One of the main ways I save on groceries is something every one has done since shopping was invented and that is making the most of things which are on sale. Now I know the first thing you all are thinking is “I know buying on sale saves me money so I don’t need to read this.” But stay with me for a moment.
What I want to do today is to help you get more ideas on how to get the most use of your sale items mainly in the area of groceries.
Last week they had half gallons of chocolate milk on sale for $1.00. That is a really good deal if you consider how much it would cost you to use regular milk and mix it with Nestle’s or Hershey’s syrup. Something like this would be good to stock up on especially since you can freeze it (shake it well when you thaw it). Now so far all I have said is pretty obvious but let me take you a little farther and help you think out of the box.
I don’t drink a lot of chocolate milk which might be the case for many of you so at first you think this really isn’t a good deal for you and your family but let’s look at it and see if you could still make it work for you.
1. If you like cocoa it would be great to use hot with marshmallows or served at a holiday get together.
2. Use for making chocolate pudding one night by replacing regular milk with the chocolate milk.
3. Turn your regular bread pudding recipe (or use the one in Dining on a Dime) and kick it up a notch by replacing the regular milk with the chocolate and adding some chocolate chips.
4. If you find it on sale in the summer make Pudding Pops (also found in Dining..). You just add 1 small pkg. of chocolate pudding to 3 cups of the milk and freeze for extra fudgy popsicles.
5. Replace the regular milk in any chocolate recipe you are making like chocolate cake, cookies, frosting with the chocolate milk.
6. If your love cereal like Cocoa Puffs use the chocolate milk when they eat those. The milk turns chocolaty anyway.
What it amounts to is you are replacing your more expensive regular milk when you can with the cheaper chocolate milk. Now don’t have a heart attack over serving your family chocolate milk. It really won’t hurt to do it for a week or so.
The main point I want to get you to see is to look at the regular things you see on sale all the time in a different light and think how can I use them in a different way or can they be preserved.
Jill
P.S. I just told my mom about my good buy and she said they like to pour a glass of chocolate milk and add a dollop of ice cream to it. She said it tastes just like a Wendy’s frosty. You might like to try it.
Would you please tell me how long can you keep milk in the freezer?
Within how many days do you need to use the milk once you thaw it?
Thanks so much
Jill,
Your “P.S.” makes me want to go out and find some chocolate milk on sale!! haha!!
These are great suggestions! Thank you again!
Hi Jill, I’m all for using things in different ways to suit your needs.
Here in England I never see choc milk on sale but there are things if you look carefully. One of my favourites is buying mincemeat after Christmas. (By mincemeat I mean the jars of brown sweet fruit/ suet that you make mince pies with. Not sure if it’s called the same in U.S.) A nice brand will sell at around £1.35 per jar before Christmas but after the festive season the price can plummet to as low as £0.30. So then I buy lots and use it in banana and mincemeat muffins (great for using an overripe banana),other cakes, stuffing baked apples, addding to crumbles and pies for a change.
I do check the use by dates and when I buy I have a rough idea of how much I use per month so I try not to get more than I can reasonably use. Because if you throw it away it’s not a bargain and I don’t like waste generally (makes me feel guilty). I usually buy a few jars extra to share with my mother who always appreciates some and in turn finds different bargains to share too!
I keep a list of recipes for using mincemeat so when I’m lucky I know where to look …
Susan
Susan I was so glad for your post because you understood exactly what I was trying to say and gave some other great ideas. We do have mincemeat here in the states and often use it for the holidays. I have mentioned buying extra pumpkin and cranberry sauce to use through out the year but never thought about the mincemeat so those were good suggestions.
Thanks, Jill
Kelly milk keeps for a very long time in the freezer at least 3 months but even after that it can’t spoil the most that will happen is it will absorb some of your freezer odors but I have really never had a problem with that and have kept milk for 6 months easily.
It doesn’t hurt to freeze milk but it does separate and you have to shake it real well before you use it. Years ago when they had home delivers the milk would freeze all the time sitting outside and no one thought anything about it but for some reason people now have hesitated in freezing it.
You can freeze it in the carton if your carton has the indented circles on the side other wise if they don’t I buy say 4 cartons of milk, I bring it home and pour a cup from each into a pitcher and use that right away and the rest you freeze.
You need to use it with in a weeks time. Sometimes we get milk on clearance and it expires in 3 days time so then I would mark on it that I need to use it within 3 days when I thaw it.
Hope this helps. Check out our web site because we talk about freezing milk in several different places in detail.
Jill
Thank you Jill. So helpful!
I very much appreciate you replying.
I’ll be sure to check the website!
Thanks again,
Kelly
This isn’t a sale but a good way to save money on meat.
I am married to a meat eater. If a meal doesn’t have meat he thinks it isn’t complete.
Well I have started buying those cryopacs of large roasts and cutting it to suit our needs.
Yesterday I bought a top sirloin tip one $6.68 kg and the one I got was $42. Now today I will cut it up. Keep in mind I am no butcher so my roasts may not be picture perfect but they still taste wonderful.
With this roast I will probably get 10 steaks about 3/4″ thick. About 4 meals of stewing beef, 3 for stir fries, and lots of soup makings and 2 roasts for slicing for sandwiches for my husbands lunches at work.
It will take me an hour to cut the meat and get the fat off (which will be kept frozen for when the sausage skins come in at the store)
If I bought this already done at the store it would be well into the $100. range since our small town does not have big sales on meats.
I do this with turkey as well. I thaw out a frozen bird (bought at 99 cents a lb.) cut the meat into breast strips thighs and legs wings.
the unrecognizable pieces go into stir fries or stews. The bones necks and wings go to soup and breasts are cut into strips and cooked and frozen ready for salads when I am in a hurry.
It is safe to re-freeze turkey if you use it within 6 months and it wasn’t a re-frozen bird when you bought it. I asked a dietitian in town to be safe.
So for a little bit of time and effort you can save big time even when the item is not on sale.