Cooking Resources

blissful · 10-09-2008, 06:55 PM

Lately it's about $50 a week for 2, but that is because the garden is producing steadily for a few months. This week I've been eating gaspacho and tortilla chips with some cottage cheese for lunch all week, cost is under $6 for that.
Dinner's are what's in the pantry and freezer. The freezer needs to be used up and it's stocked full, all 18 cubic feet of sale items, venison, and frozen food. Venison season is approaching again! I'm really thinking of making some pepperoni because we like pizza, and the italian sausage was easy, so we have that.
I buy bread when I'm not making it.
I have bags of stuff from our first freeze out of the garden, sitting in the kitchen tonight. I have yet to do anything with it -due to some emergencies this past week-end.
I don't buy paper products except toilet paper. I make my own soap and laundry soap which saves a lot. I have enough to last a year or better.
I make dried beans (a few pounds, almost weekly) and try to incorporate them into soups, stews, spreads, etc, which is very cost effective and nutritious.
My biggest costs are bread, milk, eggs, cheese, butter, olive oil, wine, coffee, hair products and toilet paper for now.
I may splurge yet this fall and pick up some pumpkins and freeze it for pies and breads, and if I have time, some produce at the roadside stands to freeze or can.
Sometimes I run out of necessary spices and herbs, that really bothers me. There a few herbs from the garden that need to be dried and packaged for winter. Right now I'm lacking something in the curry area, I have a few cups of curry but it's just not the right blend, or maybe I need a cooking lesson. How can I make curry that is SO GOOD like other people?
The pears may be ripe on the tree in the yard, and there are quite a bit of those. I need to test them (I read they ripen from the inside) to see if they are ripe and then decide how to deal with them this year-I just tested some, the ones on the broken branch are just yellowing, perfect, the green ones need a week or so yet. After pears, the high bush cranberries will need to be dealt with, and they make the best sauce and glaze.
This part of the year is the lowest cost per week for groceries.
This is without eating out, which is the norm here. Mostly I cook in bulk on the week-ends and then not so much during the week.
I don't know if the price of everything is bothering you, but, it is bothering me. The best way to save money is to not go shopping! I probably take budgeting a little too seriously. Oh well, that's me.

deelady · 10-09-2008, 07:29 PM

Oh man blissful, I am exhausted just reading that!! You go! wow

How on earth do you make your own laundry soap? Thats a new one to me!
Would love to see pictures of YOUR yard! Do you have any up in the gardening thread?

love2"Q" · 10-09-2008, 08:13 PM

we try to stay at 200 a week for a family of four and three dogs ..
i make my lunch for work everyday .. my son takes his lunch to school(his choice) ..
my wife is a stay at homer and my little girl is only two .. its a tremendous
amout of money .. we are always looking for ways to cut down .. but still end up
at around 800 a month .. we dont eat fancy meals .. it just seems that this is the cost of feeding the household ...

babetoo · 10-09-2008, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deelady

Is that per week Adillo?

And babe how many is yours for??

Thank you for eveyones responses, I was feeling like I wasn't watching my spending very well but I guess what we spend is looking pretty average!

i am buying for myself. i have people over for dinner a couple times a month so must buy more for those occasions. figure 4 weeks per month and it comes out to 75 per week for everything. i could probably do better but i do buy prepared food, just hate to cook for one. most of the time i do, but not lately. just hitting a dry spell , cooking wise.

Billdolfski · 10-10-2008, 01:36 AM

I seem to spend as much if not more than most, and I only feed myself. I don't really make much (money) either... I guess I just blow what I have on good food =P

Max Sutton · 10-10-2008, 07:28 AM

I usually spend around $100.00 per week at my supermarket. That includes paper products and other non-food items available in a grocery store. I'm shopping for just little old me and I stick to a shopping list.

blissful · 10-10-2008, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deelady

Oh man blissful, I am exhausted just reading that!! You go! wow

How on earth do you make your own laundry soap? Thats a new one to me!
Would love to see pictures of YOUR yard! Do you have any up in the gardening thread?

You know, I do get tired of it sometimes, but then I am happy I have what I have.
Laundry soap doesn't lather like detergent, but, it cleans things nice. I shred 12 ounces of plain soap, put it in a big pan on the stove with a couple quarts of water. When it is dissolved and clear, I pour it in a big bucket, add a cup of borax powder and a cup of washing soda, then add 3 quarts of water, and mix. As it cools it thickens and after sitting 12 hours it's a gel. I use 3/4 cup of it more or less per load at pennies per use.
(Sometimes I add a few ounces of essential oil to give it a clean fragrance-tea tree oil.)

BreezyCooking · 10-10-2008, 03:40 PM

I'd estimate that my husband & I spend between $150 & $200 per week. We buy paper towels, toilet paper, gallon jugs of extra-virgin olive oil & soy sauce, etc., etc. at CostCo; all other basics at WalMart; & everything else depending on which market has the most of our wants/needs on sale at the time.

texasgirl · 10-10-2008, 05:24 PM

When I'm working, I was spending $200-$250 a week. That is for 3 people, but, that is for junk too, lol, like, chocolates, gum and mints for the smoking quit.
Now, I'm spending about $150+, so, I can go cheaper when I know I can't afford it. hehe

pacanis · 10-10-2008, 06:09 PM

I have no idea what I spend/week because I don't have a budget and I don't necessarily go every week.
If there is something I use a lot of, or frequently like coffee, on sale, I buy more than I need. For instance, today I wanted to buy 3 or 4 containers of Folgers because it was on sale (they were sold out so I got a raincheck). Problem is, I have a semi-hard time storing that much coffee cuz it's just me and I only make 7-8 cups in the morning, but I won't need any coffee for a while and that makes it worth it to me even though it's kind of a catch-22 because my infrequency of buying means I don't notice slight price increases. I know I still have Del Monte veggies in the cupboard I paid .60/can for

And they are "on sale" for .96 now?

And today I held back buying snow crab legs on sale because I still have three packages from last time they went on sale, but the paper towells I use were on sale again and I am proud to say I am sitting on a total of 8-8 pks of Brawney paper towels

They didn't have my coffee, so they were going to sell me something that was on sale

So yeah, no budget. Some weeks nothing, some weeks forty bucks, some weeks well over a hundred. I guess I'm a "binge" buyer