tips and tricks

For some background...my daughter taught students from low income homes for years.   She was hearing from mother’s that they were having a hard time making their grocery budget stretch.  The cost of food has gone up dramatically, and it is the third most expensive item in most people’s budget.

We have economized  on the food  budget for years.  It started when I was a starving college student and never stopped.   It got to be a habit.   But, when I was trying to help the people that my daughter so eloquently said, oh my mom knows how to do that.   I began to try more ways to stretch the food dollar.   We have found some really good recipes and have learned how to  cook from scratch more than we ever thought possible.   The upshot of that is that we are eating less processed foods and better meals.   In addition, we have learned to do it more efficiently.   Par of that is having proper tools in the kitchen.   A few well worth their weight tools save time and money.  

My husband would tell you that the toaster and the coffee pot were the most important tools.  My opinion would be the insta pot, (a rice cooker, slow cooker and pressure cooker all in one and some have a yogurt cycle as well ), the food processor , and a blender.

Which brings  me to little ways that save tons.

1. Breading.  The cost of bread crumbs are upwards of 2.00 a pound,  If I buy something for two dollars a pound, it had better be protein.   Why pay two dollars or more a pound for someone else’s dry bread and throw your dry bread away.   The heels or dry bread can become croutons, breadcrumbs, or bread stuffing. 
2. We throw away about 40 percent of the food  we buy America according to statistics. That is a good reason to find ways to use up all of what we have.  Google something that  needs to be used up for ideas.   Use the Betty Crocker cookbook on line that is free.   They have a lot of ready made things that they are selling,  it it’s not a hard stretch to make those things yourself.   If something is on a recipe that your family won’t eat substitute something that takes the same bulk as the deleted item.  My husband does not like onions.  We substitute celery and add onion powder or I put the onions through the food processer until you can’t know what they are.
3. Buy shelf stable products when they are at a RBP and stock up to a 4-6 week supply. More stock of you can.  Be mindful of pull dates and how much of an item you use per month.   simplifying the amount of items you keep a stock of is a good thing.  It saves time and money.
4. Buying anything that doesn’t spoil in bulk simplifies your shopping because you buy it once and it never hits your cart again.  Salt, soda, honey, sugar are all things that don’t go bad.  We buy oatmeal, rice, and flour at Costco.  If we had a larger family, we would buy pinto beans too.   They are cheaper and we use those quantities in about three months.   This way, they are a lot cheaper.  A bag of salt cost me 5.00.  We have enough salt to last us our lifetime, my daughters lifetime and prolly into my granddaughters lifetime. Lol I don’t have to worry about buying that for a long time.  Ditto the cost of soda.  You can bake with it and clean with it,  it to mention use it as a whitener for your clothes.  It just pays  to buy a sack from Costco .    
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6. Buying in bulk anything that can be used up before it passes a true pull date, simplifies your shopping. Once you are up and running, you can just shop the perimeter of the store and get in and out in minutes.   Buy a rotation meat, the produce that is in season that will top off your meals, the dairy you need including eggs, and watch for the staple items that are at the RBP.  
7. Certain times  of the year are the best time for a good price on things.  Sweet baby rays bbq sauce is best during picnic times, the summer holidays,  use coupons if you can find them.  Ditto ketchup and mustard.  Baking supplies and cream soups are best at thanksgiving and Christmas.  Again, watch for coupons.    Peanut butter and jelly are best at school time. 
8. Making your own mixes for things that you buy on a regular basis saves time and there are no ingredients that you cannot pronounce.  There are things like tsp (a string detergent) and wood pulp in some of our food.  While it is supposed to be on amounts that won’t hurt you, I still don’t want to feed it to my family.  There are things that we can logically control with the funds we have to spend, and ones we can’t.   I am choosing to reduce what I can control .  Cream soup base is fractions of what a can of soup costs, taco seasoning can be as hit or not as you please for fractions of an envelope, baking mix is not  only cheaper , but too can make it without hydrogenated oil.  Seasoned rice is an rice a roni alternative.   Muffin and pancake mix has no preservatives and makes best use of a 7.00 bag of flour from Costco.  If you use a bag of flour efficiently, you can save more than ten times the cost of the flour.  Muffins can be five dollars,  sour dough bread can be upwards of 2.50.  Frozen pancakes are a rip off.   Ditto waffles.  My sister bought our grandchild a baby waffle iron when she was 5.  She learned to use it with supervision.  French bread  takes ten hands on minutes and costs 30 cents.  
9. Buy perishables in season in moderation so they get used up.  Buy shelf stable  products on sale and buy a specified amount to cover yourself until you find them on sale again.  Storage experts tell me that pasta has an eight year shelf life.  I buy it when I can find it for a dollar or less a pound.  I can still get Barilla for a dollar  at the DT in limited supply .  Buy it when you can.  It is 33 percent higher even at Winco and more at other stores.  
10. Find the RBP on the protein sources you eat on a regular basis.  For us, that would be boneless, skinless chicken breast, pork loin, and hamburger, as well as beans, rice, eggs and cheese. When an article is in a good sale, buy as much as you will use in 4-6 weeks, the next week, look for a different item.  Rotating protein purchases on a good sale basis saves time and money.  Simplify.  You can cut up a pork loin and make a variety of meals.  We all know the numerous ideas for meals all over the Internet and in cookbooks for chicken and hamburger.

Simplify the number of items you buy, buy at the cheapest price for good quality you can find, and cook from scratch efficiently.  Know the tricks retailers us to get to separate you from your money.   That’s their job, but you don’t have to buy into it.  Buy wisely, watching expiration dates and paying attention to how much of the item you are likely to eat.  Stay on top of it and freeze or incorporate anything that is nearing its useful life into your meals.   

With careful planning and some effort, you can feed your family good food on a limited budget,