Best painless "stretching things" budget tips?

[JodyLynC]

There is a Kroger where I work that is near the local college. I can find bulk pkgs of meat that have been drastically marked down. My favorite thing to do with ground beef is to make several meat loafs and freeze them. I have about 5 different meat loaf recipes that we love. All we have to do is thaw and bake.

You can really stretch your ground beef in meat loaf recipes by using tasty fillers. (generic croutons, cheese crackers, corn chips, or flavored tortilla chips for example.)

This Kroger also has bread and buns in their reduced section. I love grabbing the buns and either using them right away or freezing them. The hot dogs buns are great for meatball subs. The burger buns are great for chicken sandwiches or fish sandwiches (like McD's). Leftover buns going stale? Make garlic bread with them.

Another quick and cheap meal is chicken patty parm. When the cheapy breaded chicken is on sale, we heat them in the oven. Then top with a little spaghetti sauce and cheese. Serve with pasta w/spag. sauce or use the garlic bread buns to make hearty sandwiches.

 

[JodyLynC]

Dh and I are looking into getting a home deli slicer. It would be much cheaper for us to buy a turkey breast or ham, cook it, slice it and freeze it in small batches than it is to buy from the deli.

 

[JodyLynC]

A couple more things:

We added a insulation blanket to our water heater. We also cut our house heat back. (64 at night, 68 to 70 during the day depending on if we have the oven on.)

 

[ticktock]

There is a Kroger where I work that is near the local college. I can find bulk pkgs of meat that have been drastically marked down. My favorite thing to do with ground beef is to make several meat loafs and freeze them. I have about 5 different meat loaf recipes that we love. All we have to do is thaw and bake.

You can really stretch your ground beef in meat loaf recipes by using tasty fillers. (generic croutons, cheese crackers, corn chips, or flavored tortilla chips for example.)

This Kroger also has bread and buns in their reduced section. I love grabbing the buns and either using them right away or freezing them. The hot dogs buns are great for meatball subs. The burger buns are great for chicken sandwiches or fish sandwiches (like McD's). Leftover buns going stale? Make garlic bread with them.

Another quick and cheap meal is chicken patty parm. When the cheapy breaded chicken is on sale, we heat them in the oven. Then top with a little spaghetti sauce and cheese. Serve with pasta w/spag. sauce or use the garlic bread buns to make hearty sandwiches.

I never thought of corn chips in meatloaf. I googled for recipes and all I found were mexican flavored. Do you use mexican flavors when you put corn chips in meat loaf? We are gluten free so I'm always looking for bread substitutes. This would be great. Thanks.

 

[JodyLynC]

I never thought of corn chips in meatloaf. I googled for recipes and all I found were mexican flavored. Do you use mexican flavors when you put corn chips in meat loaf? We are gluten free so I'm always looking for bread substitutes. This would be great. Thanks.

I make a taco meat loaf using corn chips. Basically it's ground beef, salsa, taco seasoning, crushed corn chips. (optional - black olives, corn)

There is also a frito chili meat loaf using chili powder, crushed tomatoes, chopped onions, and corn chips.

 

[mom0299]

 

[princess~yo]

wow, I made it through 800+ posts! A lot of tips I use currently ~ like adding beans into ground beef, using less laundry soap, foodsaver bags to stock up, reusing everything imaginable ~ but there are a lot of tips here that really make me think I can do even better!

A couple of things that I didn't think have been mentioned yet...

~ Someone mentioned cutting back on tea bags. My 'perfect' pitcher of tea takes 2 family sized tea bags (in my iced tea maker). Instead of throwing out the used bags and putting in 2 more to start a new pitcher, I make sure I make more than one pitcher at a time, and throw a bag on top of the two from the first pot and turn the setting to 'strong'. Can't tell the difference between the pots after it's been cooled.

~ When you cook with lemons, limes or oranges save the peels and end parts and odd slices. Use them to:
~ Clean your microwave. Put them in a glass bowl with a cup of water and heat on hight for 6-8 minutes. Let it steam in the microwave and the acid will make it easier to wipe down. (Added bonus: it will get rid of bad food smells like burned popcorn, too!) Saves money and the planet by not buying expensive chemical-laden cleaners.
~Use the peels as a gentle scrubber with baking soda. For cruddy messes on countertops, etc., squeeze just a little bit of juice onto the mess, sprinkle with baking soda and let sit for a minute or two - come back with the peel and use it (instead of a pricey sponge or scrubber) to clean up the mess. Leaves the kitchen smelling fresh, too!

~It's healthier and cheaper for kids to just drink filtered water, but they aren't always in the mood for it. When a jug of juice gets almost empty I'll pour the rest into an ice cube tray and freeze it. Or freeze lemon wedges or raspberries, cover in water and freeze in ice cube trays. They'll fancy up the water without a ton of added sugar, and use up the last bits of this and that.

 

[shortbun]

Give up paper towels and paper napkins. Buy a bunch of good quality (on sale of course!) white dish towels. They will last forever, can be bleached of stains and can be used for drying hands and are great for covering laps really well while eating...so they're perfect with kids...less stains on clothing!

I totally do this. I've gotten lots of cloth napkins handed down to me or found beautiful ones at yard sales and auctions for nearly nothing. We have paper towels but one roll lasts us weeks. I'm having a party Tuesday and using paper napkins because I don't have like 40 cloths ones. Throw away paper products are a rarity here. When my kitchen towels get really yucky, they become cleaning rags - again no paper used.

Once a month, I go through the pantry and plan a few meals with the stuff that's stuck in the back. I pencil date all cans and jars coming in so nothing gets too old. I often buy a lot of one thing when it's really on sale so sometimes a few cans get shoved to the back.

 

[JodyLynC]

My perfect pitcher of tea:

I get my water as hot as possible, but not boiling. Pour into pitcher. Add 4 regular size tea bags. Put on lid. Let sit 20 to 30 minutes. Remove tea bags, squeezing out excess. Add 2/3 cup of splenda or sugar. (I started with a cup of sweetener. Then just kept cutting back.)

 

[happycampers]

For those of you who use cloth napkins...How often do you wash them? Do you wash them after every meal? If not, what do you do with them in between meals?

 

[pjlla]

We wash our napkins after every meal. We mostly just use them at dinner time (and lunch at home on the weekends), so only a few napkins a day. It doesn't even amount to a whole load a week. ...................P

 

[SGMCO]

For those of you who use cloth napkins...How often do you wash them? Do you wash them after every meal? If not, what do you do with them in between meals?

I have purchase plenty of napkins and put them in a bag until I have
enough for a small wash load--I usually wash them with my dish towels.

 

[Carrie772]

We have paper towels but one roll lasts us weeks. Throw away paper products are a rarity here. When my kitchen towels get really yucky, they become cleaning rags - again no paper used.

Good for you! That's really awesome. I keep a roll of paper towels under the sink so no one uses them but me...and then I really just use them to wipe up broken glass. We transitioned my 5 YO to glasses instead of plastic cups and we are paying the price!

~ Clean your microwave. Put them in a glass bowl with a cup of water and heat on hight for 6-8 minutes. Let it steam in the microwave and the acid will make it easier to wipe down. (Added bonus: it will get rid of bad food smells like burned popcorn, too!) Saves money and the planet by not buying expensive chemical-laden cleaners.

I haven't thought of this before! I usually make tea in the microwave in a tupperware pitcher and then wipe out the microwave after steaming, but I will bet the lemon smells tons better.

For those of you who use cloth napkins...How often do you wash them? Do you wash them after every meal? If not, what do you do with them in between meals?

We use one napkin for the day. Just refold it inside out if needed. Then I wash them with the towel load on hot. It works. There's not that much on them from cereal and the kids aren't even here for lunch.

 

[MrsKreamer]

I wanted to make the laundry soap but couldn't find Washing Soda. After searching online for a replacement I tried this recipe...

1 bar of Ivory soap(grated)
1 cup Borax
1 cup OxyClean(main ingridient is WASHING SODA)
1/2 c baking soda

I tried it out last night and it worked great!!!

 

[princess~yo]

I wanted to make the laundry soap but couldn't find Washing Soda. After searching online for a replacement I tried this recipe...

1 bar of Ivory soap(grated)
1 cup Borax
1 cup OxyClean(main ingridient is WASHING SODA)
1/2 c baking soda

I tried it out last night and it worked great!!!

Great! I haven't seen washing soda in the store either, I'll have to try this one soon ~ thanks!

 

[timmac]

I wanted to make the laundry soap but couldn't find Washing Soda. After searching online for a replacement I tried this recipe...

1 bar of Ivory soap(grated)
1 cup Borax
1 cup OxyClean(main ingridient is WASHING SODA)
1/2 c baking soda

I tried it out last night and it worked great!!!

I'm curious, how much do you need to use per load of laundry? I only ask because OxyClean isn't that cheap, so I'm wondering how economical the recipe is?

 

[SGMCO]

I'm curious, how much do you need to use per load of laundry? I only ask because OxyClean isn't that cheap, so I'm wondering how economical the recipe is?

I use 1 tbsp for small to Med. loads and 2 tbsp. for large loads.

We have a Kroger Store/King Soopers store and that is where
I was able to find the Washing Soda. It cost $3.99 for a large box
and last for quiet awhile. I wonder if you could request your local
store to stock the Washing Soda? Oxyclean is very expensive.

 

[SGMCO]

This is the Dishwashing Powder Recipe that I have been using-
works great--


DISHWASHING POWDER RECIPE
(for dishwasher)

The formula
Here, after much experimenting, is the formula for dishwashing powder.
In a plastic container with a firmly fitting lid, mix:
1 cup borax (20-Mule-Team Borax, available in any supermarket)
1 cup baking soda
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup citric acid (available in brewing stores among other places--if you haven't tracked it down yet but must try this formula, use two packets of Lemonade-Flavored Kool-Aid, ONLY lemon, or you'll dye your dishwasher! and ONLY unsweetened Kool-Aid!)
30 drops citrus essential oil--lemon, grapefruit, orange, tangerine, or a mixture
Put all of it in the container, shake it up.

 

[MrsKreamer]

I'm curious, how much do you need to use per load of laundry? I only ask because OxyClean isn't that cheap, so I'm wondering how economical the recipe is?

I bought the 3.5 lb tub of Oxyclean for 3.99 at Walmart. When the laundry powder is mixed I use 1 oz for regular loads and 2 ozs for Dh's work clothes.

 

[MrsKreamer]

I want to try the watered down whole milk thing. We drink 2%, and we all drink way too much. I am worried about the vitamins, though...