When trying to eat on a budget, it really helps if you know the prices of things you buy on a regular basis. We have ceilings on my prices. Unless it is something we really really need, we just don’t buy it. Stocking while something is at a low price helps with this.
Example: we keep 4 dozen eggs, Typically we use a dozen eggs a week. If we buy one or two dozen with far out pull dates each time they are at a good price, we never run out of eggs and we always pay less than 1.25 .
There are big fluctuations in prices between stores. There can be as much as two dollars an item .
With a four dollar a day budget, two dollars is a BIG amount.
Yesterday, I worked at my volunteer job. My husband went to find eggs and lettuce. At one store 2 dozen eggs and a head of iceberg lettuce was 7.50 . He went to another store and it was less than 3.00 for the three items. Almost a third of the price. 5.00 buys a lot of chicken when it is .88 a pound.
Groceries on the cheap takes a different approach to buying groceries. Instead of a panic mode where your cupboards and refrigerator are bare and it’s payday, you never pay full price and you stock basic food when it is on sale. You go to the store to buy a rotation bulk protein , perishable dairy and produce, and whatever your non perishable stock is low on that is a good price somewhere.
It takes some time, but you should strive for a four to six weeks supply of food. You never know what is going to happen, and being prepared gives you piece of mind.
The government shutdown comes to mind. If people had a stock of food, they would have been better off.
Making a master list helps a lot. We all have a small list of meals our family likes. Making a ,sit with those meals as a starter is a good first step.
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