Notes on Wednesday

Last night we went with  friends to taco Tuesday!   It is a good way for us to go out with friends and have fun without spending a lot of money.

It has come to my attention, that some of my readers are from different parts of the country,  I am in Seattle.  When I post a blog on the ads, I realize that the prices will do you no good.  But, there is a methodology in preparing to shop.  By doing an exercise to analyze the best store ads .  You are looking for the best prices on the things your family needs.  The object is to find the rock bottom price on the foods you use often.  Buy as many as you can afford when they are the cheapest, as many as the store allows ( limit) or as many as you need to fill on your stock.  If I use something once a week, I keep 24,  if I use something once a month I keep 6.  This works on shelf ready things that won't go bad.  It won't happen overnight, but inch. Y inch it will happen.

Stores operate on a 8-12 week cycle.   Y tracking the prices of your 10 or so items, you can see a pattern and get things at the lowest price for your area.

It's a whole different concept in shopping.  You are not going to buy all of what you need to make 7 dinners in one shopping trip.  You are going to stock items when they are at the lowest price, and eat them when they are at the highest.  Not to different from the old days when our grandmothers put up fruit and veggies from the garden on the farm to get them through the winter.

When the ads come out, analyze the ads and pick the best two stores that have the best buys for the week on your rock bottom prices, your produce and dairy, and the meat of the week.  If you pick I meat that is at a rock bottom price and buy the amount you will eat in a month, you will get the lowest price, buy on bulk, and portion control so there is no waste.

We operate on a matrix for variety.  Your matrix may very well be different according to your families likes.  Ours is

2 beef
2 chicken or pork
2vegetarian
1 fish or shellfish

So, for instance, if I was buying the chicken this week that is a. Buck a pound, I would figure I can get four dinners from one chicken.  I will buy a five or so pound chicken.  Roast it off, and use one meal of Sunday chicken dinner, one with chicken cubes ( like pot pie or a casserole) and one BBQ dark meat, one soup from the bones.

Next  week, I might buy a log of sausage from Costco, or a pork loin, depending on what I can buy cheap.  Maybe a brick of hamburger.

That's all about the time I have this morning.

Thanks for stopping by

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Jane