Everyday

Everyday I do a blog.   I have been following a lady that is very inspirational and helpful on getting your butt up and doing what needs to be done.   Lots of good ideas.    Today she talked a little setting up areas of your home and deep cleaning that area for an hour a week.   Pick a day.    It keeps you focused.    I usually see so,ethnic no that is bugging me and hit it for a couple of hours when  I feel up to it.    But, those areas that I don't see everyday , just don't get done.   The reality is I'm not the only person that lives here,   And everyone needs to do their fair share.    LOL.   Like that's going to happen.  

Today is the day I clean the fridge and prep meals for the week.   I'll probably run the  damp mop over the floor and clean off the counters.   

 I cleaned the pantry the other night at two in the morning when I couldn't sleep.   It gave me a good overview of what we had and what may need to be supplemented soon.  I'm looking for a diced tomato canned good sale,   It was .60 a can at Freddies last week, I want fifty cents.   They are .58 all the time at Winco.    I was over stocked and didn't buy any for a long time. Now we are lower than my comfort level.    I plan to eat down canned beans and transition to some canned and some dry.    I still want canned in case I'm in a pinch or we need them in a emergency situation.   Our power goes out , sometimes  for days in the winter.    We are a small pocket on the electric grid and they fix the larger grids first in order to cover as many people as possible.   We have a BBQ and a fireplace, but dry beans would take a l o n g time!    

That was a long explanation to say I will replace some of the bean shelf with tomatoes.    I filled some of the tomato shelf with my own mixes and canisters of dried beans,   I also took a small crate from the dollar tree and pit all those little jars etc of baking things in it.   It makes it a lot easier to find what you need and I don't have to take every little bottle of flavored vanilla , baking powder etc out to find why I need.   It's contained.    Life's easier and less cluttered of what you need is contained.    

OK.   Pizza dough. Non- Fried  refried beans, rice, clean veggies and put them in green containers, make green salad.    Clean off the fridge door.    

Type a master list of cleaning chores.   

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.