Monday madness

It's Monday. Time to get organized after the weekend.   Got ground beef ( 7 percent) for 3.18 at Winco and need to batch cook it.    I only domthdo pounds or so because only three of us eat  meat.

I plan to make non fried refried beans and rice to be ready for dinner.    Making things in the morning works because I'm fresh and the house is quiet.    Batch cooking is more efficient than cooking one meal at a time,   When it's time for dinner, your cooking time is cut at least in half and it makes being able to have a more elaborate meal without the hard work.   I'm not all about standing for an hour and cooking dinner.

By cooking efficiently, you can spend more time planning a shopping trip and that's where the savings comes in.

This week, I only bought a few treats that were drastically  reduced in price and what o needed to fill in what we were short of.    I only keep a small stock or things like chillies and 8 ounce tomato paste, but they are nice to have.  I bought BBQ sauce because I could get it about 67 percent off.   BBQ and picnic supplies go on sale at holiday times in the summer.   It's a good time to buy the years supply when you can get three for the price of one.     I have seven BBQ sauces, enough to last us all year.  
This saves a lot of money and frustration.    Walking to the pantry is a lot easier than driving to the store - especially with a toddler in tow.   LOL

We spent about 35.00 this week because I already have a good stock and we are trying to eat down the pantry.

I am also trying to stretch myself and cook some things from scratch that I haven't tried before.  It helps me grow and eating in the cheap is an ongoing education.
I've developed my shopping plan over fifty years.    It's still evolving , times change, prices change and some things just go full circle.    Coffee has taken a big jump again. I remember the coffee shortage of the 70's .   We resorted to chicory coffee blend.   This time, I used a dollar off coupon.   My husband actually checked the can  sizes between the two coupons I had.  

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different

 Perspective . The  emphasis is on purchasing good food( shelf- stabll/ freezer staples )at the lowest possible cost and purchasing enough to last you until it goes on sale again -- Keeping a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you use on a regular basis. It means that when you shop, rather than purchasing just what you need for a day or a week, you  buy a loss leader protein, produce you will 

need on sale, a stock item if it's a RBP, and dairy instead.    This allows you to put well balanced meals 

on the table consistently  for a four dollar a day budget per person.   You spend more time on the 

planning and shopping end of the meal train and less on the cooking end by cooking efficiently.    

Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on four dollars a day, spending more isn't hard.   You still get more bang for your buck.