth.

If you buy cleaners, feminine hygeine products, paper towels or paper napkins, or other disposable items, it's worth learning how to replace those. I haven't made the leap to replace toilet paper yet tho. But I have cut WAY down on buying the other things by making a lot of it and using cloth replacements.