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April 6, 2005 at 4:20 pm #250682
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Frugal Shopping: Tips for Cutting Your Grocery Bill, Part I
By Kim Tilley
bill. Some of these ideas I use religiously, others I am working on
or struggling with. I have gleaned some of these from books, frugal
relatives you have who remember the Great Depression (or check out
cookbooks and stories from/about that time period) and The Tightwad
Start with strategies that you can implement without causing major
revolt in your family, moving gradually to a goal of a lower budget
out, please email Cheri with your hints and tips, she would be happy
to add them to this article.
difficult. I hope they make sense. This way, you can see the changes
along the way and be willing to make more frugal choices as you and
shopping. Start with a few things and keep adding, soon you will see
a HUGE difference in your food budget!
and this is your first step. Begin with your own attitude towards
being frugal, because it will impact the rest of your family. How can
thankful for all that you have, even if your life seems far from
perfect (Guess what? We ALL feel that way! ).
get every last food mile out of what you are making. Meat bones and
vegetable trimmings can be made into wonderful stocks. Leftover
and stews or put into pot pies, homemade “hot pockets”, crepes,
casseroles, you name it. Look at food waste in an entirely new light,
3. The Price Book — This is the most useful tool in making sure that
every food dollar you spend is spent well. The basic idea of the
see something on sale, you will know whether it is really a good buy
or not. I use a three ring binder and looseleaf paper. At the top of
Price, Unit Price, Sale. At the top right hand corner of the paper, I
put the name of the item (such as “bread”, “milk”, “cereal”, etc).
price book. It is easier to do this at home with store receipts or
sale ads, instead of in the store, where some employees may mistake
tracking prices, you will know what is a good deal and what is not.
The most important section of the price book is the unit price,
are actually paying per pound or ounce or other unit of measure.
4. Bulk Buying — With the price book in hand, you will be able to
cents for a 5 pound bag, you will know that this is an excellent
price and to stock up. Then when it goes back up over a dollar,
and smiling.
Bulk buying can be a little scary at first. Buying so much can be
answer is to get creative.Things that can be kept at room temperature
can be stored under beds, in closets, anywhere. This is especially
then stored in airtight containers at room temperature.
5. Use your freezer — Eventually you will want to have a deep freeze
is a great investment and tightwad tool. If you can get an older one
cheap, it may be a good deal if it is still efficient — 10-15 year
energy. Check out newer, more efficient models and put the word out
that you are looking for a freezer.
who found they just didn’t eat enough to justify having a big one
anymore. It has served us well and saved us thousands of dollars on
6. Cut down/out on the junk food — If you can get the tribe to
completely give up the soda, chips, cookies, candy, etc, good for
have managed to cut out soda (we still drink kool aid ), most cake,
and alcohol (I consider this to be junk, you have to decide for
from scratch. We still buy chips for lunches only, and enjoy popcorn
and homemade pizza on our weekly movie night.
totally cut out junk foods, make them yourself. A large homemade
pizza costs about $2-$3 to make, compared to frozen pizzas which are
about $8-20 each. If you bulk buy the ingredients and make the dough
and/or sauce from scratch, it can be even cheaper to eat in (follow
leads us to the next idea:
8. Cut down or stop eating at restaurants — Make it a special
month and use coupons to cut costs even further.
9. Clone your favorite brand name and restaurant recipes — This is
restaurant foods were inspired by their homemade counterparts. Ther
secret to recreating these foods well is to go back to the original
homemade sauces, breads, etc. There are some great cookbooks that
strive to duplicate some of the more favorite purchased foods. One of
books out with more in the works. Click here for more information or
to order through Amazon.com.
meatballs? Does your pizza really have to have all of that meat on
it? Only you will know for sure what your family will miss and what
Check out Asian and Indian recipes in particular. Try to think of
meat as an accent to the dinner rather than the main course. If this
side dishes to compensate. There is always a way to cut down on meat
consumption.
meat by mixing in extra veggies, grains or even TVP (textured
vegetable protein). TVP is made from soybeans and there are quite a
think (it’s also very healthy). It comes in chunks or crumbled. It is
dry and can be rehydrated before using or in the actual recipe you
especially, dark ones, like chili. If TVP is not an option, stretch
meats by cutting amounts in recipes and adding more beans, veggies or
enough to make them happy.
12. Use your leftovers — Get a free meal by saving those leftovers.
leftover night, have a smorgasbord. You can also create “party trays”
with smidgeons of this and that arranged prettily. Restaurants offer
13. Pack your luches — This is a great way to use up leftovers.
Lunches don’t have to be boring either. Think of items you might
with homemade hoagies, pitas stuffed with tuna, BLTs, pigs in
blankets, cold pizza (they love this), bologna burritos (just a
pockets. I always have them participate in the lunch decisions or in
actually making the lunches. This helps stem complaints. I include
mix, popcorn, chips and homemade goodie — cookies, pudding, rice
krispy treats, etc. Click here for lots more creativ brown bag lunch
14. Take drinks with you — If you are working and spend money on
coffee, buy a thermos and take your own. Take along water or tea in a
help you resist the temptation of stopping at a fast food joint and
ordering an overpriced, undernourishing soda. Pack drinks for the
book, I found to my amazement that the half pints of milk from the
subsidized milk program are much more expensive than sending milk I
cents, but the milk I buy at Aldi is $1.79 a gallon, or 11 cents a
cup. I can send my kids to school with twice as much milk and still
15. Fill up on healthier foods — As you may have noticed from the
selection of lunches above, I try to include healthy foods in the
than junk food, I offer them water between meals with the occasional
Koolaid. I buy whole grain breads only and try to make mostly whole
none. Whole grains and healthy foods fill you up and nourish you. You
will eat less and crave less because your body is nourished more.
also find yourself visiting the doctor less often.
Some suggestions for putting more healthy foods in your diet: try
offer water between meals instead of koolaid and soda (and try to
actually drink 8 glasses of water daily), keep fruits on hand instead
offering chips. These little changes, done daily can add up to big
savings in money, loss of weight and better health. For more ideas
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› Budget101 Discussion List Archives › Budget101 Discussion List › Frugal Shopping: Tips for Cutting Your Grocery Bill, Part I