Thursday : take it up a notch : Bullet day

Last year our average weekly food bill was 72.00 a week.    That's less than 25.00 each,   This year I set out to lower the bills.  Because we haven't had a raise in several years, and  another raise doesn't seem like it's gonna happen any time soon.   And, because it's a challenge!     I still read and try to learn new things.

This year, so far we are sitting at 55.00 a week.   17.00 or not quite 25 percent less.   I'm still working on it but so far I have made changes ;

• We learned how  to make easy breads.   I started with peasants  bread,  then went to refrigerator bread and sweet rolls.   The cost of a good bread 🍞 in the bakery department is  upwards of three dollars.     It cost less than thirty cents .    That's a big difference and some recipes are really easy and not time  consuming.    
• I've made it a point to use up small amounts of leftovers or dehydrate them and put in jars.   
• Finding recipes that turn leftovers into another different dish has been a help.   Hubby does not like to eat warmed overs.    But if I can make a new meal it works.   
• After cooking for a large family, it's hard to downsize.   I started making 1/2 batches of things,   Using a 8X 8  pan instead of a 9 X 13.   Less waste.  You don't have to cook a whole box of pasta,  measure it and cook 1/2 a box,   
• Cooking more from scratch means that I can cook little bits  instead of opening a can of something and not using it all.   
• Freezing bits of anything that can go on a pizza and keeping them in the freezer door so that  they don't get buried in the back of the freezer helps too. 
• I went from buying all cans of beans to having some cans for emergencies and making my own re-fried beans and cooking dry beans.  The deal breaker here was getting a insta pot.   
• Adding a vegetarian meal to the meal plan sometimes isn't even noticeable,   Eggs and cheese are relatively cheap and can make a good  meal.   Or add a little meat to eggs and cheese.