Because of cinco de Mayo, there was a lot of Mexican inspired foods on sale. Really really really cheap. A lot of 4 day sales that end Saturday. We got 24 ounce salsa for a dollar, as well as flour tortillas for .49. It is easy to make a ‘toasted cheese’ sandwich with tortillas instead of bread. Using smaller ones for enchiladas keeps the carbs down.
In addition, dairy was on sale, so I got enough to last the rest of the month. Most of it was 1/2 price Or at least discounted drastically. I am not finding coupons for much of anything, and the yogurt was no exception. Sour cream and cottage cheese was greatly reduced, as well as 1/2 price milk.
Buying things when they are a good price saves a lot of money. It is what affords you good meals for a small budget.
We still have chili leftover from Monday. Tuesday we went out with friends, and yesterday we had stew. I think we will have chili over rice tonight. Its not what is planned, but it works and we wot waste.
Sausage was 1.99 . That’s enough for the month’s worth of breakfast for dinners.
Because we have a new pork loin, and hamburger and chicken, we wont have to buy meat the rest of the month. That cuts a lot off of the food bill. The dairy is bought also, so that leaves fresh fruits and veggies. When you are in that position, it is a good time to take stock in the stales and see if you have enough . Certain things have a very very long shelf life, like some never spoil. Buying in bulk just means that you don't have that thing on your list for a long time. It simplifies things.
- Salt
- Honey
- Rice
- Sugar
- Beans
- Pasta - 8 years
- Pure maple syrup
- Dry milk
- Soy sauce
Some of those things can be really really inexpensive. I bought a bag of salt for 5.00. Swear we have enough salt for my lifetime, my daughters lifetime, and probably into my granddaughters. LOL
I also buy soda in bulk. Ditto vinegar. Soda and vinegar make for good cleaning agents. They are not caustic and cheap when bought in bulk.
Buying quantities, just means you don't have to put them on your shopping list, and the simpler the list, the easier and faster you can get in and out of the store. We went to 3 stores yesterday, we were gone 1.5 hours and I didn't hurry. I was also checking prices so I know where to find the cheapest . I actually get inquiries from people asking that question. Safeways overcharged for the milk and we had to go back. That took an additional ten minutes from the 1.5 hours.
The more you can stock at RBP , especially things that don't go bad or will last the month at least, the more you can get to the point where some weeks you can just shop the perimeter of the store. That is the fastest trip you can make.
Spending more time planning a trip and shopping will save a lot of money. Making cooking scratch efficient will balance the amount of time spent. Most meals take me less than 20 minutes. Stew last night took 15 minutes. That was mostly browning the meat and making gravy.
Having the right tools, as with any job, makes a big difference. My insta pot and food processor are my workhorses in the kitchen. I rarely use the mixer. It does knead bread well and is good for Christmas cookies. I hear you can shred meat, but I dont know anyone that has done it. Before I discovered that you can grind meat in the food processor, I used the kitchen aid to do that. I think it does a better job, but the food processor is a lot more efficient.
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Yesterday, because I knew we were going to three stores and it was going to be a big haul because of the prices, I made a list and used a piece of copy paper out of the recycle. I marked off columns and identified them by store. We always have a cooler bag in the car for cold things so we ca go t multiple stores or errands. Monday’s winco run was in conjunction with my doctors appointment. The three stores we went to were located in a circle of about 3 miles from the house. Before we got a winco, we made a once a month trip to winco in a town three towns away - about 20 miles round trip.
By next week, I should be on target for the 4.00 a day challenge.
Pasta sauce and pasta are .88 each at winco this week. It is a good time to buy for the needy. It is quite remarkable that you can spend 1.76 for a package of spaghetti and a can of pasta sauce and feed a family dinner. That is probably less than a cup of coffee . Random acts of kindness can be as simple as taking your clean paper bags to the food bank, giving someone a coupon for something they have in their carts, or stopping on you walk to help someone with their weed eater. It doesn’t have to cost you money, but you can still make a difference in someone’s life.
Thanks for visiting.
