Yesterday, I got up early and started getting things done. Of you make a list of,things to do you are more likely to get s lot more done. I also watch a couple of people videos every morning that they post. I get new ideas and motivation to get up and going. It's so easy to say your butt hurts and sit the morning, Mind you, I am doing things sitting.....working in my studio, writing blogs, meal plans, grocery lists, learning how to cook more from scratch and lower our food bill more. I do more than the average person on food tracking because of the blog. But, that is not gardening or deep cleaning.
You can eat well on the amount of snap. It takes some effort and organization. Once you are set up, it's really,easier than the old way and you eat better for less.
Think about this. If you have more to spend, and you work at using a coupon or two, or learning a new way to scratch cook something, saving three to six thousand dollars a year could mean a nice vacation, more in the retirement account, savings for a house or condo........the kids or grand kids college fund.....
I digress ....
I find motivation seeing what others have accomplished.
Today, I want to pull some weeds in the vegetable garden that hasn't been planted since the year I broke my hip. I did the beds aroimd the perimeter of the house , but the middle garden has grass taller than my granddaughter was at two. LOL.
We are having speghetti and meatballs, the meatballs are already cooked ( love batch cooking ) amd all i have to do is cook the pasta ( pronto ) and add sauce. I'll make a green salad and get granddaughter with supervision, to do the French bread. It's her favorite meal. Amd she loves to help in the kitchen. I am doing double duty, she gets the bread fixed, amd I am watching her and teaching her how to make French bread. Prepping anyway. I butter it, sprinkle dried parsley and some parmesean cheese on it and bake it until the cheese and butter melts. Yum!
Total cost (more because the bread is purchased - somehow yesterday, scratch wasn't going to happen.) is 1.39 /2 bread , 1.00 for meatballs. .25 for pronto pasta with coupon, amd .75 for sauce. 1.00 for a small green salad. 3.70 for dinner.
That's a decent dinner in my estimation. It's all in the shopping, Dinner will take about fifteen minutes non-passive time- maybe a little more since granddaughter is making the bread ( she's 4yo)
The trick is to spend less time in the kitchen, assuming you have a limited time and a busy life) and more time planning your shopping trip and shopping, I still can get in and out of a store in twenty minutes flat, and hit two stores , planning the trip as to not waste gas. I sound loke a broken record, but mastering the planning is ambit key on saving a lot of dollars. Three thousand dollars times ten years is thirty thousand dollars. In anyone's estimation, that's a lot of bucks. And, we don't eat rice and beans every day.
Our neighbour grows all their vegetables. She shared green beans and a couple of yellow squash
with us. We can have fish packets instead of fish and chips and I will add squash to the oven roasted vegetables. Being flexible helps too -- and having generous neighbors.
Winco ,yesterday , had cantaloupe for .38 a pound. Peaches were .98. I didn't see any meat worthy of rotation status. My best bet would be the sausage at QFC with coupons ( stacking ) .
To those naysayers about them having more important things to do than clip coupons. Here's something that might make a believer of you. My sister has a HD washer. It takes expensive soap. Oxy clean HD detergent has three dollar coupons. By planning her trip to cost forty dollars at QFC, and the five for five sale, and a three dollar coupon , the 6.00 detergent was 1.10 .
6.00 detergent.
-1.00 five for five
-3.00 for manufacturers coupon
- 25% off blanket coupon ( use blanket coupon first amd stick to a forty dollar grocery cart. My hubby used a calculater while I shopped) 25 percent of six dollars is .90.
Balance 1.10
That's extreme couponing.
The Ad...this is early.
18 ounces of blueberries 2.49
Tomatoes .99
Butter 2/5@@
Krigermicemcream 1.99@@
Folders coffee 5.99@@@
DiGiorno pizza 4.99
Fahd Greek yogurt ,88
Pears .99
Heritage farm chicken is Tyson. Just a FYI.
The paper has the p amd grams a smart source.
2.00 off of tide. Tide is a dollar off on the B5,S5 T QFC. That makes three dollars off.
.25 coupon off puffs, it's at the dollar tree.
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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