How To Save Money On Groceries
If I said I would give you $150 extra a month to help you pay off your credit cards, lose weight and help your family become healthier, would you accept it? Does it sound too good to be true? The average American family spends 1/4-1/3 of their monthly grocery bill on things to drink but can’t find any extra money to pay off their credit cards.
Do you buy sodas, coffee, tea, juice and milk, plus all the things that go into these drinks like creamer, flavorings and sugar? Do you grab a glass of soda, juice or milk instead of a cold glass of water? You may even argue that juice and milk are good for your children but fertilizer (food for you grass) is good for your lawn.
We all know that too much fertilizer will kill it and if you don’t water it, it will die. I’m beginning to wonder if most of us are more concerned about making sure our yards are watered then our children. Of course they need some milk but like everything else do it in moderation.
Here are few tips to cut the costs of the drinks in your home and find some extra money to pay of your credit cards:
Find out how much milk is actually needed for your child. The USDA recommends that children under 5 get three to four servings of dairy per day. That is 2 cups of milk OR one serving equals one slice of cheese OR ½ container of yogurt. Don’t forget milk added to cereal.
Juice is just sugar water. Eat the whole fruit instead and give one glass of juice as a treat for breakfast or snack.
Limit the number of glasses of milk or juice given a day. After the allotted amount they get nothing else but water. If they are used to drinking it for meals, either give them one glass (1/2 cup) and when it’s gone they drink water or have them drink water first and then milk after they finish their meal.
Use small juice glasses. They give the appearance of more.
Don’t fill their sippy cups with juice or milk. Give them water instead.
If you put some milk in a cup and they don’t drink it all, put it in the fridge until later.
Limit sodas to a treat once or twice a week.
Don’t dilute your juice with extra water. Not only does this not taste very well but by “stretching” the juice you teach your kids bad eating habits by giving into their demands for juice instead of giving them water.
Keep water in the fridge. After water has set, the chlorine evaporates and the water tastes better cold.
Add a small amount of lemon juice to your water if you don’t like the taste.
Be careful to shop wisely. Sometimes buying name brand flavored or specialty coffees on sale costs less than making your own.
Use powdered milk instead of creamer in coffee or tea or try mixing your creamer half and half with dry milk.
After making coffee save the coffee filter and the coffee grounds in the maker. Add your coffee for the next day on top of the old grounds. This way you can use each filter 2 or 3 times. Buy a reusable coffee filter. They last for years.
If you run out of coffee filters use a paper towel until you can get to the store to buy more.
You don’t always have to make a full pot of coffee. Just make one or 2 cups at time.
Save extra coffee in a thermos instead of making a new batch or buy a smaller coffee maker.
To make flavored tea, add a package of flavored drink mix to each pot of tea.
For leftover soda – Combine 2 cups of flat soda with 1 package of unflavored or same flavored gelatin to make a rich flavored gelatin. This is particularly good with root beer, orange and grape sodas.
Creamy Orange Shake (like Orange Julius)
1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup milk
5-6 ice cubes
1/4 cup sugar
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup water (optional)
Combine ingredients in blender until smooth. Can be kept in the refrigerator 1 day. Serves 4.
Cafe Vienna
1/2 cup instant coffee
2/3 tsp. cinnamon
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. dried orange peel
2/3 cup nonfat dry milk (optional)
Stir ingredients together. Process in a blender until powdered. Makes 1 1/3 cups mix.
*Attach this note to the jar if making a jar mix:
Use 2 teaspoons to 1 cup of hot water.
1/2 cup instant coffee
2 Tbsp. cocoa
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 cup nonfat dry milk
Stir ingredients together. Process in a blender until powdered. Makes 2 cups mix.
*Attach this note to the jar if making a jar mix:
Use 1 cup of hot water and 2 tablespoons of coffee mix for each cup of coffee.
-Jill
From: Dig Out Of Debt and Dining On A Dime Cookbook
photo by: AMagill
Those are some great ideas. thanks
We do drink a lot of milk at our house. But we have dairy goats. We make a lot of cheese too. Saves a lot on our grocery bill.
We have to learn to buy groceries on the “offense” not the “defense” as most people do. when you buy on the offense you purchase in bulk when prices are lower instead of being at the mercy of the prices offered when you NEED to buy something. We have been accustomed in this country to just wait and buy only when necessary assuming that items will be available and will be affordable.
Our economy has changed for us and in order to survive we have to think “ahead of the game”. Yesterday I purchased underwear for my husband at a good price….I put it away as he doesn’t need it right now but I know that with the rise of cotton prices it will be more expensive a year from now. I also purchased coffee in bulk as coffee prices are going up.
If you buy basic staples in bulk you can make many things from scratch and over a period of a few months your grocery bill will become greatly reduced.
This also applies to toiletries and cleaning products as well….just check expiration dates carefully and purchase the newest items on the shelves.
Tawra buys in bulk often. I keep some things on hand but there are a few exceptions to every rule of course and part of the reason I don’t buy in bulk is I move so often it isn’t worth moving plus I can’t use the things up before the expiration date even when it is 3-4 years ahead. Then there are things like if Tawra had bought Mike a bunch of new underwear he has lost a lot of weight and they wouldn’t fit him now.
I’m not saying it isn’t advisable to do bulk (right now I am dehydrating a 20 year supply of apples it feels like and am going this week to add to my long term storage of canned goods) but be sure to look at your life and make sure you don’t just get all excited, go buy a bunch of things and then find they go to waste or you can’t use them.
I’d like to add a few comments to the great advice above.
“Don’t fill their sippy cups with juice or milk. Give them water instead.”
Putting juice, milk or soda in sippy cups leads DIRECTLY to tooth decay. Doctors call it ‘Baby Bottle Mouth.’
“Don’t dilute your juice with extra water.”
If you are really a juice family (adults, too) there are some brands that are so strong and sweet that they can bear dilution. Many 100% juices use apple or white grape juice as sweeteners, and they are too sweet for a lot of people.
“Add a small amount of lemon juice to your water if you don’t like the taste.”
I have found that a TINY pinch of baking soda sometimes helps improve the taste of water. Look at the labels of bottled water. Many read ‘minerals added to enhance taste.’ I found out that one of those minerals was baking soda.
“Use powdered milk instead of creamer in coffee or tea or try mixing your creamer half and half with dry milk.”
Many frugal sites suggest the use of powdered milk, but where I live, it is more expensive than cold milk from the fridge. Check the prices, don’t assume it is cheaper where you live than for others across the country.
“After making coffee save the coffee filter and the coffee grounds in the maker. Add your coffee for the next day on top of the old grounds. This way you can use each filter 2 or 3 times.”
In certain parts (hot areas) you learn quickly not to leave coffee in the filter/machine overnight. It molds! Maybe keep used grounds in the fridge?
Thanks for the great tips. I think some things may differ by region, and wanted to share some of this info.
Katie
I’m not a fan of cutting milk to save money. It’s foolish, if you ask me. I have a couple of older cookbooks in my collection, and back then, it was recommended that children drink a quart of milk per day and adults drink a pint. That’s a lot of milk! Of course, it was fresh and unpasteurized back then, and more nutritious, but I believe it’s still very hard to beat milk as a food source.
Milk is a good food source but you can get calcium etc. from many other sources too and milk is very high in calories. Part of the obesity problem in the US is that parents are of the mind if a little is good a lot is even better so they are filling their children with “healthy” calorie laden drinks – juice, milk etc. way more then they really need with the idea if it is healthy you can drink or eat as much as you want. I saw a thing recently where people were asked if healthy or organic food had less calories and most said yes and some even believed organic food had no calories!! We have really got to stop being brain washed by these things and do the “numbers – calories” and figure for ourselves.
As far as milk back then being fresh and more nutritious that is another major falsehood people have fallen for. During World War II when the soldiers were enlisting they found huge numbers of down home farm boys were malnourished so in order to help them they started fortifying things like cereal and milk. That is why people of my parents age and my generation have lived longer then their parents before them because they were feed this “horrible” food which this generation has started hollering about. Our main problem is we took a good thing and over indulged and decided like I said if a little is good even more is better so now we are having problems with diabetes, obesity etc.
It isn’t the food it is our attitude and the way we use it that is a problem. I heard the other day of a man who went on a Twinkie diet and ate nothing but 1500 calories of Twinkies a day. He lost 50 lbs, his cholesterol and blood pressure when way down and his doctor said he had never been healthier. See it wasn’t the food but the amount and the calories which was the problem. I would find this story hard to believe but when I say I check things out for myself I really do. I did a similar type of thing and once for 6 months I went on an extremely healthy diet and I gained weight, my cholesterol and blood pressure went up. Even though he had the numbers my doctor couldn’t believe it.
Jill,
When buying hambuger what percentage of fat do you think is the best buy? I don’t want to buy ground beef that ends up being mostly grease when it’s browned, but I don’t like it to be dry either.
Thanks!
Barb I think it is just a personal choice and really just a matter of experiment with a few different % to get what you like. Me, I don’t worry about it too much one way or the other. I know I will have everyone down on my head for this but I just buy what is on sale.
At one point years ago I did all of this figuring and calculating on which was the best buy price wise – hamburger with more or less fat and price wise I could tell a major difference. I am like you I don’t like my meat to be dry because the fat is what gives it the flavor and it is easy to cook and work with.
I do usually buy mine at Dillons and am happy with most of what I get there.
Barb with ground beef I usually buy a package of the extra lean or lean and mix it with the regular. depending on the colour of the regular I just judge how much of the more expensive to add to it.
I don’t buy reg. very often since when I make the burger the size of the bun I hate to have it shrink so much it looks like an afghan square on a double bed. I like a bit of meat with my burgers.
Was at the store last night and their blade steaks were a decent price except for one thing. There was more fat than meat. I like the fat for flavour but these were way too much flavour.
I am not a coffee drinker but noticed one time that a friend did not empty out the grounds but added a tablespoon of coffee to the already used grounds. I ask why they did this and they said it streched the coffee and you could not taste the differance. I didnt ask how often they really cleaned out the grounds but surley they did at some point!!!
Stef
I do this same thing Stefanie with my coffee too. I get compliments on my coffee all the time. I change the filter every other day or so depending on how often I use it or it gets full. I once read the more the coffee is filtered the better it taste. I wonder if filtering it through so many grounds does the same thing. I have never been able to figure why everyone thinks you need to change the filter each time you make coffee.
One other thing is I never make a full pot of coffee but make a fresh cup each time I want one. I just add more grounds to the filter which is in the pot. So many think they need to make a full pot even if they won’t be drinking it all at once and then often it gets thrown out.
I am just amazed that about $15 of our weekly grocery bill is for the beverages. I buy milk, soy milk (for me, it has helped my allergies) and grape juice. I also buy coffee and apple juice (for when my grandkids come over), but I only buy these when I need to, not every week. My 17 year old son would love it if I bought soft drinks for him, but i only buy those if it is a holiday. And then not too many because my son-in-law works for Pepsi and gets a great price on their products, and they share with us for holiday dinners and bbq’s. I am always working to get the food bill down, but it is hard. I like Winn Dixies meat, especially the hamburger. Save a Lot seems to have the best price on produce in my area.
Thanks all for your input on hamburger. Jill-I try to buy on sale too, but I steer away from the rolls in plastic sleeves. It bothers me, I guess, that I can’t see what I’m buying. Grandma-I like the idea of combining a cheaper and a more expensive. Do you have the meat dept. do it for you, or do you mix them yourself at home?
Does anyone use ground turkey much? The cheaper ones have lots of skin, fat, etc., but the ground turkey breast is so expensive! I just don’t know if ground trukey is all that much healthier anyway-especially when it’s used im casseroles, etc…….any thoughts?
Tawra uses it all the time and it is usually really good.
Barb, I mix it myself and go by the colour. if it is really pale I know there is a lot of fat in it. So I mix more lean with it. If it is a nice bright red I sometimes don’t mix it at all if I am using it for shepherds pie or macaroni and hamburger.
Burgers I like to use lean as it has a nice balance of fat and meat.
For ground turkey you can do your own.
When turkey is on sale buy one and thaw it then cut it up into different parts. Legs and wings for soups and stews.
Breast and thighs put through a meat grinder or food processor for ground turkey. No skin, less fat but with the thigh you get a moister mixture than just straight breast meat. You can mix the spices and onions right in the food processor so it saves you work when you go to cook it.
The rest of the turkey cut meat small for casseroles or stir frys and use the bones and neck and gizzard for making soup stock just as you would when using the carcass after it is cooked.
Doing your own cutting and grinding you get turkey parts for under a dollar a pound and ground turkey for about the same even if you add in the cost of using the processor. A lot cheaper than what you find processed in the stores.
I remember when liquid coffee concentrate was one of the passing fads. You could buy it in a plastic jug and store it in the frig. I guess I have adapted that strategy to some extent. When I make coffee i brew a whole pot-and, I make it strong. Not stand-alone-strong, but pretty darn strong! Then I add cold water to taste in each cup, stir and microwave til really hot I would guess it’s about 1/4c. cold water for each cup. I put all the leftover coffee in the frig and make one cup at a time when I want a fresh one. I have found with the strong, cold coffee adding a little fresh water to each new cup makes it taste fresh brewed. The cold coffee will keep a LONG time refrigerated, and I never waste any this way. In the evening I occasionally mix some Kahlua and coffee and blend it with some ice cream. I think that counts as a health food because of the dairy, doesn’t it???? Haha
One way I save money is in juice.
We are not big juice drinkers but I like to use apple and pineapple juice for cooking hams, fish, and chicken.
To buy a litre container it could sit in the fridge for months before I use it up.
I have started buying the small drinking boxes. One or two of those at each useage and they sit in the cupboard instead of my fridge.
I pick them up when they are $1. for 6 boxes.
I bought 20 packages of 6 in August because they were on sale getting ready for kids starting back to school. I still have a few left and now they are $2. for a pack of 6. Will have to get more next time they are on sale.
Another way I save is by making my own egg rolls. We love them for snacks instead of chips which we are trying to cut way down on.
A package of 20 cost around $10 and they are full of cabbage and maybe one tiny piece of meat.
I make mine with bean sprouts, and lots of either meat or shrimp and I use a spoonful of peanut butter instead of peanut oil. Add some green onions and soy sauce then the wrappers and I make 100 or more for less than $10. I make them up and freeze them before I fey them or freeze them after it really makes no difference.
I make the filling one day and then put them together another day and fry them up for supper. I also send a bunch to my son freeze them after frying and put them into the box of Christmas presents that gets to them the next day. They stay frozen since under the bus is always freezing so no problem with health issues.
I’m going to remember to make my own egg rolls with the peanut butter, sounds great. Things are getting too high in the stores. I’ve never understood though, why real fruit juice is discouraged. I buy simply orange and thought that it didn’t have added sugar. Eating them is better, but they often are no good and very expensive. Also, I regularly check the discounted meat that the store is wanting to get sold. Very often I can get a few good steaks and roasts a whole lot cheaper, and either eat that day or freeze them for later.
Vicki we don’t have a problem with people drinking juice it just is when they drink too much of it. Here is an article on portion control. Often people use juice as a way for their families to get the nutrients they need instead of taking the time to make 3 well balanced meals a day.
Another thing is people have so very bad misconceptions about food. For example I have seen many things recently where people were asked if a product says it is healthy or organic does it have as many calories and a huge percentage of the people said that these foods had less and often no calories at all. A carrot has the same calories whether it is organically grown or not.
Another misunderstanding is what you mentioned and that is if a product says no sugar added it means there is no sugar at all but isn’t true. Many foods have a ton of sugar in them naturally. Which like anything else way too much of it can be bad for you.
This type of sugar in some ways I think is worse for you because I call it “hidden” sugar. At least when I am snarfing down a candy bar I know I am eating a bunch of sugar and will maybe (noticed I said maybe
control myself and eat only half (who am I kidding?? 
but with things like juice which has hidden sugar people often drink huge amounts of it thinking it is good for them but the are still consuming bunch of sugar and if they drink enough will consume more sugar and calories from it then my one little candy bar.
One last thing. We try to teach people to save and get out of debt. One third of most peoples grocery bill is spent on things to drink or to put in drinks – juice, milk, coffer, tea etc. If you are serious about saving you can find many less expensive ways to get your vitamin c and to make sure you are not getting more then you need. We are so intense about health now a days and making sure we do so many healthy things but most doctors will tell you people need to drink more water. It is less expensive and really really good for you. Jill
(even though I posted this mom wrote it, Tawra)
vicki, if you want to save even more by making your own egg rolls use cabbage.
My husband hates cooked cabbage in any form that is why I use bean sprouts.
But shredded cabbage works just as well and is a lot less expensive.
I just put some soy sauce and about a tbsp of peanut butter in a large pan and add cut up green onions and fill the pot with the bean sprouts. Turn it to simmer and when steam comes out of the lid they are ready to turn off and when they cool you can make the rolls.
Deep fry them at 365 any higher and they tend to explode. any lower and they absorb too much oil.
You can freeze them uncooked or cooked which ever your energy level dictates.
I have just finished making up 24 and still have the same number or more left to go.
I am knitting pants for Ken doll and reading in between sessions.
Tomorrow it is onto the beef turnovers.
At least these are less fussy than cookies.
This is my first glimpse of your website, it is great. Coffee….I drink lots of it, I’m going to try reusing the grounds thing tomorrow morning. My daughter out of necessity came up with a very frugal idea. She lives in NYC where the cost of food is astronomical. Her coffee maker broke one morning. She had been given a one cup filter as a present but never used it, she put it on one of her travel mugs and brewed a single cup, for her second cup, she just added fewer fresh grounds onto the filter..she said she couldn’t tell the difference. Now no more coffee maker for her. As for milk, yuk. I don’t like it. But to keep on hand for cooking or baking I buy the small drinking boxes and keep in my cupboard. No difference tasted. Again, I’m glad I found this site.
Linda we were just recently talking about this some place on the blog about reusing your coffee grounds. I have done it for years and I get more compliments on my coffee. I pretty much don’t change my filter until it is almost full (I do have a small 4 cup pot). After I had done this for a long time I heard a thing about how to brew good coffee and they said the more coffee is filtered through something the less bitter it becomes. Now I am wondering if all of these years in trying to be frugal I have accidentally been filtering my coffee the right way by allowing it to filter through the grounds which are already in there.
PS…..the only other thing I drink besides coffee is water. My tap water here is awful. I bought an expensive filter to attach to the tap, didn’t work, I have a water filtering system carafe, doesn’t work. I will try the lemon, but I’m not hopeful. The only indulgence I have is spring water, but I buy it in the large ‘fridge container and use my own travel mug to take it with me.
There are a few places where water is beyond really really bad and in that case you may have to do something else. You might try putting some water in a glass pitcher and letting it sit for at least 24 hours in the fridge and see what happens.
I drink a ton of water and hate the taste of purified or bottled water but believe it or not I probably wouldn’t drink a drop of water if I had to drink it straight from the tap. I always fill a jug of water and keep it in the fridge. I can taste a huge difference after it has sat in there for a while.
One reason it tastes better after you let it sit is because the chlorine evaporates. I think one of the best tips you give is to only give kids a little in their cups and then if they don’t drink it to save it for later. I don’t know how much money I was pouring down the drain!
Wow! A lot of traffic on this topic!
My children only get half a cup of juice diluted with water for medicine once a day. Only one cup of milk with meals. Water between meals. Fresh fruit to finish their meals.
Hamburger: never regular! There is just too much fat. When cooking that up, the kitchen gets greasy. If your regular hamburger costs $2.00/lb, 60 cents is for fat. You are paying $2.86/lb for your meat. I try to keep my cost per pound under or at $2. So we stock up when ground beef at 85% or greater is $2, which can happen occasionally at Stater Bros. Otherwise, we stick to boneless/skinless chicken, which often is under.
I don’t often drink coffee at home, but I do drink tea at home. I have the habit of brewing a pot with two tea bags meant for one cup each. Then I keep adding 2 bags per brew. I like to combine green tea with a cinnamon tea. Both have health benefits. My tea is always bought on sale too. During the winter, if I don’t drink that immediately, it becomes ice tea on my island. Room temperature is quite lower in winter in my house.
Water: I use lemon to help with flavor when I run out of my good water (20 cents a gallon). I heard or read that lemon helps make water better, but I forget how, besides taste. I can’t drink cold water. Room temperature is better for me. Even warm water with lemon is good! And our lemons are free, right off the tree!
I have been working with my friends on a “best price list” and I have made a “best place to buy” list for my friends. It’s time for a new “best price list” since so many prices have gone up! For our family of 6-7 (college age daughter comes and goes) we spend under $500 month for food in Southern California. No fast foods and lots of scratch cooking.
Thank you for encouraging others into my frugal habits!
Sheri instead of using cinnamon tea try dropping in a half stick of cinnamon. better taste and that is all they do to make cinnamon tea.
One 1/2 stick should do about 3 pots of tea if you keep brewing it in the same pot.
My husband drink Moracan mint tea with the cinnamon and I always carry cinnamon in my purse so when we have to stop at restaurants and they serve orange peko which he hates.
I do not buy juice for my family but every once in a while, even koolaid is
a treat. I buy fruit instead and it all gets eaten fast. We drink alot of
milk, it is 99 cents a gallon at Aldi’s so it no big deal. When it was $4 a
gallon seems like we didnt drink as much but we do eat other products with
calcium.
As for meat, I have bought 99 cent ground meat and it was perfect. I drain my meat after cooking well done and rinse a bit. It really is up to individuals taste how they like it.
As to the difference in regular and lean ground beef, If you drain your hamburger after cooking as I think most of us do, there is very little difference in the fat content of regular and so called lean ground beef. The difference is in how much cooks away so it is the cost factor rather than the % of fat that you need to concentrate on. They did a study a few years ago using ground beef, ground chuck, and ground round, identical size patties were all grilled to an identical internal temp and all visable fat absorbed with paper towels, and the final fat content was almost identical for all three.
I just wanted to comment on a couple of the issues above. I realize water is good for us and I do drink it (has to be super cold) but my(teen)kids and husband don’t like it. I make them koolaid but instead of the sugar I use Splenda (or Apriva from Krogers) which makes it basically sugar free. I use the Splenda in place of sugar for almost everything.
I have a reverse osmosis system (from Culligan) at my house because the water is bad here. We drink it, cook with it, feed animals & water plants with it. It is $20/mo but I would spend way more than that if I bought it at the store. The dog alone goes through a gallon himself every day.
Just been reading what people had to say. You can make your own low cost soda by using tonic water, soda water or something of that nature. Take fruit and puree it( can strain it if you like. The rest is to taste. Use the fruit puree, some water an add tonic water. If not sweet enough you can add honey, sugar, or some type of sweetner. You can even use this with plain water. Watch how much sweetner you use.
To make a ” milk shake” for those that can’t have milk. Take frozen fruit. Tofu, and soy, almond or some type of milk substitue. This again to taste. Put all this in a blender and blend. You may need a few ice cubes. This is very rich. The milk substitue is used to thin the shake. You can also use a little milk if it’s not a problem. Kids love this. If they don’t see you make it they would never know it’s made with tofu. If you use a whole carton of tofu, fruit(about 6-8oz.) and thin(which you need to do) with the milk substitue, you will serve about 6-8oz. size. As far as keeping it in the fridge, we never had any left over.
Hey Grandma I’d like your pattern for those pants your kniting, we grandma/nana’s need to stick together. lol
The milk shake may not be totaly cheap, but if you freeze your own fruits, make your own milk and tofu(if you have the time) it does help with costs. Also it will help those who can’t have milk and milk products(as my son once told me) to feel more normal.
Sorry I’m a joining in a little late, but just wanted to share a money-saving tip that might help someone else out. When shopping for meat, be sure to check out the local meat locker plant. Some meat products may be more expensive, but not all. Not only is there a possibility of financial savings, there is also the added bonus of being able to have your meat prepared exactly as you desire it. Also, be sure to visit with the locker plant and inquire of sales or other discounts available. We were completely surprised to discover delicious, lean breakfast sausage was less expensive at the locker full price than when on sale at the grocery store. As with other sources, prices do fluctuate. So be sure to continue checking the price out. And the flavor…no comparison.
Thank you also for the comment mentioning the difference in prices and usability of advice in other regions and locale. That is so true.
Herd mentality and assumptions will cost us more than just money. We need to check things out for ourselves. Never assume, ANYTHING.
I thought you might be interested in this:
Lat week our local grocery store had boneless beef roast on sale for $1.79 lb. and I bought one for around $10.00. I noticed that they also had hambuger meat on sale for $2.49 lb. I got to thinking why buy hamburger meat at that price when I could buy the roast a whole lot cheaper and take it home and grind the roast up in the meat grinder and save $.70 a lb. After I ground up the roast I had (5) 1 lb pks of hamburger and (1) 1/2 lb pk. that I put in the freezer. This is the way to go on hamburger meat. I have also bought boneless beef roasts on sale and cut it up to make stew meat with instead of buying stew meat $2.49 lb and there is/ was less than a pound of stew meat in the package.
A lot of times the butcher will grind it up for you if you don’t have a grinder.
You are right Yvonne. I haven’t bought “real” stew meat for years. You can also ask you butcher to cut the meat into cubes for you too on most things. Even the butcher at our regular Kroger grocery store does this. Also you can buy the different cuts of meats too and cut them yourself to make your own things like chops and things.
You can buy turkeys too and grind them up for ground turkey. The sky is really the limit.
our supermarket makes chicken sausage .. adn to be quite honest it tastes alot better than the pork sausage … its in the links (large) and well its made with dark meat ..
its juicy and its listed as organic .. and the best thing of all .. its the same price as regular sausage (meaning it doesnt have the organic sticker on it) …
thought i’d share with everyone …
i like the idea of grinding up the better cuts of meats to make hamburger and etc ..
we have a butcher shop that does sell venison (i think they are still in business) but i am not sure how much they charge ..
we dont go hunting and well hubby is from ky and misses eating venison .. i will have to check this out and let everyone know if this place is still open ..
our neighbor (when he is able to get venison meat either thru his own hunting adventures or if he gets it from friends) says to add a bit of reg hamburger to help solidify it .. bc of hte fat content ..,
Hi Jill — happy babysitting! Hope Tawra and Mike find a great house.
I had a canning question and didn’t know where to post it so here goes.
My daughter wants to start canning, but she says her boyfriends parents use mayonnaise jars sometimes with just new lids and bands.
I was a little concerned about the safety of this, I see that “Classico” spaghetti sauce jars are marked and look like they can be reused.
Have you or anyone you know ever tried this? My suggestion was to take just one mayo jar with a new lid and band and try it in the hot water bath to see?
thanks!
Donna
To be honest years ago people use to reuse all kinds of jars but in recent years they say the glass is weaker and will break or they don’t seal as well. I remember once when we were in Japan my grandma sent us what we thought was Tang (powdered orange drink). It had just been invented and we had never seen it. We put spoonfuls in some water like the label said and stirred and stirred. The jelly stuff did nothing. We finally found out my grandma had canned jelly in the Tang jar to send us.
If you have more questions you can also just call your county extension and they are real good about giving details.
I get powdered milk also .. This way we make what we need > Also I buy tea bags and make Cold and hot tea > I have recipes for home made Gatorade > and different other healthy drinks ..
I also do a 2 week menu plan and buy accordingly … in between we stock up and we are planning to make sure we have a 3 month supply of what we need to survive this way IF anything happens we are prepared
I can’t believe I’m having so much fun just reading alike people. The ideas and share information is wonderful.At times in the past when I adjusted for loss wages or to much waste I thought is it me and everyone else is rich.
Thank you.
thanks for such lively debate!
i am a guy just now learning to live on his own after almost 25 years of marriage. you all are going to make me a better catch for the next one
This is my most recent money saving revelation:
I’m not a coffee drinker but I like to get my morning dose of caffeine from cola. I love Pepsi, Cherry Pepsi and Cherry Coke.
There is a Dollar General store next door to my office. It was my morning ritual to stop and get a cold, 20 oz bottle of Pepsi or Coke on my way to work. Then I would enjoy the cola while sitting at my desk and sorting out my e-mails and in basket and gradually waking up. When the cola was gone, I’d had my caffeine fix and was ready to start my day.
One day a couple of weeks ago, I had the revelation. I was spending $1.79 a day for a 20 oz bottle of cola. The same Dollar General store sells 2 liter bottles of Pepsi and Coke for $1.25. Hmmm…$8.95 a week for the 20 oz bottles versus $1.25 a week for a 2 liter bottle. Why did it take me so long to figure that one out? LOL!
Now, I buy one 2 liter bottle a week. My office has an fridge/freezer with an ice maker. I keep the 2 liter bottle at my desk and start every morning with a nice cold glass of Pepsi or Coke with ice. Perfect!
That one, small change saves me $7.70 a week…$400.40 a year. Not too shabby!
Angie we talk about coffee drinkers all the time and spending I forget sometimes to make sure I mention Pepsi drinkers (my dad was a Pepsiholic).
For those of you out there who don’t have our Grocery Shopping on a Budget e course you might want to watch how much you spent on “drinks” of any kind a month that I talk about.
1/3 of the average person’s grocery budget is spent on “drinks” – milk, chocolate for milk, tea, sugar, cream, pop, coffee, juice etc. That adds up to quite a bit over a year. If you spend $600 a month on groceries that means you spend $2,400 a year on just things for drinking. Compare that to just a few dollars ($10) for drinking water if that much.
Now I know we all love our Pepsi, coffee etc. I do too and I am not saying don’t drink it but for those of you who are in a mess financially and are really serious about getting out this is how I did it and did it so quickly. I drank water. For those who aren’t desperate you might just consider cutting back or do like Angie did and check out your options.
Jill, I tend to be a Pepsiholic if I allow myself to be. I don’t allow myself to keep cola at home for this reason. If I have it at home, I drink it way too much. Which isn’t good for my health, waistline or wallet… So, I limit myself to the treat once a day and drink water the rest of the time. And now I’ve figured out how to save money while still having my treat.
It’s so true that a large portion of the grocery budget can be spent on beverages alone. I see it every week when I go to the grocery store…carts filled with cases of soft drinks, juice boxes, cartons of designer juices, cases of sports drinks, etc.
We save money by drinking tap water most of the time. I say most of the time because we buy soft drinks in 2 liters for special dinners, cook-outs, etc. at home. Then we buy soft drinks in cans and bottled water for our cooler when we are fishing, camping, traveling, etc. By buying in the case at the grocery store, it comes out to $0.12 per bottle of water and $0.25 per can of soft drink instead of $1.00 or more per bottle or water or $0.75 or more per can of soft drink at convenience stores.
Both of my sons play baseball and we do also buy bottled water and sports drinks by the case to take in a cooler for their games. Gatorade at the concession stand at the games is between $1.50 – $2.00 and I can get for $0.75 by the case. Bottled water at the concession stand is between $1.00 – $2.00 and I can get it for $0.12 per bottle by the case. We also limit the boys to 2 bottles of Gatorade per game day (they usually play double headers) and have them drink water the rest of the time.
The smallest things make the biggest difference when it comes to being frugal.
That’s the way I am too Angie. I love my Pepsi especially in crushed ice so I don’t dare keep any in the house. I do have some will power but don’t want to test it daily.
Canning with mayonnaise and spaghetti sauce jars (people give me)has worked great for me!(although doublecheck-some of the sauce ones don’t fit the lids) I have been canning for 25+ years and have used them quite a bit since I do alot of canning. Once in a great while one will break but for the most part they work great! I sterilize them in my dishwasher before I use them. Sure saves with all the canning we do in open kettle!
I love this website. I live in an area where I swear I am the only person that is frugal; Washington DC. We are a family of 6,3 teenage boys and 1 girls and live off of $450 monthly and $38 for 3 pets. I just up the food budget from $400 to $450 for more meat (teenage boys are always hungry). Anyway love the idea of the coffee, never thought of that, but will do it from now on. Keep up all the great ideas, you all make me feel normal in this over spending area. Thanks….
LOVE IDEA OF TRY POWDERED MILK INSTEAD OF COFFEE CREAMER
I USE A LOT OF IT AND EVEN STORE BRAND IS HIGH. I WILL
TRY THIS IDEA.
WARNING
DENTIST SAYS YES IF A CHILD HAS TEETH BRUSH THEM NOT WIPE
THEM.
ALSO IF A CHILD HAS TEETH NO NO NO SIPPIE CUPS
NO NO NO STRAWS.
IT KEEPS LIQUID NEAR TEETH AND THEY WILL ROT.
POUR LESS IN CUP AND NO LID ON CUP.
MESSY FLOOR IS BETTER THAN A DENTIST BILL AND PAIN
OF KNOWING YOUR CHILD HAS TO HAVE CAPS OR TEETH PULLED
OUT.
This is absolutely true! I thought you couldn’t use fluoride on children under two. when my son was four he had to have two teeth pulled and almost the rest capped. the surgeon that worked on him told me AS SOON as teeth come in you need to brush with fluoride. of course my daughter was already two by then and her teeth are horrible as well. but I know now, and the next one will have NO juice or milk in sippy cups and I will brush with fluoride from the start. Of course I think genetics plays a role in what your teeth can stand, I know now my kids inherited my moms bad teeth.
I’ve been using the tip of adding new coffee on top of the old to save on coffee filters. Even my husband and sons are now doing this. I’ve had to place a two day limit on this, though, because one time my husband did this after a weekend off and the coffee tasted terrible! We have a mechanic shop and make two to three pots of coffee per day, so it saves a lot! My husband especially was astonished that it made no difference at all in the taste of the coffee (except the weekend one LOL).
Coffee filter reuse. I too lived in an area that uesing the re-use method discribed above got my allergies in an uproar (mold). SO I would toss the old grounds,rinse the old filter, and simply spray the filter with a diluted vinegar mixture and lay it out to dry, I could reuse them many times over and the vinegar was never tasted or an issue. Vinegar kills germs/mold.
It is not recommended to use coffee filters that are not of paper. Because the filter paper filter out the dangerous fat that turns into cholesterol in your arteries. So guys always use the paper filter for coffee.
I am wondering if anyone has a meat grinder they like, I am looking for one but am not sure where to look or what kind to purchase, I’d like to grind my own but have never done so. Thanks,
Tami T.
Tami, I have a Kitchen Aid food mixer, professional, and you can buy a meat grinder to go on it. We use it for vension, pork and lamb and it works fantastic.
As for saving money on groceries, a good way to do this is to shop in bulk, go once a month instead of every week. Take cash not cards and a calculator. Buy what is on offer, and keep a pantry so you are never desperate. This way you don’t have to buy the basics until they are on sale. Milk, butter and cheese freezes.
A good place to be amongst likeminded friends is http://www.homesteadingtoday.com
Also grow a vegetable garden and if you can, have some chickens for eggs etc.
The reuse of the coffee filter and grounds had to be suggested by a person who does not enjoy coffee!
No Candy it was by someone who loves their coffee. Since I have mentioned this there have been many people who have said the do the same thing.
PleaSE TELL ME HOW THIS WOULD SAVE $150 ON MY GROCERIES? ESPECIALLY EVERY MONTH?? I ALREADY DONT BY SODA, I DRINK TEA AND MY HUSBAND DRINKS COFFEE. I HAVE ALREADY HAD TO PARE DOWN MY GROCERY BUDGET FOR 5 PEOPLE-2 OF WHOM ARE TEENAGERS-DOWN TO 350 DOLLARS A MONTH.
This is for the average family who spends at least that much on sodas, excess milk and other drinks.
Hi,
I would like to hear some good tips on how to cut my grocery bill. As a Celiac I cannot buy or make many lower cost items / meals, and my family is very tired of “plain” meals. I do my best to buy naturally gluten free foods, but would like to do better in managing my grocery bill.
For those who don’t know, Celiacs cannot eat gluten, the protein in wheat, barley and rye. This is in many things, including, for example, most soy sauces, meat balls and soups.
We keep a Sun Tea jar of Citrus water (water with lemon and orange slices) or Cucumber water (water with cucumber slices and a sprig or two of Rosemary from our garden) in the fridge all the time. The orange slices make the water taste slightly sweet. If the jar gets low on water during the day, I simply top it off in the sink and put it back in the fridge. We start a new jar each day. A rosemary plant can be bought very cheaply at the home improvement store or at a chain like Walmart. Plant in a Sunny spot. Allow to grow a bit then harvest sprigs all summer. Rosemary doesn’t require tending other than occasionally some water (which could be any water left in the jar at the end of the day). When my kids come in hot from being outside the cucumber water is so smooth, they can gulp it without feeling sick. (Make sure you leave the rosemary sprigs whole)
One way I have stretched our grocery budget is by making at least one meal per week meatless. I call it meatless mondays and there are websites out there with great recipes! Some of our favs so far: beans and rice, cheesy potato soup, meatless spaghetti or lasagna (add veggies instead). Hope this helps!
I have well water and its just absolutly horrable so i found a spring close by i take empy jugs with me and fill them up when i come home from work. I still hate drinking water but i think i will start tying to put lemon or orange in them overnight:) To also save money i got rid of all my big bowls they are hiding for when i need to put things in the frigerator and am making the kids use small bowls for cereal. They can only have one glass of juice a day and one glass of milk with dinner. The rest of the time they drink water. I used to spend a lot of money on soda pop, milk and juice and i had to cut out a lot in order to make it. I also am planting a garden and going to learn how to freeze, can and dehydrate. If you don’t have area for a garden there are some areas that you can rent space for a small garden usually for a small fee or another alternative is some farmers have odd shapped land and they may have an area that they can’t get to with there machines this they might let you use for free. It never hurts to ask. I’m hoping to cut my grocery bill to only 1/4 of what it is now:).I also learned that if i buy a half a cow then i save on my grocery bill also. Hope this helps
Great ideas Brandy and it sounds like you are really going for it. Keep up the good work.
If you don’t have land to grow your own garden – try growing tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, etc. in pots – less care than in garden (no weeding) – but make sure you give them plenty of water as they will dry out quicker. So convenient also to just go outside your front door and pick nice fresh veggies.
I boil my hamburger instead of just browning it in the skillet. It gives it a moisture taste.
I also cook my hamburger in water. I freeze the hamburger meat in meal size packets, or if it’s on sale I buy the hamburger patties (1/4 lb. each patty). I prefer to cook from frozen since I have had a few traumatic instances of food poisoning from bad meat. I just put the frozen meat with a bit of water, watch to see it doesn’t dry out until it’s all defrosted, then when the water cooks out fry it briefly to brown and bring out the flavor. It is definately moister this way.
I used to do the put half the amount of coffee needed on top of the old grounds thing. It worked for me with my old coffee pot. The coffee tasted fine. Things relaxed for us, so I stopped doing it. Things were tight and I was low on coffee, I tried again with a new coffee pot. Ack! the coffee over flowed the reusable filter into the basket and down into the pot bringing grounds with it. The grounds swell up just too much for the size of the filter basket when I make a 10-cup pot. It may work if I am only making 6-cups (which is really only about 4 “real” mugs of what we drink, and generally we are 3 cup-a-day, especially during allergy season).
My new pot came with a reusable filter. Before I was using paper filters. Apparently the “trick” doesn’t work with my new pot and its smallish reusable filter. It may work better with paper filters, but I think I like not messing with filters better.
I was told to try and dump out the old grinds into a flat dish, and let them dry over day or two. next time you make a pot of coffee, use about 5 REAL scoop, and 3-5 scoops of the “used” coffee grinds. if it’s not strong enough experiment with the ratio. after these grinds are done, I put them in my potted plants as “soil”. saves money as it “extends” the coffee yield you get from the LB of coffee, or the 10.5 oZ a pound is NOW? what’s up wit dat?
I poor used coffee grinds on a plate or in a bowl, then stir with a fork for a day or three. I live in a moist climate, so If I forget to stir it twice a day, it grows mold. When the grounds are dry, I put little bowls of it around my house, especially the bathroom, as an air freshener. Then I add it to my kitties litter box to save on litter.
Using a French Press Coffee Maker saves us TONS of money on coffee. We only make 2-4 cups at a time, there are no filters to wash, and it tastes amazing. We boil water so there isn’t any energy wasted by the coffee machine. We grind our own coffee in little bits at a time, so we can buy the coffee beans in the bulk bins.
Sometimes I fancy it up by adding a sorbet syrup (2:1 sugar/water/flavor extract) makes it taste about 20x better than coffeebucks coffee.
It takes no more time than getting a coffee pot ready. There is less waste.
We are a family of 5 (two teenagers and a kindergartener) with a grocery budget of $75/week. My best advice for saving money on your grocery budget is to take inventory of your pantry/fridge/freezer and see what meals you already have on hand or can make with a small purchase. We often have a month where we will only use what we have in the house and limit our grocery trips to produce and milk.
I also make a weekly menu…saves on my grocery bill because we don’t buy fast food.
I agree with Beverly…I have recently begun taking inventory of my pantry/freezer/frige and making small purchases to complete meals. I find menu making helps save also!
We have a percolator, which comes with a reusable filter, so we don’t need to add that to the grocery list. Kinda nice. We make a full pot, then just reheat cups as we need. I LOVE coffee, but I also like to save money. This is a happy medium for us. My parents never threw away coffee just to make a new batch unless it was just way too far gone. When I was young I thought they were overly frugal, but now I realize they were just practical and saved where they could.
I can’t fathom spending THAT MUCH on soda and juice! Holy Moly! Great article and ideas, though!
The idea of putting orange slices or cucumber/rosemary into a jug of chilling water sounds great. I have rosemary plants, and also appreciate the idea to dry out coffee grounds for reuse since I too have a bad mold allergy. Another idea could be to immediately run another pot through and chill it for iced coffees later. I’m learning to sprout dried beans and lentils safely for added nutrition. Groceries are getting outrageously expensive.
I have a coffee pot that uses the cone shaped filters but I buy the large round ones. I get 200 for the same price as 40 of the cones. Then I fold one in half then in thirds, it will be the same shape as the cones. Since I am the only one in my home to drink coffee I can go a couple days on one filter. The idea of drying the used grounds and adding to cat litter is great, I am going to try that today!!
I was just struggling writing a blog post about the same topic. Your post is outstanding wish I had seen it before I wrote mine. Thanks for the great ideas.
Wow! I never even thought of this. I’ve been wanting to cut back my soda intake because it’s healthier not to drink soda, but I never even thought of the drain it could be putting on our grocery budget! I’ll also definitely remember this tip when I have kids.
just clicked on save money on groceries and wanted then on some freebie, i can’t even remember which one, because i ended up on the never ending coupon survey thing. extremely disappointing. just wondered if you know that’s what happens with this link?!
thanks!
I think you got one of our Google Ads. We try to make sure those aren’t on here but do miss some. Sorry! Tawra
I hear you on the no juice and soda! I’m a milkoholic, and now I’m pregnant so its worse… but I scrounge the whole county for the cheapest local milk so I do get it pretty cheap especially if I use coupons. When I buy juice, I get 2 gallons (of grape juice) from coscto for 6.50 something which is outstanding. I then water it down for my husband and I. I fill a tiny juice glass a little more than halfway full and the rest with water. Since grape juice is so strong it still tastes quite good; drinking it this way makes a gallon last for almost 3 weeks. I make a lot of sweet tea and lemonaid from my neighbor’s lemons and keep those in the frige for sweet cravings.
About coffee…I can’t win on this, thats my husband’s territory. I’ve got him off those ridiculously expensive and sugared up creamers and onto milk. He has switched to cheaper preground coffee and I got him down from 10 cups to 6-8cups. I garden so I have him dump the grounds into my compost pile. I can’t push him further at this point. But I’ll ask how he feels about saving the leftover coffee day to day.
Thanks for the tips!
Using a reusable filter alone does not remove the harmful chemical that coffe gives off when brewed. According to Dr. Oz you should be using the paper filter to remove harmful substances. Those substances increawse cardiac risk!
do not use coffee or tea,and little soda and juice,water is really good with lime or lemon.and i am mormon so we do not buy coffee or tea.
Milk can be frozen, so if it goes on sale and you have the freezer space, buy extra and freeze it. Just remember to pour a little off first for expansion room. It will take a couple of days to thaw in frig.
Grandma, Love your sense of humor – “a little meat with your burger”. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
About milk – when I was a child, milk and cheese were about the only source of calcium that we ate. Nowadays, there is yogurt, cottage cheese, cream cheese, and the varieties are unlimited. Perhaps that is the reason the information said to drink a qt of milk a day for kids. In our house, we had milk on cereal, iced tea or water or kool-aid for all other drinks. Sometimes we would have a coke if we went to MacDonald’s on payday. Milk was for babies, and for breakfast. My mom used evaporated milk for cooking (easier to store), for her coffee and for desserts. With 4 kids in our family, if it was in the fridge it would get consumed and not when mom expected it to. Milk was not the cheapest drink for a large family.
dburham .. my friend used to can jams/jellies to give as gifts by using baby food jars .. i am not sure if she reused the same lid or got new ones .. but she said it worked well for her all the time ..
.
..
..
as for saving on juice.. well .. this might be a bit expensive but when i was buying the half or even the quart gallon .. after it was opened, if we didnt drink this fast enuff .. it seemed to go sour .. so now i buy a few of those little juice bottles (not sure of the size, i think its like 10 oz) .. and now no more waste ..
as far as saving money on milk in this house .. no can do .. my son drinks alot of milk (still) and i have about 1 cup daily .. we love milk ..
we just got a freezer .. and have been trying to fill it with meat on sale .. and plus trying to come up with recipes where we can get 2+ meals out of each main dish .. so far, its working and we have differnt kinds of leftovers .. so .. we are thinking of other ways to save ..
some things we cant save on tho .. like produce .. other than growing our own but we live in an apt so .. we dont have a backyard now .. altho in the old house i wasnt about to grown anything in the backyard ..
there are plenty of farmers markets around here now .. in fact this week i will be going to a new one that just opened about 6 months .. its 2 blocks from where i live at now .. one of the neighbors told my hubby he saves a bunch of money there .. so i will be checking this out this friday ..
love this blog .. thanks for the great ideas!