Eat at Home savings not as big as expected

[MrsPete]

Wow. I thought eating at home would be cheaper. LOL. The past two full weeks we have spent about $200 a week for our family of 4 (DH, Me & DS7, DS5). We still eat out about 2 times on the weekend. Granted we are eating healthier, but it still costs more than I expected.

Dinner Menu this week (salad nightly)
Hamburger Helper Enchilada with tortillas, chips & queso, beans
Breaded cod, shrimp with rice, corn
Spaghetti w/ meat sauce, broccoli
Left over Pizza (from Sunday)
Left over night.

Dinner Menu from other week( Roasted chicken w/au Gratin potatos, stuffing & peas (2 nights) ; Herb pork chops w/brown rice (2 nights), green beans; spaghetti w/meat sauce - again, salad nightly)

WalMart & Tom thumb shopping this week:
$16 Dairy (2 gal milk, eggs, yogurt, OJ, butter)
$25 Produce (Bananas, Cantalope, Romaine, tomatoes, Straw/Blue berries, clementines)
$38 Meat (hamburger, chicken nugg, sand meat, fish, bacon)
$13 Brkfst (Oatmeal, poptart, frozen pancakes, cereal)
$33 Snacks (Fruit Snacks, Cereal Bar, Popsicles, Tost/Dor/Frito)
$15 Condiments (Ketchup, Tartar Sauce, Croutons, Spag Sauce, hamburger helper)
$ 6 Bread (Whole wheat loaf, hot dog buns, tortillas)
$28 Beverages (Diet coke 2L, VitaWater,bottled water, ground coffee)
$26 Other (paper towels, night pull ups)

Broken down it seems quite reasonable for 3 meals & snacks per person for roughly 6 days ($8 a day per person), but as a whole it seems expensive when we were paying around $150 a week before my hubby brown bagged lunch ($30 a week) and we cut out 2-3 additional eating out ($30-40). So we are saving around $10-$20 a week - not that big of a difference. But at least it's healthier, right? We didn't do salad every night while we ate greasy french fries from McD's.

You're actually working on two new skills: Cooking at home AND Buying groceries.

At first glance, I wanted to say that your grocery prices were very, very high for what you bought . . . but then I stopped and realized that I only think that because I've been practicing the art of buying food cheaply for a lot of years, and I've had time to get good at it.

I'd suggest you take it a step a time. Other people have suggested that you work on cutting back on snacks and drinks first -- that's an excellent first step. Drinks are an easy place to cut back. The bottled water can totally go. Try ice water at meals, Kool aid in place of soda.

Also, realize that the grocery store is the most expensive place to buy food. Look around for less expensive options. For example, I buy all my sodas at the gas station -- my kids run in and buy 12-packs while I pump gas. I buy all my spices at the health food store (it's not convenient, so it's about a twice a year stop -- worthwhile 'cause they go for pennies on the dollar).

Once you have the snacks and drinks thing beaten, consider making a food price book. Nothing else I've ever done has helped me cut back so much on food costs. It convinced me that coupons aren't worthwhile for food items, and shopping at the salvage store rules. To see a great example, check out The Tightwad Gazette, Book 1 (or the Complete book set -- it contains the same information).

As a part of that step, look at the various varieties in which food is available. For example, one can of pinto beans costs about .75 and will be a side dish for one meal . . . or you can buy a bag of dried beans for .99, which can be a main dish for three meals. Another example: A glass jar of spaghetti sauce costs about 1.50, while a can is only slightly smaller and costs .90, and a big can of crushed tomatoes can be made into spaghetti sauce with only the addition of a bit of spices and it costs only about .60. Yet another example: You can buy a box of Stove Top stuffing for .99, or you can save up your bread ends in a ziplock bag in your freezer, and you can have stuffing for free.

Pick one thing to work on now, and add something new every two weeks. You can absolutely spend much less than this to eat at home, BUT there's a learning curve involved.

 

[cglaura]

Frozen pancakes - Get a box of Bisquick, Pancake mix, etc (or store brand if they have it), make a big batch on the weekend or any other day of the week you have free time, and freeze the extra left overs for the week. Pop in the toaster of microwave on busy morning. Works the same as the pre-cooked box type, and much less $$

This also works with left over biscuits from dinner and sausage patties w/ scrambled eggs.

Add some fruit and good to go.

 

[luvmy3]

OP, clip coupons and buy on sale. Stock up on what you use when things go on sale. I am not brand loyal except for a few things so I save money buying store brand items too.
Also, do you have a crockpot? I find that I can buy cheaper cuts of meat and cook them in the crockpot so they come out nice and tender.

 

[AuntieKels]

I feel so envious of all of you who seem to excel at homemaking! I don't know how you all fit in multiple store shopping trips, homemade meals PLUS freezer food, and coupon clipping.

It is just me and my DF so you'd think it would be easy for me but I feel like I'm almost never home. We both work full time as shift workers so we don't always have weekends or the same days off. We also only have one car because I take the bus to work, so when DF has to work I'm stuck at home or at the mercy of the metro system. (I spend one of the 2 days off babysitting my nieces over an hour away)

We just started trying to eat at home and plan menus again (funny how vacations can mess up your routine so much.) My biggest challange is accually making the food. Sometimes I don't get home from work until 8:30 and know if I don't make something before bed I wont have anything to eat for lunch the next day. Then the next day I get home at 5:30 to a big mess from the night before that needs cleaning before I mess it all up again with tonights nights meal. There are also the other chores around the house I need to get to without totally burning myself out. DF is in the military and drives over an hour to work each day plus extra trips for PT and meetings so I try to even it out by doing most of the house work.

I don't dis-like cooking or homemaking I just don't seem the have the time or enery for it. I live for the day when I can have that be my only job =).

 

[TiffanyK]

Auntie-Kels, it sounds like you need a bunch of 5 minute meals. There are lots of things that only take 5-10 minutes of prep. Chicken or any meat in the crockpot. Cook some up and then freeze the rest. Add bbq, taco seasoning or even just salt and pepper. Make a veggie and baked potato or pasta with it.

Refried bean Quesadillas are quick. If you use the slow cooker, get some of the liners so you can speed clean up.

 

[mrsklamc]

I feel so envious of all of you who seem to excel at homemaking! I don't know how you all fit in multiple store shopping trips, homemade meals PLUS freezer food, and coupon clipping.

biggest challange is accually making the food. Sometimes I don't get home from work until 8:30 and know if I don't make something before bed I wont have anything to eat for lunch the next day. Then the next day I get home at 5:30 to a big mess from the night before that needs cleaning before I mess it all up again with tonights nights meal.

One car does make it difficult, but what do you eat instead then? Studies have been done that show it's typically not really any faster to pick up takeout.

I do NOT make multiple store shopping trips. One and done. Homemade meals PLUS freezer food- make it the same thing. Serve half, freeze half.

The crockpot is your friend, as well as having standard, go to meals that you KNOW you can pop in the oven any time with no prep work (Our eating habits have changed but when first married we always had frozen pizza, hot pockets, mac and cheese, and tuna, cream of whatever soup, and noodles for quick meals when we didn't have anything planned, that way we wouldn't be forced to eat out.)

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

One other thing to remember... Home cooked meals can be made healthier than dinning out.

I use coupons a lot. Our grocery store always prints on the receipt how much I saved on my shopping trip which is usually around $40 every trip using coupons and store specials. My store also prints on my receipt what my yearly savings is and for the past 12 months I have managed to save $496.

To save on veggies and fruit I shop at our road side stands. The produce is fresh which means it will last longer and has a better taste.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

It really is a matter of deciding what your objective is...if it is to be healthier then eating at home no matter what is probably going to meet your objective, though all the starches and processed foods really aren't that much healthier than something freshly prepared at a restraunt.
If your objective is lowering your food budget, then there have been a lot of great suggestions here.
just to throw a few more ideas out there...jello instead of fruit snacks. you can even make the jigglers recipe to be more fruit snack like and it costs a lot less than the pouches.
One thing that kind of stuck out to me was how much you have at a meal. Our family tries to have 3 things on the plate...a protien, a fruit/veggie, and usualy a starch or another veggie. It helps not only cut down the budget, btu cut down on overall calories to help control weight. We've almost completely eliminated bread at the dinner table. We have rolls or bisquits every once in a while with a special meal, like roasted chicken but otherwise we see it as unnecessary calories and expense. We find we get filled up on the three items and don't miss it.
Buy in bulk where it makes sense...for me, that is hamburger meat. I can make tons of stuff from it...tacos, meatloaf, burgers ect...so I buy 5 lb rolls at a time. I can almost always find it for under $10, and sometimes I find it as low as $5.99.
We ahve some cheap/quick meals we fall back on too...like pizza. I usually buy frozen, but it would be cheaper to buy the crusts, sauce and topping seperately for my family. Hotdogs/polish sausages with chips and a pickle, sometimes we do breakfast for dinner. I feed a family of 5 for $75-100 week and that includes all our dog food, catfood, paper towels ect. And my husband is a very picky eater, and I rarely buy off brands.

 

[ilovepete]

I am with the others, there is a lot more you can do, but if you are totally new to this, that is a great start. Just try to work on changing one thing at a time and in no time you will have the budget looking better (less spent at the grocery, we spend $80-$120 usually for family of 4 big eaters and I'm not HUGE into couponing, but do use it a lot), you will get your kitchen skills/cooking skills up, and your family will be healthier!

 

[kinntj]

Just take it a week at a time. You're not going to come out of the starting gate like a pro. It takes time to look for recipes you think your family will love, clip coupons for products you normally buy. I'm also only 2 weeks into eating at home and we're a family of 4. There's been some recipes that my family didn't care for and some that they love. I save the ones they really loved and use it again in rotation down the line. I bought a binder with sheet protectors and dividers for categories and file the recipes in there. We have fish at least once a week. I don't care if it's on sale or not, I will put other stuff back before I not buy it.

Last week I spent $104.00 on food and this week $107.00. Definately keep a price book. This comes in handy when you shop various stores too. I know what's a better deal if I'm at Sam's Club and compare prices to 2 different stores. Start out slow with this and just keep adding. I tend to start with meat and paper products, since they are the killers.

We don't buy soda or bottled water. My DH buys Gatorade, but that is mainly a golf thing in the summer (seasonal). No snacks that are brand name. A lot of things I buy are store brand. If it goes in a recipe especially, who's going to taste the difference. I do buy some brands, but it's mainly tomato products. I have a tomato sensitivity and experimented and there's only certain brands that don't have me setting up all night.

Good luck and don't give up!

 

[JamesMom]

OP, here.

WOW - thanks for all the great responses and the encouragement!

After having a special needs child who wouldn't eat anything but the food item of the week (currently fruit loops in milk), my husband getting home 2 hours after the kids have eaten and sometimes when they are already in bed, and having to take care of my Alzheimer's mom for the last year of her life (she passed in Feb) - our eating habits got very off track.
Hubby would grab fast food on the way home from work or heat up a frozen dinner (healthy stuff--not!). I would make some kiddie food for my older son and whatever the younger would eat. And I grazed...all day due to stress and lack of organization. When I was out and about with the kids, we would stop for fast food often because I knew I had nothing in the house that would please everyone. This has led, obviously to unhealthy habits and I gained 50 pounds over the years which I am not proud of.

----
Now that the youngest is starting Kindy next week and needs to learn to broaden his food and the kids stay up later so we can all eat dinner within an hour of each other, and I am not dealing with my mom's care, I have the time and energy to get back into the swing of preparing meals.
My mom wasn't a good cook and relied on easy meals - spaghetti, hamburger helper, fish sticks, beans, etc. So I haven't learned much beyond boiling water, though I can make decent Italian food, lol.

I think we will focus on making eating at home the norm, learn new recipies that the family will actually eat and enjoy and work on the budget part later as I learn how to master the kitchen And get my butt to the gym instead of the drive thru!

Thanks again for all the responses!

 

[CowboyCO]

Wow. I thought eating at home would be cheaper. LOL. The past two full weeks we have spent about $200 a week for our family of 4 (DH, Me & DS7, DS5). We still eat out about 2 times on the weekend. Granted we are eating healthier, but it still costs more than I expected.

Dinner Menu this week (salad nightly)
Hamburger Helper Enchilada with tortillas, chips & queso, beans
Breaded cod, shrimp with rice, corn
Spaghetti w/ meat sauce, broccoli
Left over Pizza (from Sunday)
Left over night.

Dinner Menu from other week( Roasted chicken w/au Gratin potatos, stuffing & peas (2 nights) ; Herb pork chops w/brown rice (2 nights), green beans; spaghetti w/meat sauce - again, salad nightly)

WalMart & Tom thumb shopping this week:
$16 Dairy (2 gal milk, eggs, yogurt, OJ, butter)
$25 Produce (Bananas, Cantalope, Romaine, tomatoes, Straw/Blue berries, clementines)
$38 Meat (hamburger, chicken nugg, sand meat, fish, bacon)
$13 Brkfst (Oatmeal, poptart, frozen pancakes, cereal)
$33 Snacks (Fruit Snacks, Cereal Bar, Popsicles, Tost/Dor/Frito)
$15 Condiments (Ketchup, Tartar Sauce, Croutons, Spag Sauce, hamburger helper)
$ 6 Bread (Whole wheat loaf, hot dog buns, tortillas)
$28 Beverages (Diet coke 2L, VitaWater,bottled water, ground coffee)
$26 Other (paper towels, night pull ups)

Broken down it seems quite reasonable for 3 meals & snacks per person for roughly 6 days ($8 a day per person), but as a whole it seems expensive when we were paying around $150 a week before my hubby brown bagged lunch ($30 a week) and we cut out 2-3 additional eating out ($30-40). So we are saving around $10-$20 a week - not that big of a difference. But at least it's healthier, right? We didn't do salad every night while we ate greasy french fries from McD's.

I bolded the things I wouldn't count in the food nudget as they are not food, or are a once in awhile buy.

If that was my food budget, I'd dramatically cut the snacks and replace them with bulk snacks, like block cheese and buy only big bags, not snack bags of anything. And I'd cut out the expensive drinks and replace them with crystal light. But buy good coffee. I'm too old to drink cheap beer, cheap wine or cheap coffee...

We have a family of 4 and our budget is $400 month and we eat VERY good. Steaks, ribs, chicken, fish, seafood and all quality stuff. But you have to become a shopper of opportunity. I only shop Wal-Mart for staples. Pasta, beans, rice, and some boxed items. I've never found their meat or produce prices that enticing because Wal-Mart doesn't do sales items. At our Safeway, or Kroger store, we only buy if it is on sale - a good sale. And we stock up when it s a very good sale. We also shop the grocery clearance often. Our Safeway and our Kroger mark near-date meats and dairy down at least 50%. So, I get steaks and great seafood marked way down and I either use it immediately (that day) or freeze it.

Our Safeway also sells re-packed eggs. Ever wonder what some grocery stores do with eggs that have a couple of cracked ones? Our store repacks them into mixed dozens and sells them for 89 cents a dozen. We open them up and check them out before we buy them, but we often get expensive free-range, brown, extra large and Egglands Best, which are normally at or near $3 a dozen for 89 cents!

last week, we had Ribeyes (clearance $2.75 lb), shrimp and scallops, and made spaghetti from clearanced ground beef from a couple of weeks ago.

Bottom line, you can make a difference in your food budget and eat well.

What could you do with an extra $100 a week? Go to DisneyWorld and stay at the POLY!

 

[NVDisMom]

Wow. I thought eating at home would be cheaper. LOL. The past two full weeks we have spent about $200 a week for our family of 4 (DH, Me & DS7, DS5). We still eat out about 2 times on the weekend. Granted we are eating healthier, but it still costs more than I expected.

Dinner Menu this week (salad nightly)
Hamburger Helper Enchilada with tortillas, chips & queso, beans
Breaded cod, shrimp with rice, corn
Spaghetti w/ meat sauce, broccoli
Left over Pizza (from Sunday)
Left over night.

Dinner Menu from other week( Roasted chicken w/au Gratin potatos, stuffing & peas (2 nights) ; Herb pork chops w/brown rice (2 nights), green beans; spaghetti w/meat sauce - again, salad nightly)

WalMart & Tom thumb shopping this week:
$16 Dairy (2 gal milk, eggs, yogurt, OJ, butter)
$25 Produce (Bananas, Cantalope, Romaine, tomatoes, Straw/Blue berries, clementines)
$38 Meat (hamburger, chicken nugg, sand meat, fish, bacon)
$13 Brkfst (Oatmeal, poptart, frozen pancakes, cereal)
$33 Snacks (Fruit Snacks, Cereal Bar, Popsicles, Tost/Dor/Frito)
$15 Condiments (Ketchup, Tartar Sauce, Croutons, Spag Sauce, hamburger helper)
$ 6 Bread (Whole wheat loaf, hot dog buns, tortillas)
$28 Beverages (Diet coke 2L, VitaWater,bottled water, ground coffee)
$26 Other (paper towels, night pull ups)

Broken down it seems quite reasonable for 3 meals & snacks per person for roughly 6 days ($8 a day per person), but as a whole it seems expensive when we were paying around $150 a week before my hubby brown bagged lunch ($30 a week) and we cut out 2-3 additional eating out ($30-40). So we are saving around $10-$20 a week - not that big of a difference. But at least it's healthier, right? We didn't do salad every night while we ate greasy french fries from McD's.

Here is what I see...

First, your Other category is probably exactly the same as before the change, so it doesn't really count. non food item purchases don't change much when you stop eating out. Actually, this is probably true for most of your beverages, snacks, fluid milk and breakfast items. Unless, before you made the change all of you ate out all three meals every day plus snacks and only drank water at home.

Second, you could certainly cut this down a great deal by cooking more from scratch, batch cooking, using leftovers creatively, couponing, encouraging more drinking of water, snacking on fruit, and healthier choices fro breakfast.

 

[beansmom]

i live in a higher cost of living area (they don't call it 'Taxachusetts' for nuthin) but my local markets will regularly mark down the about-to-expire meat and produce. I try to buy that when i can. I have 2 huge freezers stocked full.

We eat in season because, franky, out of season is tres expensive AND it has no flavor. I'd rather get ONE good watermelon a year than throw away 3 tasteless ones.

It's just the 2 of us so i freeze half a recipe for another meal. We live in a condo with it's own little half a yard so we took out the flower beds of the former tenant and put in a zucchini plant, a squash plant, tomatoes, lettuce in a flower pot, we even have corn growing in a big rubbermaid tote.

We have pick your own farms here and we bought in season peaches this weekend. My gf canned a ton of them and we put some peach pie filling in the freezer for this winter. We asked for the 'seconds'--the peaches that had a lil bump or bruise--we got 15 pounds of peaches for 50cents a pound. And they are ohhh, so tasty. We stuffed some giant zucchini with ground beef and tomato mixture and put them in the freezer for future dinners.

A little reseach, a little compromise and a little work will help keep your bills down.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I feel so envious of all of you who seem to excel at homemaking! I don't know how you all fit in multiple store shopping trips, homemade meals PLUS freezer food, and coupon clipping.

We just started trying to eat at home and plan menus again (funny how vacations can mess up your routine so much.) My biggest challange is accually making the food. Sometimes I don't get home from work until 8:30 and know if I don't make something before bed I wont have anything to eat for lunch the next day. Then the next day I get home at 5:30 to a big mess from the night before that needs cleaning before I mess it all up again with tonights nights meal.

It's not so bad, even when you are busy. I grocery shop late in the evening after everyone is home and in for night. I go through coupons at my ILs house (we don't take the paper) when we are over for dinner. DH and I both work full time plus I pick up odd jobs on occasion. We've got 2 kids and are very active people. My dear friend sent me a cookbook for the busy family. There are recipes in it for things as quick as 10 minutes, and some as long as an hour. There will be some days I cook ahead and refrigerate or freeze the food for when we are super busy and I don't have time to cook. It really helps out when we are on the go.

 

[3boymthr]

As PP noted it may not be just what you're buying but where you live. Some places the savings aren't nearly as plentiful as others and the base prices are just much higher than other places. My average weekly food expense is about $200 for a family of 5.

I easily spend what you spent on meat each week, if not more.

I have a child who is very sensitive to taste/texture and has swallowing issues so I tend to stick with the same brands all the time. It's not as cheap, but it doesn't pay to buy generic if I'm going to end up throwing it away all the time.

I'm not a good cook and like you tend to buy the process foods that make my meal making easier. I also work and find that process foods factor into a choice I make - family time or cooking time. Family time wins.

For those reasons I really really try to maximize my coupons and sales. I can easily save 30% on my bill. Don't believe that Walmart is the best place to get everything. Double check your prices - every week - I find that a sale, especially when combined with store and mfg coupons can save me more money than a trip to Walmart. And as a pp noted definitely stock up on items when on sale. The child with the taste/texture issues only eats meat with ketchup so I stock up when on sale. Economy size bottles of Heinz were on sale for $1.34 at Target in July - Ketchup doesn't go bad so I bought 6 bottles and long term I saved about $20.

Definitely ditch the bottled water, unless there is something wrong with your water that makes it unpotable, i.e., my mom's neighbor has arsenic in their well, they can't drink it even with a filter.

Also, check out the CVS thread and look into shopping at CVS or Walgreens. Their sales on non-food goods like the pull-ups or papertowels can be significant money savers. In recent months I've spent $250 at CVS but saved over $1,500. And it's not just for HBA. Some of the items I've gotten there for that kind of savings are things like cereal, coffee (2 weeks ago I got two pkgs of taster's choice for 25 cents) and Ragu. ETA- oh and 70+ bottles of Sobe lifewater for a total cost of about $0.

 

[sarah4770]

I did not red every response here., but I will say we spend about $140 each week, for 3 adults. very little processed foods, just bread and pasta. Most everything else is made from scratch and that is only because I like to cook. so I dont feel you are too far off base. you just have to keep in mind the long term benefits from eating healthy, vs eating junk. I think you are doing pretty good, and as you learn to cook you will get better. it stinks how grocery prices have risen over the past few years, and it is a tough call to have to make some things from scratch or buy quality food or buy easy junk but you will look and feel better in the long run.

 

[sookie]

cut down on the processed foods and snacks. that should do it!

 

[IDoDis]

Do you have a comparison shopping list of an eating out week vs an eating at home week? From what I see on your list, many of the items are things you were probably buying anyway while still eating out.

For example, did you still buy snacks to eat at home? Probably yes. Did you still buy beverages to drink at home? Probably yes. Did you still buy pull-ups? Most likely yes. So you need to cross those things off of your list and then look at what you are buying that is extra. Compare the extra groceries to what you were spending eating fast food every day and you will probably see that you are saving more than you think.

Others have also pointed out that the processed and pre-made foods are more expensive. So just know that initially you may see a spike in your grocery bill as you stock up your pantry and freezer with things that you will be able to make meals from later on. One week the bill might be higher, but the next week you may only need to get fruit, milk, and bread.

The other thing I see that is costing you more money and time and has inhibited you from cooking "family" meals is that you are a short-order cook for your family. You are trying to please everyone and by doing that, it's costing you way more money and time. I don't mean to sound harsh, but don't give your family excuses for not eating what you cook. "Borderline autistic?" Either your son is autistic or he isn't. I've been a teacher of special needs kids for 18 years and trust me, he will eat what you cook him if he gets hungry enough. If you cater to him by fixing him special things, you are hurting him more than you are helping him. If he ends up being a diabetic or something you would have to change his diet and he'd adapt. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but you CAN do it.

Good luck with your endeavor! Just the fact that you are keeping track of your spending is a great start. You will get better with the shopping and the cooking over time.

 

[MrsPete]

I feel so envious of all of you who seem to excel at homemaking! I don't know how you all fit in multiple store shopping trips, homemade meals PLUS freezer food, and coupon clipping.

See, we don't do it all every day, or even every week.

For example, I don't hit multiple stores every week. Instead, I know where the best prices are on various things, and when I go to those stores, I stock up. So I know that Target is my best bet for paper products. When I go to Target, I buy enough to last 3-4 weeks because I know I'm not going there again soon. On the other hand, I know that no one beats Walmart's price on peanut butter, so if I'm there I'll pick up a peanut butter -- even if the old peanut butter isnt quite empty. And for staples (biscuit mix, sugar, BBQ sauce) I always have at least one un-opened package so that I won't be forced to choose between paying a higher price or making an extra trip to another store.

But I've been cheap all my life, so my groceries-for-the-lowest-price skills have been evolving for years. It's really no effort for me. You can get to this point too!


One cooking tip that'll save you LOADS of time: Whatever you cook, cook two of it. It won't take much longer, and you won't dirty up any extra dishes in the preparation. I have a number of Pyrex casserole dishes that can go into the freezer, and sometimes I use throw-away aluminum pans (buy them off ebay). Freeze the extra meal, and then another night you have a no-effort dinner. It doesn't save any money, but it sure does save time!

I had a difficult time getting the hang of freezer cooking, but I started going to Dream Dinners (one of those meal preparation places). I quickly learned that you don't have to put FINISHED meals into the freezer -- it's okay to freeze just the sauce, which is the part that takes time to put together, and then you just pop it overwhatever chicken you have. One of those places might be a help to you too.