One area that I'd really like to work on my spending in is grocery shopping. I know I overspend here, and have food waste way to often. Here are a few things I did to improve in this area.
Baking: Last weekend I had some almost rotten bananas and a HUGE zucchini that a friend gave me. I made a loaf of banana bread and two loafs of zucchini bread. I shared some with my mom, we ate two of them, and I sliced the last loaf up and froze it in individual servings. When I want a quick breakfast I can pop a slice in the microwave next to a wet paper towel for 30 seconds. YUM! I also found a recipe for zucchini fritters and made them to go with my Sloppy Joes for dinner on Sunday. We LOVED how they turned out. The best part: I already had all of the other ingredients on hand, so that was all free!
Inspired by using what I had, I planned Sloppy Joes (all I needed was a bell pepper and some ketchup) for dinner that night. That cost me $2.25 (and of course I have most of the bottle of ketchup left). Last night I made Sesame Chicken with frozen chicken leftover from other recipes. That's the kind of thing I tend to let languish in the freezer, so I was glad to use it. I also have two half-used bags of hash browns in there. I found a recipe for potato soup that uses hash browns, so I picked up the other ingredients I need to make that (spent about six bucks on that. I think I should be able to get a few meals out of it). We also have TONS of jello, so I bought a can of mandarin oranges and some Cool Whip and made dessert from that.
While I was at the store, I picked up some meat on sale. Some was clearance and all pork was half off. I got Italian sausage ($1.98), spicy turkey sausage ($2.99), ground beef ($3.89), beef short ribs ($1.89) and two pork loins ($2.97 & $3.50). I spent seventeen bucks and got quite a stockpile of meat. Now I will meal plan around those items in the weeks to come. I also snagged a pack of buns on clearance that I threw in the freezer for the next time we make burgers or Sloppy Joes (a new favorite. Pioneer Woman's recipe had Freddie and my sister raving).
I usually plan my meals before going to the store, but then I can't always take advantage of items in I find on clearance. This way, I know I am building my meal around the best deals possible.
I spent a total of $40 at the store today. I got all of that meat, ingredients I needed for the two dinners I planned ahead for, fruit, yogurt, cake mix, frosting, and lunch meat. Normally, I can easily spend $60 at the store, so this is a victory!
How do you save money on groceries?
I use coupons on sale items. I stack coupons and price match at Walmart. I buy more than I need if a deal is low enough. I don't worry about having over-bought. I keep two hens in the backyard for eggs. I spend nothing on their feed. We have a Thrift Bread Store. All bread has three or four days left before "sell by" date. Whole wheat, double fiber bread, no preservatives, no hfcs costs me $.99. I buy six loaves at a time and put two in a two-gallon Ziploc bag in the freezer. With two bags of two loaves in the house, I rarely buy bread more than once each month. Plus, after buying a certain amount of loaves/buns, I get $7. in free bread.
ReplyDeleteI pick up pecans, pick figs, pick pears, all for free. Growing herbs and tomatoes and potatoes keeps costs down. In an apartment, this can be done indoors for the herbs and on a balcony. Potatoes can be grown in flower pots and still look like a plant on the balcony or indoors.