Help reducing grocery bill?

[AnnaRaven]

So telling hubby "We're too poor to be picky!" and beating him with a chicken carcass until he comes around is not an option?

 

[Wifezilla]

Most people around here know me pretty well by now. Always going for the subtle approach

 

[AnnaRaven]

Well I'm back. Glad to see there's a few folks here who understand the european mindset when it comes to food.

I stopped at Trader Joes today. Picked up some pre-made pizza dough so I can make some calzones for DS. ETA: Yes, I know I could make pizza dough. But that's more work than I'm ready for yet. One step at a time.

And I'll be entering the receipts on my new spreadsheet.

I also stopped by to check out a place someone told me about a couple weeks ago - an Orowheat Outlet. It's great! Reminds me of the bread outlet I used to go to up in Minnesnowta. Lots of "day-old" or reduced bread, as well as things like Bob's Red Mill grains on really good prices. And if you buy more the $10, you get two items free from a certain rack. I spent $15 and ended up with breadstuffs (like english muffins and mini-bagels and burger buns) that I can freeze and will last us at least a month (or more).

Go me!

 

[AnnaRaven]

Another big one is frozen pizza. I figured out how to bake a pizza that rivals DiGiorno.

Are you able to make it ahead and freeze it? Or is it a make it and cook it thing?

Hrmmm - maybe I can do calzones for DS instead of pizza. They're more "freezer friendly". Think if I partially bake them, and then freeze them, it'd work? Or should I just freeze them uncooked?

My mom bakes pizza ahead and freezes them. They are so yucky heated up in the microwave!

I half-bake the crust and top it. Then to cook it is just like a store-bought frozen pizza.

Kewl. Thanks. We'll try that.

 

[Ohioann]

Lots of good ideas! One idea I didn't see was using a vaccum sealer. There are just two of us and sometimes the CSA basket has too much of one item for us to use up so I blanch/cook and vaccum seal in serving size batches then freeze them for use when they are not in season. I also do this with the reduced for quick sale meats. If I can find a family pack of meat at a quick sale-last day of sale price I can get several meals out of it by vaccum sealing in servings for 2 sizes. We also have a salvage/scratch and dent grocery store nearby that has really good prices and a bulk food store that has good prices on basics. Also buy cheese and butter at a local dairy where they make both from local (200 mile radius) dairy farms. Right before the holidays butter was on sale at a great price so I loaded up. ( I have soy sensitivites and shouldn't use margarines)

 

[abifae]

Most people around here know me pretty well by now. Always going for the subtle approach

For you that WAS subtle.

I figure... cook what's cheap. They'll get hungry enough to eat it, or they'll be really hungry. *shrugs*

 

[Denim Deb]

This thread has been very informative for me! My hubby's paternal grandparents are from Italy, and even though he's only 1/2 Italian, he's very good at whining. Now I know why.

 

[AnnaRaven]

So I chatted with DH last night about the grocery bill and about how much we've been spending a month. It was a good thing he was sitting down. He was shocked!

He's totally behind me trying to cut down on grocery expenses (and other expenses as well)! Yay!

I've take two steps (both from this thread) toward cutting down the bill:

1. started a grocery book, (actually a googledocs spreadsheet that I can access from my phone) with prices of things I buy at different stores.

2. I pulled out my dehydrator (no more rotten potatoes!) and ordered a pressure canner and bought canning jars today at walmart.

I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do over the coming year to reduce our grocery bill to more reasonable levels. Thank you all for your input and help.

 

[lorihadams]

I don't can stuff...I know, i need to learn, but I freeze soup. You can let it cool and put it in quart sized freezer bags. Flatten them out and freeze them in "sheets" It really does take up less space.

Our problem is organics and fresh foods. I try to buy stuff in season but it is hard when I have to shop with the kids. They see it, they want it, ya know.

I find that if we are in a food rut I sit down with a bunch of cookbooks one evening and start pulling recipes for things that don't have a lot of ingredients that I need to buy (spices and things I already have in stock, for example) and try to switch things up. Let DH pick some things he might like to try from some cookbooks too so that if he doesn't like it, its his fault!

We need lots of milk so I have to shop weekly. If I shop for a whole month then I find myself constantly asking hubby to stop for a few things here and there on his way home and he ends up buying nonessential JUNK every time. He can spend an extra $1-200 a month if I send him to the store.

One thing he has done is to get a small refrigerator to keep in his office. Think college dorm size, and he buys a loaf of bread, some fruit, maybe some yogurt or cheese, and lunch meat to keep at work. Keeps him from going out to eat for lunch. Now if I could just get him to stop getting coffee EVERY day and make it at work instead I'll really be happy.

 

[tortoise]

We need lots of milk so I have to shop weekly. If I shop for a whole month then I find myself constantly asking hubby to stop for a few things here and there on his way home and he ends up buying nonessential JUNK every time. He can spend an extra $1-200 a month if I send him to the store.

I hear you there! When I was pregnant and on bedrest if I sent my XDH to the store, he would come back with tons of stuff but not what I wanted. VERY frustrating if you are only able to eat 3 - 4 things! I started having my mom go. Wow! Grocery bill dropped to 1/4 of what it had been!



Yup. Divorced him. I have a smart shopper now.