Cutting grocery bill

[nicola]

Hi everyone,

I am currently trying to cut our weekly grocery bill and am looking for inexpensive meal ideas. We are a family of 4 DH, myself, DS(6) and DD (2). ANy advice would be welcomed.

Cheers

 

[foolishmortal]

when you go shopping, do not take the whole family. Only 1 parent with a list. That saved our grocery bill alone!!!!!

 

[cosmicdaisy]

Do you meal plan, shop the circulars?

I meal plan and look at what's on sale each week. I buy in bulk my chicken breasts and save a dollar a pound.

Breakfast for supper is a cheap supper, eggs can go a long way.
We also do sandwiches one night.
Leftovers one night, as I always try to make extra for lunches and well, leftovers.
And pasta dishes are usually inexpensive too.

Have you thought about Once a Month Cooking? This would require you making casserole type dishes more than not and we are really a meat and veggies kind of family, so this doesn't work for us...but I know for others its not only a money saver in many ways (saves on cooking expense too) but a time saver.

HTH

 

[Clancycat]

One of the best ways I've found to cut our bill is by using the website thegrocerygame.com

They print lists weekly that tell you about sale items in your local supermarkets as well as tell you if there are coupons available for those sale items. By pairing up sales w/ coupons, I have been able to get many thing very inexpensively, if not free! I will never pay more .50c for tooth paste, tooth brushes, body wash, shampoo/conditioner, etc again! My weekly bill is less, but I've been able to stockpile items when they are on sale so that my pantry is never empty like it used to be at the end of the week.

If they have a list for your area, you should consider signing up for their $1 trial period for 4 wks (normally, they charge $10 for 8 wks, but the cost is well worth it!).

 

[nicola]

Comicdaisy, can you elaborate on the once a month idea? I should explain I am from UK so some of your tips re specific stores/websites probably won't be relevant to me.

 

[Nicolepa]

Have you thought about Once a Month Cooking? This would require you making casserole type dishes more than not and we are really a meat and veggies kind of family, so this doesn't work for us...but I know for others its not only a money saver in many ways (saves on cooking expense too) but a time saver.

HTH

This is not true. I have been doing OAMC for 7 years and my husband will not eat casseroles. I do a lot of dump chicken & dump beef recipes. Lasagna, spaghetti sauce, ground beef (for tacos, homemade hamburger helper etc). I feed my family of 4 for about $400 a month. If he would eat casseroles I could probably get it down a lot more but we have beef, bonless skinless chicken breasts etc. The key is to only buy meat on sale. I rarely buy anything if it isn't on sale, and preferably have a coupon too. It is rare for me not to save 50% on my groceries (a lot of times it's 70-80%)

 

[nicola]

Nicolepa, I am assuming that this once a month idea involves cooking in bulk and freezing individual meals? Can you elaborate on some recipes?

 

[cosmicdaisy]

This is not true. I have been doing OAMC for 7 years and my husband will not eat casseroles. I do a lot of dump chicken & dump beef recipes. Lasagna, spaghetti sauce, ground beef (for tacos, homemade hamburger helper etc). I feed my family of 4 for about $400 a month. If he would eat casseroles I could probably get it down a lot more but we have beef, bonless skinless chicken breasts etc. The key is to only buy meat on sale. I rarely buy anything if it isn't on sale, and preferably have a coupon too. It is rare for me not to save 50% on my groceries (a lot of times it's 70-80%)

I am not sure what dump beef or chicken is....but thank you for posting! Everyone I have ever talked to and recipes I have seen have been mostly stuff we wouldn't eat in our family.

Here are some sites on OAMC

http://www.realfood4realpeople.com/oamc.html
http://www.folksonline.com/folks/ts/cooking.htm
http://www.frugalmom.net/once_a_month_cooking.htm

 

[nicola]

THANKS Comicdaisy!!!, I can't wait to look at those websites tonight. Don't know why I haven't thought of it before as I work full-time and have a 2 and 6 year old so this method would be great for after a tiring day of work when you don't feel like preparing a meal.

 

[PlaneJoy1]

I use www.morethyme.com for meal planning. I love it!

 

[mir322]

I've also heard great things about the Grocery Game - haven't tried it, but it seems worth the $1 to try it out!

 

[Nicolepa]

Nicolepa, I am assuming that this once a month idea involves cooking in bulk and freezing individual meals? Can you elaborate on some recipes?

Yes exactly. I will take chicken breasts (or london broil, steak, pork chops whatever) and put the marinade on them, then I freeze them. When you thaw them they will marinade as they thaw, then I can just pop them in the oven or grill. For lasagna I just took my recipe and I make at least 4 whenever I make it. It doesn't take much longer to make 4 than to make one and then I've got 3 extra in the freezer for a later date. Spaghetti sauce I make a triple or quadruple batch and freeze.

Some people like to completely cook the items before freezing. I prefer to do the final cooking the day of. It's not that hard to pop in the oven if all the prep work is done.

 

[Nicolepa]

I am not sure what dump beef or chicken is....but thank you for posting! Everyone I have ever talked to and recipes I have seen have been mostly stuff we wouldn't eat in our family.

It's just putting a marinade on your meat before freezing. You "dump" everything into the bag and then freeze. I put away a month of meat in a couple of hours with dump recipes. Like I said before, I prefer to cook my food the day of, but this way I always have a variety of meats/marinades to cook on any given day and I don't have to worry about marinading it the day before/ morning of. When I take it out of the freezer it marinades as it thaws.

A lot of recipes you already cook will probably freeze just fine. Next time you make your favorite meal make 2 and freeze the 2nd one for a couple of weeks and see how you like it. The biggest mistake most people make (me included) is to try all new recipes and then their family hates them. Just try freezing what you know you already like.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

It's just putting a marinade on your meat before freezing. You "dump" everything into the bag and then freeze. I put away a month of meat in a couple of hours with dump recipes. Like I said before, I prefer to cook my food the day of, but this way I always have a variety of meats/marinades to cook on any given day and I don't have to worry about marinading it the day before/ morning of. When I take it out of the freezer it marinades as it thaws.

I saw this suggested on the frugal meal ideas thread and just loved the idea. I tried it my first time on my last shopping trip and yesterday DH pulled the chicken in marinade out of the freezer so it's thawing in it and when we're ready to cook it will be ready to go. It seems like a little thing, but it's really a time saver for me because I forget to marinade in time so I end up needing to find another recipe or use for the meat.

 

[Zoesmama03]

www.savingdinner.com You can subscribe to a frugal dining menu. its really neat and you can get free sample menus.

Otherwise you may run a google search on frugal meals.