Budgeting for groceries

[keljonma]

UGHHHHHH I HATE MAKING PASTA BY HAND!!!! I don't mind bread but do I really have to make pasta?

Have you checked out some of the pasta recipes I have been posting lately?

 

[poppycat]

Really the best advise I can give you is to PLAN YOUR MEALS, each and every one. Snacks too if you have kids. My kids come home to a snack set out on the table, they know they'd better eat it and not get into a bunch of other stuff.

The process of planning meals for a week will save you money. I guarantee it.

 

[patandchickens]

Frozen fruit works well for baked things like pies, cobblers, <whatever>-brown-betty, slumps, grunts, et al.

Also you can puree it into a thick juice/shake type thing, doesn't have to be a smoothie can be just fruit if you prefer.

One of the things about trying to pare down a budget is that it's usually necessary to eat less of what you'd prefer and learn new tastes


Pat

 

[SandraMort]

Yes, next summer I can do that, but there's nothing now. They're all good ideas for six months from now, though.

Check around your area for small local farmers willing to sell to individuals.

 

[SandraMort]

Nope. I've been away for a few months (thus the outdated sigfile).

UGHHHHHH I HATE MAKING PASTA BY HAND!!!! I don't mind bread but do I really have to make pasta?

Have you checked out some of the pasta recipes I have been posting lately?

 

[keljonma]

Yes, next summer I can do that, but there's nothing now. They're all good ideas for six months from now, though.

Check around your area for small local farmers willing to sell to individuals.

Are there any small farms near you that might have fresh veg or fruit in root cellars, they'd be willing to sell? I've traded fresh farm eggs for produce before.

Or maybe some poultry/beef/rabbit/goat they processed and would be willing to sell or maybe barter....?

Do you have any meat processors near you that you can talk to about going in with another order for meat he is processing?

If you have a sunny window and some containers and soil, you could be growing greens (herbs, spinach, kale lettuce) as well as beets, radishes and peas indoors through the winter.


And you said you were renting... How willing would the landlord be to you putting in a garden in exchange for some of the rent? We've done this in the past with gardens, landscaping, and small general home improvements.

 

[SandraMort]

Frozen fruit works well for baked things like pies, cobblers, <whatever>-brown-betty, slumps, grunts, et al.

OH, and I'm sure they're delicious., but the family isn't used to eating dessert on a regular basis, so I'm hoping to avoid that

Also you can puree it into a thick juice/shake type thing, doesn't have to be a smoothie can be just fruit if you prefer.

Frozen fruit makes great "ice cream" when put through the champion, too... but who eats ice cream or drinks smoothies in a blizzard? LOL

One of the things about trying to pare down a budget is that it's usually necessary to eat less of what you'd prefer and learn new tastes

Absolutely. But why would I want to encourage my family to eat something that's not as good for them? Budgeting is all well and good, but eating canned fruit or desserts that use frozen isn't as good for you as just eating plain fresh fruit.

 

[SandraMort]

Are there any small farms near you...

Not a clue.

Do you have any meat processors near you that you can talk to about going in with another order for meat he is processing?

I don't follow. And the closest processor is 45 m away.

If you have a sunny window and some containers and soil, you could be growing greens (herbs, spinach, kale lettuce) as well as beets, radishes and peas indoors through the winter.

The windows are all too dark other than possible the mud room, which is under 32F.

And you said you were renting... How willing would the landlord be to you putting in a garden in exchange for some of the rent? We've done this in the past with gardens, landscaping, and small general home improvements.

She's glad to let me garden and have animals. But the house is up for sale and I'm hesitating to have yet one MORE garden end up wasted when I've moved after planting.

The part about "in exchange for some of the rent" I don't understand, though.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I'm sorry but this thread is really annoying me.

Most of us here are trying to find ways to get away from the industrial food chain, because it is a complex behemoth that could some day potentially fail all those who depend upon it's just-in-time delivery of life-sustaining calories. Obviously not everyone in the room ascribes to this line of thinking, nor am I going to suggest that they should.

While I agree that fresh fruit is healthier in general, I must offer for your consideration the prospect that the day may come when it is unaffordable or unavailable in some seasons. Most of us here will either make do without it or fall back on preserved fruits. Generations before us survived, and somehow thrived well enough to produce us as their progeny, without having fresh fruits in three out of four seasons every year of their lives.

Budgeting comes down to hard decisions. Are you prepared to make them?

 

[poppycat]

Low flying ducks