So I'm interested to know: what have you done to make your dollar stretch further in feeding yourself and/or your family? I would love to get a response on this, even to the point of publicizing my blog to all my friends and family, a step I had not fully taken. But the more comments, the better, I think. Let's inspire each other to save much and eat well in the process.
I guess I should start, since I'm asking the question, but I'll be honest: I'm just learning how to be frugal. Going out to dinner is one of my all-time favorite activities, and though I do love to cook, I'll go to the store five nights a week to get the ingredients for ONE meal at a time! So I'll share my practices with you, though I'm hoping some of you out there can outshine me in the creativity department (come on Mom! I know you've got some good ones up your sleeve!).
1. Look at your price per unit. This is not original, but many of my generation may not know this. It really is cheaper to buy a $30 dollar drum of olive oil than a $9 bottle, if the larger one is cheaper by the ounce. All price tags will have this per-unit price on it.
2. Find the cheap produce market in your town! See my other blog today about Limbo Produce in Portland to see what kind of savings you can get. As long as it's not all the way on the other side of town and only open during rush hour, the drive should be worth it. The drive to Limbo for me, for example, costs me no more than a pound of cherries. A Limbo pound of cherries, that is! (ie, a couple bucks!)
3. Plan meals where there are ingredient crossovers. For example, this week we're planning on making seven layer dip one night for dinner (thanks to Raina's birthday party for the inspiration). The avocados and tomatoes and cheese used in it will be used for sandwiches and salads. The yogurt (great sour cream replacement) will be used for a yummy curried lentil recipe. Your ingredients take you farther, and you waste less.
4. Plant herbs, lettuce, and tomatoes! They are so easy to grow, and freshen up any meal. Of course there are a million other things you can plant, but these are the easiest, and you won't be paying for your most basic salad fixin's all summer long.
Ok, People. Lay it on me: whether we're in a recession, or headed for one, or just want to plain have greater awareness of our consumption, What's your greatest tip for saving money on food? What's your favorite recipe that's dirt cheap to make but tastes like a million bucks? What have you sacrificed from your shopping list? What item can you not live without?
3 comments:
Here are some family standbys for minimizing costs and maximizing health:
1. Plan your meals and work your plan. Each week, read the specials and plan a whole week's menu in advance, listing ingredients you need. When you shop, stick to the list and avoid spontaneous shopping.
2. Avoid buying any packaged foods-- fresh foods not only cost way less, but are better for you and for the Earth.
3. Eat before you go to the store.
4. Do grocery shopping on the day the store restocks so you have the freshest produce, etc. to choose from, as it will be more healthful and last longer in your pantry or fridge.
5. Find a resource for wholesale produce and put up your own fruits and vegetables, jams, chutneys, sauces, ketchup and pickles.
6. Prepare simple meals with simple ingredients, and add a homemade condiment to create the taste dimension instead of relying on expensive or rich items for it.
7. Practice eating only 80% of what you think you need -- to promote health and eventually it really cuts back on what you need to buy, too.
8. Be fully present when you prepare, cook, eat and clean up. A heightened sense of consciousness will bring a heightened sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.
9. Get your parents to buy you a nice meal out whenever they visit.
....love, Mom
I’m a consultant who has worked a lot in the food business. I picked up a habit years ago that has saved me thousands of dollars and kept me from consuming a lot of crummy food. When I work on a food product, I am usually sent several cases, even pallet loads of it to do my research with. I launch into to snacking on it several times a day, and just keep this up for a few days or weeks until ….my body revolts. Then I am done. Cured. Poof. Bring me a bucket!
Doritos? I wretch at their smell. Just have an unlimited supply of them on your desk for a few weeks and you’ll see why. I have done hundreds of products, and each one has been eliminated from my shopping list forever. Lays, Ruffles, Munchos, Cheetos, Fritos, Tostitos, Rold Gold, Sun Chips, Corn Nuts and Blue Diamond Almonds, Planters peanuts …and Funyuns. And then there were the bean dips and salsas… Then there were the meat products. I worked on all the types and flavors of Spam and a few lines of deli meats. And beverages… Canada Dry, Mug, Fanta, Pepsi, Coke, Slice, Mountain Dew, 7UP, etc. Canned fruits and vegetables (Green Giant, S&W, Safeway Select, Townhouse, Bush, Libby’s, Dole, Del Monte, IGA, etc.) I can keep going, I have my own hall of shame. But I’m saving money!!
So if you have a weakness for one of those expensive no very healthy processed food products, my advice is to BUY A CASE! It’s a one time cost hit that lasts a lifetime.
One exception: One product that I have worked on that I continue to love is Dreyers Slow Churned Ice Cream. Its wonderful, and my weakness. But I just realized that (given its perishable form) I have always purchased small amounts. “Babeee, time to rent a freezer!!!”
TIP ONE: I save the most money by always packing my own lunch for work or if I'm short on time, bringing a Lean Cuisine to the office.
TIP TWO: Shop at Trader Joe's for:
(1)Cereals that are all about 2 bucks
(2)Cheaper pasta sauces,thai sauces and crackers than at a Safeway etc. (and the crackers even taste like real "wheat thins" but don't have hydrogenated oils!)
(3)They carry some of the same pre-packaged organic lunch meat as Whole foods but for about 2 dollars cheaper a package
(4) Wine: there are plenty of tasty 5 and 6 dollar bottles of wine and if you are really in a pinch, there is always 3 buck chuck!
TIP THREE: if you are going to the movies, sneak your own beverages and candy in. Splurge on the popcorn but why pay 5 bucks for some gummy bears you can buy at the convenience store for a dollar (same goes for soda)
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