Tuesday Bullets

I just read an article in our local newspaper that said buying organic adds a third more to your grocery  bill.  My experience has been that the food spoils faster than regular food.  No food is going to do your family well if you are feeding it to the garbage disposal.   

Ways to save money 💰 on your food. 

• Buy in bulk when it makes sense.   Buying cranberry sauce in bulk when you only eat it at holiday time, would not be a good idea.   Buying a 25 lb bag of rice or flour might be a better Alternative.  Rice is on the does not spoil list and if you make your own mixes and bake your own bread, bulk flour is a good way to go.   We eat oatmeal every day.  Buying it in ten pound boxes makes sense.  Anything you will use up in a three mont period is a good benchmark for the common sense flag. 
• Lower your consumption of protein.   We eat too muck protein in this country.   It has been linked to health issues .  Check the RDA on protein for your family.   No one needs to eat the better part of a two pound roast in one sitting.   I had a lady inform me her husband did because he was a bodybuilder.   Most of us don’t have bodybuilders for roommates.  LOL 
• Avoiding junk food is not a bad idea.  One half of the average shopping cart is drinks and snack foods.   Not letting that happen will greatly reduce your food bill and probably a few waistlines too. 
• Planning a non meat dinner or two a week is a great money saver too.   Pizza when made from scratch and ingredients purchased at RBP make for a buck each meal.   Cheese can be purchased at low costs and frozen ( grated ) .  Mozzarella is made from low fat.  Eggs are still low in cost here at times, and you can dehydrate them with succsss.
• Buying your meat at RBP and buying in bulk on a rotation basis is a cheaper and more efficient way to stock your freezer, one month at a time.   Buy as much of a particular protein item as you will use for a months worth of that meal.   Pick a basic cut of meat that your family likes and that is versatile.  We use hamburger, cheese, pork loin  and chicken breast.   Add beans and eggs to the mix.   Adding beans to dishes boosts protein at a very low cost. 
• Don’t be brand an store loyal.   Shopping several stores gives you more choices and lower prices.   Non traditional stores also sometimes have lower prices on some things.   Because they only carry the things they find at a low price, they are a good resource to check occasionally.   Stores like Big Lots, and the Dollar Tree aka DT. Grocery Outlet 
• No one store has the best prices on everything.   Know your prices.   My mother used to say that some people could have a bargain get up and bite them in the butt and not see it. Don’t be that person.   Buy responsibily.   Set yourself limits as to how much of something you will keep on hand.   That greatly depends on how much of that item you consume on a regular basis.   Reducing the variety of ingredients you use on a regular basis helps keep things in order and efficient.   For example, we only buy diced tomatoes and a few tomato pastes if I find them on sale.   You can manipulate diced tomatoes to do anything you need a tomato for. 
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