5 things to avoid buying
1) rotisserie chicken : Most rotisserie chicken are three pounds or under. Three pounds is the break even point on the bone to meat ratio. Even at five dollars, the chicken will cost you 1.67 a pound. When you think about that, you are paying 3.33 cents a pound for your meat. Washington grown chicken is a dollar or less a pound often, You,can cook a chicken in 5 minutes or less non- passive time and a five pound chicken is a lot more bang for your buck.
2) soda pop. "They" have come out with the fact that the fox in pop strips your bones of calcium. Besides the fact that it's empty calories . If you are in a four dollar a day budget, pop is not a good investment,
3) potato chips and the like. Again, they are not good nutrition and you want the most nutrition for your buck. Better snacks are peanut butter and celery or wheat bread , a piece of fruit, popcorn that is air popped.
4) fruit juices-- especially for children, The nutritionist told me when the children were small that it is better to give the children the apple instead. It's got fiber and is better for their teeth.
5) ready made anything just about, Almost always scratch is better. Less preservatives and tastes better, follow me along on my quest to find easy ways to scratch cook instead of buying ready made.
I have tackled
- Cream soup base
- Beans
- Rice
- Pizza crust
- Bread
- Rice mix
- Refried beans - not Fried
- Croutons
- Bread stuffing
- Bread crumbs , seasoned
Next: tortillas,
I still hold on to some instant mashed potatoes and French fries. It's a convenience, fast meal thing. Cheaper than going out for dinner is my excuse ! And, I can get them cheaper than homemade. LOL. And pasta is just too much bother for the cost. I can get pasta formats cheap as a quarter a box. Some things are cheaper to buy ready made - either for the time they take or for the cost and some things can be just avoided. I made pita bread--once. I made bagels - once. Never again. They aren't on my diet because they are too car loaded and they are a pain in the touché
to make,
to make,
I got a Betty Crocker cake mix with frosting for .50. We don't eat cake often. But at fifty cents, I don't want to make it from scratch. The savings would be negligible,
Pick your battles. Some things are easy to make from scratch and take little time. So,e things can just be avoided. And some are just a splurge. With careful planning, you can still have a splurge . Save on the things you eat often and the things you can make easily from scratch,
Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from a different perspectives.
The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you use on a weekly basis.
This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week.
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level.
You often are paying 1/2 price for your food. This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget. You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by
cooking more efficiently.
Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap. My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck.
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