December 27, 2007
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Frugal Fridays
It’s been a year since we downsized our company and put our house on the market. We’ve had 3 offers on our house and all three have fallen through. My husband and I have cut nearly every extra expense we can think of to avoid my having to go to work outside the home. So far the Lord has provided beyond what I ever imagined. My food budget is the one area left that I still have some ‘wiggle’ room.
My long term goal is to cut my grocery bill by $200.00 a month. My goal this month is to spend a minimum of $50.00 less on groceries.. more if possible. I’m also going to take the allotted amount of grocery money out of the bank and put it in an envelope. When the cash is gone then I will not buy any more groceries for the month.
I decided to ‘shop at home first’ just like Cindy teaches on Cindy’s Porch. I spent yesterday making a list of the meat, veggies and bread in my freezers. I then made a list of meals from that list which gave me over 30 meals for the next month. This should drop my grocery bill dramatically if I can stay out of the stores except for milk and fruit.
Next week I hope to make a list for 2-3 weeks of inexpensive recipes. I’m gathering recipes that have a minimal amount of meat. So far my list consists of:
Beans and ham hocks
Beef/ chicken fajitas
Tacos (small amount of hamburger)
Burritos (small amount of meat, homemade tortillas when I run out of the ones that I have in the fridge)
Stew (small amount of beef)
Fried rice (ham, veggies)
Breakfast for dinner (biscuits and gravy)
Chicken and Dumplings (or strip noodles)
Chile Verde over brown rice
Spaghetti
I also changed my dishwashing detergent. A young friend told me to try 1/2 tablespoon of Borax and 1/2 tablespoon of baking soda. It works great! I bought a huge bag of baking soda at Costco for around $3.00. It will last me more than a year and I still have a half a box of Borax from the homemade laundry detergent I make. I do use a ‘rinse aid’ because our well water is very hard. I’ve heard you can use vinegar but it doesn’t work with the minerals in our water.
Have any of you ladies cut your grocery bill dramatically over this past year? If so, would you mind sharing some ideas with me?
I’m also looking for some good websites on this subject.
May we live [coram deo] before the face of God!
Georgene
Comments (11)
If you have a big enough freezer doing the extra cooking would be a big plus. We eat a lot of soups in the winter time. Very inexpensive and generally lasts a few days.
Blessings,
Paula
Great job on cutting back. I will try the shop at home and plan meals from that. Great Idea. Thanks for the tips! Blessing to you! Sharon
Cash is the way to go! I’ve been using cash for groceries since 1982 and I never want to go back! Although I did use the debit card last week with all the kids and grandkids coming here…I didn’t realize how much we had cut back now that all our kids are married!
Soup is one of our favorite meals now that we’re heading towards 60…it’s a nice light evening meal and we’re getting away from always having a big piece of meat for dinner. It’s a great way to avoid throwing out vegetables that are on the edge of going bad.
The other way to not spend as much is to make a list of each meal and just stick to it. Not that you must have it on the day it’s planned for, but if you put all the meals you have in your house on a mini post-it, and put the post-it on your calandar, if you get to that day and don’t feel like having that for dinner, just swithch it with another day and change the post-it!
We have Aldi stores in our area which also can help me save a bundle! It’s a discount grocery store. And I’ve found a few hispanic grocery stores that have much lower prices…and more veggies to choose from!
http://www.thegrocerygame.com/discount-groceries/index.html
http://www.aldimeals.com/ this is a great site, they help you plan the meals, even give the contents of the meal, salt/sugar, etc., then tell you where in the store you will find the ingredients!
I so admire your perseverence and dedication to your principles. This is a challenge that you are meeting head-on and are winning! Also, I was blessed by your last post about ending the year by giving yourself a spirituality check…and your comments about finding help for life’s major problems in the Word of God. Wonder why we have to make everything so complicated, when the answers are usually right before us? God bless your efforts and your sharing them with us.
I’m always trying to spend less on groceries, but I get lazy sometimes. I hope you’ll share any good info you get and what works. I’m really not very good at it. My dd is a good shopper tho and she gives me tips. She uses the cash and shops for whatever is on sale. She knows where to get the bargins in town. They have a big freezer that is loaded and she makes everything from scratch. They eat a lot of carbs. She gets some stuff from a coop because she likes to use healthy things that tend to be expensive and she can get them cheaper by buying in bulk. She is not really a planner but is good at taking ingredients and making something wonderful out of it. I save money just by eating less, esp. snack foods. My dd also does some bartering. She has a friend that is very good at this. They live on a very small income and barter a lot and get a lot of things in bulk like fruit and then preserve it in some way. She is contantly cooking and trying things. I agree that soup is a good alternative for a light meal but may not satisfy a hungry man. It is good for taking the edge off your appetite and then you will tend to eat less of the meat and more expensive stuff. Have a first course of soup or salad. Having courses gives you tummy time to feel satisfied.
I think http://www.xanga.com/WisconsinMomof2 spends about $200 a month or less to feed a family of four, including two teens, one a son. She has had some great posts in the past years.
Georgene,
I do admire you! Making a list of recipes and then check the Sunday paper and check which of the recipes had the most discounted items in the grocery. I used to plan my menu on the sale items. I made a lot of adjustments to my recipes.
Happy New Year to you and your family! May the Lord bless you and give you wisdom in everything.
Rebekah
Good luck with your endeavor. I made a choice to reduce our budget by about $200/month in September, after our son left home. I managed to cut it down $190/month, which is certainly close enough to $200 for me.
Shopping with cash was the biggest help. My budget is still fairly ‘big’ compared to some who grow a lot of their own vegetables, but we do skip fast food purchases (except for $1/Jr. Whoppers after church on Wednesday nights) and seldom buy prepared mixes.
Now that time will soon be my own once more (or will it?) I hope to begin shopping weekly as opposed to bi-weekly, thereby taking greater advantage of sales/coupon combos to really stock up. We’ll see how well that goes when the New Year arrives.
terri aka PennyAnnPoundwise
Hello Georgene,
I do a combination of things that are quite helpful. I am fortunate to have a dh who is happy with pretty much anything. We do soups also – I find if you make a good-sized batch of it that it’s filling enough. You could also add inexpensive bread/rolls or cornbread on the side.
It is helpful also to shop for mostly ingredients – staying away from ready-made items cuts my budget a huge amount. Right now I am trying to spend about $30/week for 2 and that is my continued goal for the New Year. I shop reduced produce (still good but marked down) & look for things like reduced meat. I use coupons when warranted & purchase generic items also.
God bless you & your family.
I just wanted to add that most of the items I purchase are meat, veggies, fruits, rice, pasta. We eat very healthy even on my reduced budget and I cook from scratch. I also like to make a simple meal that will stretch for 2 meals when I can to reduce cooking times/work times. It can be done – the challenge is using time more than money.
HI…thanks for visiting my site
I got very convicted reading your endeavor to be more frugal!!
I surely need to follow your example!