Making grocery dollars s t r e t c h

[Mermaid02]

I got a really good deal on ground beef yesterday... 1.69 a pound!! I made a double batch of chili which is in the crock pot and I put together a meatloaf which we will have tonight.... I have to make my grocery dollars stretch... I'm trying to prepare meals according to the sales.... Even with gas and oil prices going down... I'm not counting on anything staying down!

 

[mom2rb]

On Monday my friend and I cooked all day long. We ended up freezing 15 meals each. Total cost $150. We got great deals by buying all of the meat and vegetables in bulk. It was a long day but worth it. We are going to try to cook together every 3 weeks.

 

[C.Ann]

You are very smart to be doing this sort of thing - rather than running with the "stick your head in the sand" group..

What's the worst that can happen? You prepare for everything to increase dramatically in cost and it doesn't increase all that much - BUT - you're still ahead of the game.. Makes perfect sense to me..

I live with DD and her family during the winter and they were fortunate enough to have a brand new chest freezer given to them last spring.. Son-in-law does all the grocery shopping now because my DD can't and he's doing a fantastic job of scoping out the sales; using coupons; buying items that are "buy one, get two free"; etc.. Anything he can put in the freezer and staples he can put on the shelves downstairs..

When I get back there I plan on doing some "power" cooking myself - anything we can get in the freezer.. Why spend more money than you have to - right?

 

[L107ANGEL]

On Monday my friend and I cooked all day long. We ended up freezing 15 meals each. Total cost $150. We got great deals by buying all of the meat and vegetables in bulk. It was a long day but worth it. We are going to try to cook together every 3 weeks.

I have to admit, I am totally intigued by this!

 

[cabanafrau]

In the past I have only managed this with making an enormous batch of spaghetti sauce & freezing individual meals & very occasionally doing up large batches of golubki (stuffed cabbage) when I can twist my mom's arm to participate. Considering our current schedule & the state of the economy, I think it's time I put some thought into this on a larger scale. If you think about it, it's probably an energy savings also, so therefore a win/win.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I always buy meat in bulk, and freeze it in individual portions. Right now I have a bunch of chicken breasts, fish filets, steaks, and ground beef in the freezer.

 

[Aristomommy]

I buy meat when it's on sale and freeze it in dinner portions. I also look for cereal and other non-perishable items when they are marked down and combine it with coupons to lower the price. I never pay more than $1 for a box of cereal for example. Other items I get for free. Our grocery store also does $3 or more coupons toward a future purchase when you buy certain items that week. If it's something I use, I do the deal once and may go back and repeat it with that coupon, which again prints out another coupon.

There are websites that match the coupons to sales in your area. I don't have the time to match my Sunday paper coupons so I just log in once a week and make my shopping list.

 

[binny]

try www.pinchingyourpennies.com

Its like the grocery game but free.

basically you go under your State and there will be a list of stores, you go to the sale add, it tells you what coupons are out there (and in some cases where to print them off) and then tells you your final price.

It also has a button that you can click on that tells you when to "stock up" that is when you know that is the best deal your area will see for that certain time period.


It really is the best deal going IMHO to make a penny stretch.



I also stock up when I see meats in the soon to expire bin. And last week got cereal for 85 cents a box! That was with sale and coupon and store loyalty cards.