married 4 young kids as well as the food check is approach to high.What have been the most appropriate ways to save upon the grocery bill. I would similar to to begin regulating coupons, though alternative afterwards the sunday paper how else do we get them? I know of the web we can go to though usually did it once given it messed my mechanism up bad. I am critical about perplexing to revoke my food check as well as need sources of how to do this, I am the stay during home mother so I need to implement my time effeciantly to save, We have been sleepy of spending 200 or some-more the week upon food it’s crazy, Please give a little ideas….
PLEASE HELP ME SAVE MONEY ON FOOD?
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Eat less meat. Buy less prepackaged foods (prepare things from scratch). Try a cook-once-a-week or month program (you buy in bulk and use similar ingrediants to prepare meals so nothing goes to waste – freeze it then reheat it when you’re ready to eat it for dinner). Keep track of when certain types of foods go on sale at different stores around you (it’s usually cyclical so you buy enough to get you through to the next cycle). Buy generic.
Here’s two sites with free coupons. GL. I hope this helps. I grew up in a family of four kids and my father was killed when we were all teenagers. Yes we had some very difficult time.
Here’s the sites:
http://www.save.ca
http://www.totallyfreestuff.com
Also, my mom would make food stretch a lot farther by making really cheap meals and freezing them.
One of our favorite lunch meals was macaroni, tomato soup and hamburger. Cook as much macaroni as you need. Add one can of soup for every four cups of macaroni and 1 lb of cooked hamburger meat for every 8 cups. Serve with bread and milk. Not the healthiest, but when we were in this situation, healthy was second. Staying alive and out of bankruptcy was first. Feel free to contact me for other recipes.
cosco………..buy in bulk….buy generic products
Carbohydrates are relatively cheap and filling. Potatoes, Rice, Pasta, Bread. You can make them tasty by adding stock cubes, (spreads for the bread) and relatively little meat fish or cheese.
Big stews with lots of potatoes and veg, and a little meat. Eggs are a good source of protein and not too expensive.
Cheaper cuts of meat and fish can be used in you cook them in a pressure cooker. It dissolves gristle etc.
Bake your own cakes for a fraction of the cost of shop bought.
Maybe if you have the land you could grow your own veg or even keep hens or other livestock.
Always have a cereal breakfast. Get a yogurt maker.
My wife and I make a menu every week and she goes the store and doesn’t vary from it. We will design the menu around one major meat, i.e. chicken, ground meat, ground turkey, etc. We buy the meat in bulk and seperate it in smaller portions when we get home. Do the same with your veggies…buy them fresh and cut them up and freeze it. That way when you need it you have it. Most reciepes require celery, onions, and bellpeppers. Chop these up and put them in a large bag and freeze it. Another way to save on your meat is to shop at salvage grocery stores. They have meat that is about to expire at a fraction of the price, but all you have to do is freeze it and thaw when needed. One more way to save on beef is to go in with a few other friends on a half side of cow. You can usually get the meat packaged in individual servings for a dollar or two per pound. You do need a deep freeze though, unless you have a really big freezer.
Also you can cook in bulk, cook enough red beans to last for four meals. Eat for two nights in a row and freeze the rest for a later date. Soups, stews, and spaghatti are other things you can do too. If you don’t have a deep freeze, this would be a good investment because you can stock up on meats and veggies while they are on sale. If you do the prep work then you will save too.
GOOD LUCK!! YOU CAN DO IT!!
Plan, plan, plan! If you go shopping weekly then I want you to make a menu for the week listing what you will be eating – breakfast, lunch and dinner, and throw in a few snacks. Now, look in your pantry/fridge/freezer and figure out what you already have and what you will need for the week. Make up a detailed list of only the things you need. DO NOT buy anything that is not on this list!
Now, get your local grocery store flyers and figure out which one is cheapest. Also, Walmart might match grocery store prices so if there’s a Super Walmart near you call and find out, then you can just bring the flyers with you and get the cheaper price.
You can go on http://www.boxtops4education.com/Default.aspx for free coupons – don’t have to download anything to your computer for it. You can also see if you can get on the emasil list for your favorite brands – Pilsbury, Betty Crocker, Kellog’s etc – and they will usually have coupons with their emails. If there is a 1-800 on the package you can call and ask them to send coupons. Ebay also has coupons for sale – just make sure you don’t bid too much. Ask family and friends to let you have their coupon inserts from the Sunday paper – also check with your newspaper to see if they have coupons on Wednesdays as well.
Buy generic if its available – you’re paying more for brand names, not because the food is better.
Good luck! Hope that helped!
Prepare a menu for the week so you can buy your groceries on a weekly basis…make a list to help you and stick to it. If you don’t have one already, invest in getting a freezer so you can buy meats when they go on sale and freezer bag em into meal sized portions.
Cooking from scratch helps a lot.
Only buy non-perishable items in bulk….throwing rotten food wastes money.
Buying mid-week only tempts you to buy unnecessary items…especially snacks.
my boyfirend and i are on a budget so to help with the grocery bill we sit down and make a list, and plan out our meals for the next two weeks. We live pay check to pay check. Also shopping at Trader JOes will help out more then you will ever know. Shopping at safeway for two weeks cost 200 and that was with the generic brands. Same list for Trader Joes its only 85$. Granted Trader JOes doesn’t have everything to then we go to Costco and bulk up =D Hope this help. Good Luck
I’m in the same boat and I want to tell you the internet is a wealth of opportunity for you to save money. There are websites out there made just for people like us. My very favorite site to go to is http://www.freestuffhotdeals.com Go there and you’ll be able to get all kinds of coupons and full price coupons!! Also you can earn money from your computer!! They have survey companies that will pay you to take surveys and secret shopper jobs as well as all kinds of work from home services. I got started selling on ebay because of Free Stuff Hot Deals. Just go there, there are all sorts of forums on budgeting and saving money.
Good luck Sweetheart!
It’s shame in this country that so many go without, but here’s my 2 cents worth. Cut back on snacks, candies & soda. I see many people buying these types of items & I don’t think they realize how much they ad up over time, not to mention what they do to your health.
Best of luck everyone.