Economizing

[Saphellae]

Just curious - you live in Montreal and you can't have a Sunday paper delivered? Why not?

I'm not sure they could deliver to me. I'd have to buy it downstairs. I live in an apartment building on the 19th floor and you need to be buzzed in.

Would take the guy a LONGGG time to deliver papers in here lol especially with 1/3 elevators out of service right now.

 

[auntdot]

About the store brands, I have heard the same thing GB states. But also through experience have found some store brands are as good as the tony brands and some are not.

As far as meat goes, go for the cheaper cuts. We never buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Love the much cheqper thighs. You can skin them, bone them, marinate them, cook them on the grill, they are great. Or cut the meat in chunks for casseroles, or stir fry. Can often get them in 'family packs' very cheaply, particularly at the warehouse stores.

Can sometimes find five pound bags of chicken hindquaters at ridiculously low prices. Separate the thigh from the drumstick or cook whole. Am not a fan of the drumstick but can make a wonder stock and use the meat for a chicken and rice or so many dishes.

And it seems that whole chickens are often on sale, very reasonably. We cook them whole or butcher them, really easy to do. And then you have the carcass to make stock or soup.

And can sometimes find frozen turkeys for a song. Both at Thanksgiving when the store is using it as a loss leader, and when most folks are not thinking turkey.

Always carefully cruise the meat case. You can sometimes find those items whose sell by date is that day and the stuff is being sold for a song. Never was burned doing that.

Or the stores sometimes got in too much of an item and have significantly marked it down.

Often see cheap pieces of cow, like chuck or round, cheaper by far per pound than hamburger. So we grind our own and it tastes better than the store hamburger.

When we were first married we had absolutely no money, and we were surviving with some school loans in addition to the little we could earn. Having grown up as kids of parents who survived the Great Depression with absolutely nothing, we kinda were prepared. Although neither of us had to skip a meal due to funds as children.

We lived at minimal expense but ate healthier than when we were more flush.

Just a few ideas to add to the many great ones posted above.

We all splurge a bit when we can, and God bless us all for doing so, but it is good to know how to feed the family when times are rough.







Around here, whole chickens are often on sale

 

[jpmcgrew]

Beans are a great way to stretch a budget we have many kinds of beans they are filling and good for you. If you add meat to them it takes very little. I happen to love all kinds of beans.

 

[Corey123]

I've just come back from filling up with diesel and doing our monthly grocery shopping and now feel like I need a very stiff drink.

How do you economize (if you need to) with the rising gas and food prices?

We eat out much less than we used to and when we do we'll choose less pricey restaurants. I'm also more price conscious when I buy food which is so hard because I love it so much !

I, also, eat out much less.

I was getting food stamps, but now that I'm getting a monthly disability check, the state booted me off food stamps, saying that I'm now making too much money!

I still got plenty of food in the freezers though. Only need milk, cereal, butter
& bread from time to time.

 

[Saphellae]

Some great tips in there AuntDot

Jpmc, I try not to make beans too often.. it's not good for my S.O's stomach, nor my nose...

 

[babetoo]

as a lot of u know, i shop once a month on line for groceries. this includes
every and i really mean everything. food of course, all my cleaning supplies, cat food, litter and treats. all the paper goods including waxed paper wrap and so on. produce, aspirin, any kind of over the counter meds. batteries, light bulbs.

told u it was everything. it cost 12.50 dollars to have it delivered to my house and into my kitchen. if i went to store would have to pay that for a taxi.I donot own a car. so no gas bills, though if i ride with a friend i offer money for gas.

i try to only use the air or heat if i absolutely have too. however my son pays that , it is included in the rental space for the mobile home that he owns. he pays my cable.

bout the only thing i pay is my phone which includes the internet. yes i know i have a great son. since i have lived here, i have done many upgrades to his mobile home. new carpet and window coverings in sun room. lots of paint in one room or another. you get the picture. i feel i am enhanceing the value of his investment.

if i did not pay attention to details, i could not live on the income i have.

having said all that, cooking is my hobby, my joy and a huge part of my life. i make sure i have goods to make that as tasty as it can be.

all my meds only cost me 4.00 co pay for drugs. everything else is paid for by one or more agencies that help senior citizens.

i know i am lucky and that a lot of seniors have it very hard. part of my luck is due to good planning and careful spending. i spend around 300 for groc. each month. like i said that is everything, everything. don't think that is to bad.

babe

 

[Mav'sWife]

On the food front, to cope, we both cut our eating so (the idea hopefully) is that we're buying less groceries and thus spending less.

I was just watching Anthony Bourdain's show yesterday - it happened to profile the island of Crete - said to have's the world's healthiest cuisine. Supposably, much of the "healthiness" came from the islanders ability to forage for native greens in the countryside - which came in handy during the German occupation during WWII (although I'm sure they weren't the only country to take such dire measures). But it really put things in perspective - we can eat much less and still get by. So I guess if they can eat dandelions greens every day to survive I guess I can cut back on my eating.

The other thing we've been doing is curtailing any and extraneous driving - all errands are done en route to work and back - no exceptions. So once we're home for the day (we're contractors) we don't go out again unless it's for church on Sunday.

But I sympathize and I do feel your pain at the gas pump.

 

[Saphellae]

I'm still outraged that here in Quebec we are paying the equivalent to 6.11 $ per gallon for gas up here.

How much is gas in the US?

 

[Mav'sWife]

Referring to the clothes issue:

Our washing machine is still working but we've been hanging our clothes out on the line since the end of Feburary. Initially, we had to hang them in the house in the basement during the winter because Mav (DH) isn't allowed exert himself because of his heart attack. I don't miss the dryer too much now that the weather is nicer- the clothes are stiffer though but they smell better. The stiffness wears off after a few minutes of wearing the clothes however.

My mother used to wash clothes in the basement sink - she did this for several years so I say go for it. I think it's only folks, like those in the trades where you get really dirty, where washing them in a machine is the way to go, the same goes for comforters and sheets.

 

[Mav'sWife]

Oops I fogot to mention the why - our dryer needs some new parts.

 

[Maverick2272]

I would like to start doing this. We spend between 100-200 a week on groceries depending on whats on the menu. But again keep in mind that we are still building our pantry.. Well, we dont have much room in it, so we are limited. We have only 1 cupboard we can use for food with 3 shelves.

Gas is over $1.35 a litre here which works out to 6.14 a gallon canadian.. which works out to 6.11 american per gallon.. I'm not sure how much gas is in the states but this is absolute crapping robbery. GRRR!

Just out of curiosity, how much of that is taxes? Ours right now is at $3.89 a gallon of which $.088 are taxes. If you live in Chicago it is $4.09, of which $1.08 are taxes. At least this is what they are telling us, I am still looking for a web site to verify just how much is taxes.
A couple of years ago they took the taxes off for awhile to help the consumer out, it ended badly as (supposedly at the time) that should have amounted to a savings of $.066 a gallon but instead they only lowered the price by $.030. Sounds like they pocketed the difference.

 

[Saphellae]

tax is almost half of the gas prices here Far as I know. I'll let you know next time I fill up. There is a chart on each and every gas pump with the breakdown.

 

[Mav'sWife]

It's so mobbed up around here - the politicians would never stand for it.

It's a great idea though.

Sad thing is, most Americans, will probably take their tax rebate checks and turn around a put most of it in the pockets of the oil companies and politicians to buy gas.

 

[jpmcgrew]

tax is almost half of the gas prices here Far as I know. I'll let you know next time I fill up. There is a chart on each and every gas pump with the breakdown.

I was meaning to tell you that even though your pantry is not ready you probably have a bedroom closet etc where you could store the extra items even in boxes on the floor for the time being. It might be worth it in the long run since the higher the gas the higher the groceries.

 

[sattie]

milk is milk and comes from cows and I don't see how it can be 'better' by paying an extra dollar for it.

I will say this about organic vs other brands.... I buy organic milk because the shelf life is longer than the other stuff. I don't drink milk (hubby does and it is disgusting!), mainly used for cooking. But where I save money is not having to buy milk everytime I go to the grocery store because the stuff I have at home is about to turn. I can buy a half gallon of organic milk and it is good for at least 3 or 4 weeks. And I usually end up using it all.

Hmmmmm.... now why does the milk last longer than regular milk?

 

[Mama]

I was meaning to tell you that even though your pantry is not ready you probably have a bedroom closet etc where you could store the extra items even in boxes on the floor for the time being. It might be worth it in the long run since the higher the gas the higher the groceries.

We use one of our bedrooms as an office and turned the closet into a pantry. We only buy things when they are on sale. Now when I need something, instead of going to the store, I just go to the office!

 

[PanchoHambre]

Hmmmmm.... now why does the milk last longer than regular milk?

ultra-pasteurization google it and come to your own conclusions. Personally I am not a milk drinker it goes in coffee and recipies.I buy basic but others I know insist on organic and claim it tatest better. As a milk "hater" I cant comment.

 

[Saphellae]

Wow, Mama! I wish I had that!! You have a convenience store (with all the things you need) in your own home!

 

[Shani]

I will say this about organic vs other brands.... I buy organic milk because the shelf life is longer than the other stuff. I don't drink milk (hubby does and it is disgusting!), mainly used for cooking. But where I save money is not having to buy milk everytime I go to the grocery store because the stuff I have at home is about to turn. I can buy a half gallon of organic milk and it is good for at least 3 or 4 weeks. And I usually end up using it all.

Hmmmmm.... now why does the milk last longer than regular milk?

I don't know about all that, I can't remember even seeing organic milk, but then I haven't looked. I do know my family could not cope with an extra $10 a week on milk just to buy organic, I think it's too important to keep the grocery bill down rather than worry about milk keeping for a month. The milk I do buy lasts us until my next weekly shop, usually several days after if we don't use it up so nothing gets wasted. My family go through 9 litres of milk a week sometimes.

 

[jpmcgrew]

ultra-pasteurization google it and come to your own conclusions. Personally I am not a milk drinker it goes in coffee and recipies.I buy basic but others I know insist on organic and claim it tatest better. As a milk "hater" I cant comment.

I buy the Horizon organic milk because it lasts so long, I don't drink it often so it's more economical the buying regular. I have noticed that even ultra pasteurized regular milk still spoils much faster than the organic. The organic fat free milk also tastes much richer than the regular fat free which has absolutely no flavor