Best painless "stretching things" budget tips?

[familyS]

I checked out this thread when it started and, wow!, it has grown.

I haven't had the time to read it all but, here are some pain free things we do, if they are repeats, please accept my apologies :

- Have breakfast (pancakes or eggs) for dinner once a week. It works really well during the school year when the kids have a big, hot lunch at school.

- Can tomatoes, chopped up with your personal spaghetti sauce spices and veggies. Don't cook it down and puree it, leave it chunky. It saves time and energy on canning day. Then, when the weather is cooler and the household would appreciate the extra heat and steam, used those canned tomatoes to make your sauce.

- Switch to higher fiber food products like cereals, breads, pastas, and snacks. Sometimes the up front cost is a bit higher, but smaller portions satisfy the appetite and are generally healthier

- Check out your area gas prices before filling up your car. For the Rochester NY area we have rochestergas dot com. In our county the cost of gas varies as much as 40 cents from one town to another. I work at one side of the county and live on the other. Usually, I can take advantage of lower priced gas and don't even have to go out of my way to do it.

 

[swilshire]

The ones I didn't want I just threw out, the others I took home and enjoyed.

I hope you meant to say that you recycled the ones you didn't want.

Even better, donate them. I've given them to doctor's offices, nursing homes and elderly neighbors. I'm sure you can find a good use for them.

Sheila

 

[Minnie Lor]

WooHoo! I made it thru 42 pages. Great tips!

I'm going to try the vinegar in the DW. I used to use it in the wash in the wash cycle for towels and jeans but going to try in the rinse cycle.

Here's a few of my tips:

I buy a loaf of french bread from the bakery section of the store. It's usually 99 cents but expires fast. So when I get home from the store, I slice it up and freeze. My DH wants a slice of bread with dinner. He can also use it to make a sandwich when he's home on Saturday. So one loaf lasts 2-3 weeks for us.

I like to use ground round instead of ground beef. Less waste. I'm also using less in a recipe. If recipe calls for a pound, I put in 3/4 of pound. Many times I add wheat germ to bump up the beef and it gives us more fiber.

We're stretching the meat by having a lot of salads this summer. I can split one grilled chicken breast or steak between two big salads. We also have one night a week that's meatless.

I still have a long way to go in reducing costs. I need to cut back on length of showers, letting clothes run in the dryer too long, turning off lights, etc. Thanks for all the great tips so far.

 

[semo233]

bump

 

[BusyMom2Three]

Excellent ideas! I think we do most of them. Though we really love our pasta sauce around here. I have been lookign forever to find a much cheaper way to make it. In fact if I thought it would be cheaper I would do it from scratch.
Maybe I'll try your method
Would you (or anyone) mind sharing your pizza crust recipe? And can it be frozen if I make a big batch?

Here is the most basic pizza dough recipe I have, and yep, you can always freeze dough.

Ingredients:
3 c all-purpose flour
1 packet fast-acting yeast
2 teaspoons salt
lukewarm water to mix

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Mix flour, yeast and salt together.
Mix to a firm dough with as much warm water as needed to get right consistency.
Knead dough 5 minutes, or until it is smooth and slightly elastic.
Roll it out to a large circle and place on lightly greased baking sheet.
Set aside somewhere warm to rise (just slightly--maybe 10 minutes) while you prepare/chop toppings.
Top, then bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden and crisp.

 

[Jakesmom1]

Just subbing, Thanks for all these great ideas.

 

[semo233]

My mother brought over her bread machine (she hasn't used it for years) and we made pizza dough yesterday. I used 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 whole wheat bread flour. The hardest part was rolling and stretching it out!
Then I used a $1.27 jar of Target pasta sauce and mozzerella cheese.
I was really, really good!

 

[BusyMom2Three]

I just remembered another great idea I came across a couple weeks ago. I was trying to find a lentil loaf recipe (sort of like meatloaf but we are vegetarian) that I had made before that was really good, and I came across a site that lets you concoct your own loaf based on what you have on-hand. There are several categories, like protein, binder, seasoning, etc with several options for you to choose from in each. You checkmark the ones you want, hit submit, and it gives you a recipe!

I thought this was hilarious, but it turned out really good and got me out of running to the store. Here's the page, and I am in no way affiliated with this so I hope it doesn't get removed: http://www.veganlunchbox.com/loaf_studio.html . I used lentils, cooked white rice (it says brown, but I only had white, although brown is better), walnuts (another time I used pecans), onion, garlic, carrot, celery, no liquid was necessary but I chose vegetable broth, thyme, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, cooked oatmeal, soy sauce, & margarine. It is a fun idea for kids to get involved and excited about the meal too. Having made many of these types of loafs in the past, I recommend including the worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, & ketchup if you can. It makes it really seasoned.

 

[bettyann29]

Now if only I could get DH to cut back on his Frosty Cold beverages!!..... Yeah right!

I wish I could get DH to cut back on his too! I guess that may never happen

 

[nairv]

Mixing coffee with chicory! It really stretches your coffee and gives you a very smooth, yet full-bodied drink. Never thought I would like it, but I did!!
Also....this is kind of gross....but last week I forgot to get new coffee filters and ended up washing out and reusing the same (paper) filter for 3 days!! I figured even if the coffee was gross, it would still be better than instant! It actually made no difference to the taste!
So it is possible to reuse those paper filters, if you want to be extremely frugal

 

[goofyisinphilly]

So we tried making our own laundry detergent yesterday. The recipe was:

12 cups Borax
8 cups Washing Soda
8 cups Baking Soda
8 cups Ivory Soap.

The directions said to use 1/8 of a cup per load so I measured out 2 tablespoons.

We had to run the rinse cycle 2x to get them rinsed. I think even 2 tablespoons was too much. Any ideas?

 

[mnasmom3]

So we tried making our own laundry detergent yesterday. The recipe was:

12 cups Borax
8 cups Washing Soda
8 cups Baking Soda
8 cups Ivory Soap.

The directions said to use 1/8 of a cup per load so I measured out 2 tablespoons.

We had to run the rinse cycle 2x to get them rinsed. I think even 2 tablespoons was too much. Any ideas?

You must have enough detergent for 10 years! My recipe is 1 cup soap and 1/2 cup each of washing soda and borax....no baking soda. It says 1-2 tbs per load. I have an extra large capacity washer and I also add 1/2 cup of Biz to my detergent, so I put in probably 1.5-2 tbs. I've never had a problem with rinsing. I'm guessing it might have something to do with the ivory soap. That's full of moisturizer. When you're making home made detergents, try to pick soap with no moisturizer. I use ones designed for laundry...Fals Naptha, Zote, etc. I've read at various places that bath bar type soaps with moisturizers eventually leave a film on your clothes that makes them less absorbant. Not good for when you trying to wash your clothes and not good for towels who's purpose is to absorb. Since you've already got a ton of detergent made, try using vinegar in your rinse cycle. It's a good rinse agent as well as a fabric softener. If that doesn't work, you could make some more detergent with a non-moisturizing soap and mix it with the ivory detergent?

 

[Belle2667]

Here is the most basic pizza dough recipe I have, and yep, you can always freeze dough.

Ingredients:
3 c all-purpose flour
1 packet fast-acting yeast
2 teaspoons salt
lukewarm water to mix

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Mix flour, yeast and salt together.
Mix to a firm dough with as much warm water as needed to get right consistency.
Knead dough 5 minutes, or until it is smooth and slightly elastic.
Roll it out to a large circle and place on lightly greased baking sheet.
Set aside somewhere warm to rise (just slightly--maybe 10 minutes) while you prepare/chop toppings.
Top, then bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden and crisp.

Thanks for the recipe! Pizza dough was next on my list to try. I try to cook as much as I can from scratch (better ingredients) and then freeze ahead what I can for those days when cooking isn't something I have time for.

Anyway, I'd like to get the pizza crust rolled out and frozen into personal-sized shells so the boys can make them on-demand. Do you bake the shells first, then freeze, or freeze them without baking?

Thanks!

 

[goofyboyzmom]

Originally Posted by BusyMom2Three
I love this thread!

I use 1 cup of baking soda instead of fabric softener in the rinse (vinegar will neutralize bacteria, but baking soda softens really nicely)
I use cloth diapers and buy them at diaperswappers.com (I use Motherease one-size with airflow covers)

This is also for health reasons, but my kids can have a glass of juice with breakfast, but then water the rest of the day, and we water the juice down a little (maybe 1/8th water). We never buy soda except at parties. This is all just normal to them. They think nothing of it.

We never stop at convenience stores for snacks. I always have things on hand in the van (raisins, granola bars, ect).

We never eat out more than once every other week.

I buy all their clothes 1 year ahead at Target, Children's Place & Old Navy when the clothes and shoes are 75% off. I also shop at mom-to-mom sales and subdivision sales (we are lucky this is practically a weekend sport for moms here).

We fill our thermoses with our own filtered water, never buy bottled (plus, I hate plastic)

I spend $1 for $20 worth of coupons on ebay (make sure you can use the amount you buy) then shop at Kroger, which doubles coupons up to $1.

The 2x/year that all the toys go 75% off at Target, I stock up so I have a bday and Christmas gift stash to select from for my kids' friends and sometimes for them (yes, I do have to buy some special things full-price for my kids, though)

I shop & sell on ebay and craigslist.

I freeze overripe bananas until I feel like making banana bread.

Tomato sauce is expensive. I buy a case of 15 oz cans of Hunt's plain tomato sauce at Sam's Club and season it myself with Mrs Dash (or you can use italian seasoning). It is way cheaper and tastes better!

We make our own pizza crust (very easy and quick)--never buy frozen dinners which are unhealthy anyway)

We don't use paper napkins and I just stopped using paper towels (should've a long time ago)

I am sure I have more that I am forgetting!

Excellent ideas! I think we do most of them. Though we really love our pasta sauce around

I have been using vinegar instead of fabric softener and my clothes are not soft! Especially towels. How would it be possible to use the baking soda in a front loader?

 

[D&DDisney]

I buy the Betty Crocker Pizza Crust mix when it is on sale 3/99.
Normally it is priced at 70cents a bag, so when it is 33cents I stock up. So easy to use...
Just add 1/2C water and mix. My family makes our own pizzas a lot and we use a lot of fresh veggies from the garden as toppings.

 

[BusyMom2Three]

I have been using vinegar instead of fabric softener and my clothes are not soft! Especially towels. How would it be possible to use the baking soda in a front loader?

You're right--vinegar is not a softening agent. It is awesome for neutralizing pH/bacteria and eliminating odors, though! As far as using baking soda as a softener, which I do, I have read on my cloth diaper forums that you use half the amount of baking soda in a front loader (so 1/2 cup per load, instead of 1 cup).

 

[CherylA]

The boiling your beef post made me think of my mothers "garbage soup" She would save all the peels and ends from the vegtables for the week in a bag in the fridge and then boil them with some salt in water to make vegtable broth, then she would discard the peels, not only budget friendly but very healthy since all the vitamens are in the peels! Make sure you wash all your veggies though before you peel them!

 

[bookgirl]

Tried the boiling of the meat this weekend...seems like it would be a pretty good deal if you bought fatty meat but I buy the 97% fat free and I'm not sure this is a great method for that lean of meat.

 

[BusyMom2Three]

I have an Egg Drop Noodle Soup recipe from DH's Polish great-grandmother that is super easy, cheap, and yummy.

Ingredients:
1 egg
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
Any kind of broth

Mix 1 egg & 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (make as many batches as you like--we make 2).
Drop by tablespoonfuls (or whatever size you like) in any type of boiling broth.

It makes a pasta-like, large doughy noodle/dumpling and cooks almost instantly.
It is meant to be cooked in Borscht (beet broth), which we love, but you can also use vegetable or any other broths.

A variation that costs a few cents extra:
Mix into the egg & flour minced mushrooms and bread crumbs (this is amazing!) before dropping into the broth.

 

[Minnie Lor]

Tried the boiling of the meat this weekend...seems like it would be a pretty good deal if you bought fatty meat but I buy the 97% fat free and I'm not sure this is a great method for that lean of meat.

I buy lean ground round or sirloin and still boil it. Besides getting the extra fat out, it's also crumbles easier.