Share your tips for lowering grocery bills here! :D

[freemotion]

Leftover pork chops? What is that?

Try making a reduced gravy with farmerlor's cream of mushroom soup recipe.....mmmmmmm! Remove and dice the meat from the fat and bones. Serve over a slice of Alvarado Street Bakery Sprouted whole grain bread with lots of fresh veggies on the side.

I also like them in clean-out-the-refrigerator soup! Use homemade chicken broth as the base and throw in whatever you have for a quick soup.

 

[Okiemommy]

#1 is eat less...yup, we all eat too much and eat too much stuff in general...who are we kidding...LOL-LOL

This is soooo true!

#7 is shop less....just eat what is in the house. I have eaten many times over out of the pantry and freezer......EAT WHAT you have and not always buy to eat.

This is what we have started to do. It has become infinitely easier for me as I have developed the meal plan, mainly because I am so bad at off the cuff throw stuff together meals

Oh, I have one more tip! I didn't think it would be helpful at ALL, but it really is. Every time you think of something you want/need, write it down. Make a list for the grocery store, and another for the mall. (or wherever else you shop) Then before you go, read the list again. You'll be surprised at all the stuff you can cross off! I thought it would make me buy more, but it doesn't. I used to just write my list before I went, and bought whatever I had put down at the time. When you give yourself TIME, you realize some of the things you felt like AT THAT MOMENT, were not necessary at all! I love it! Sometimes I realize that I don't even need to go to the store after all!

For example, I had written down tortillas, and when I sat down to look over my list, I realized I had an unopened package in the pantry. If I had written my list in a hurry, and not double checked, I wouldn't have caught it. I know, it sounds like a lot of time to spend, but it works for me. The key is to slooooooow down, and evaluate what you need vs want.

I have started to experience the same thing when I look over my lists before shopping!! I also thought that it would cause me to spend more money, but as I read the list, I look at it and say, eh that's really a want not a need and it doesn't fit into the meal plan, or it's extra and we just don't need it. which also goes along with what Farmer Chick said about not buying to eat.

off to read the rest! There is so much good information here that I am missing some of it!!

 

[Okiemommy]

Send them to me?? big_smile I haven't had pork in SO LONG! My husband says that pork prices are dive bombing with the swine flu scare. I'm thinking it's time to find a good local farmer and buy part of a hog! in

LOL!!!

That sounds like an excellent idea!

Hey--that's great! We had a pile of friends over recently for a potluck, and I realized I had completely forgotten to buy disposable dishes! We had to dig out every plate we had and people were grousing a tiny bit when it was time to do dishes.

LOL we've done that before too, when we started cutting back on the disposable products ^_^

Has anyone noticed that aisle is almost deserted now that the economy is the way it is? I remember it used to be packed with people. Now when I go by it, it's like a ghost town

I make my own pancakes from scratch if I make them. Rare but I do every now and then. Read the label on store bought. You see all the "extra ingredients" to preserve that box of mix. Then decide if it is what you want to eat......just the choice you need to make.

We will eventually get to that point, of choosing the healthier version of pancake mix regardless of price, but we're not there yet. We will get there though I purposely buy the healthiest cheap brand that I can find....they stopped selling the whole wheat mix that I used to get...It was more expensive than what I get, though come to think of it, I bet I could make my own for cheaper than what I used to pay for that stuff.
Overall most of the stuff we eat is healthy. I pay close attention to labels and things, but most of the store bought stuff that doesn't have all of the unhealthy ingredients in it, are astronomically pricey, so we just do without both versions and make a compromise as best we can.
I am always looking for healthy alternatives, but at the moment have to keep in the forefront of my mind reducing the grocery bill runs along side the healthy eating in terms of priority.

Never too late. Just find what is good for your location and plant away. Some might not make it, but what garden does grow will be yummy!!!

That's good to know I've got until September I think at least. It's still pretty hot most of the time in September around here.

 

[Okiemommy]

Leftover pork chops? What is that? lol

Try making a reduced gravy with farmerlor's cream of mushroom soup recipe.....mmmmmmm! Remove and dice the meat from the fat and bones. Serve over a slice of Alvarado Street Bakery Sprouted whole grain bread with lots of fresh veggies on the side.

I also like them in clean-out-the-refrigerator soup! Use homemade chicken broth as the base and throw in whatever you have for a quick soup.

Usually we don't have left overs either, but since pork chops are in my meal plan twice for this two week period, I cooked a big batch YAY!!!

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! DH and I are not keen on mushrooms unfortunately

I wonder if I could take the meat off of the bones and shred them and make a faux pulled pork sandwich? Would that work?

 

[FarmerChick]

I hear ya on making it from scratch.

sometimes the cost to just buy all the ingredients is pricey...and the store bought is cheaper definitely.....cause we have to buy big bags or such of ingredients to make a "one boxed" pancake mix...LOL-LOL

hmmm...do you understand that what I wrote...I almost didn't..HA HA HA


I still buy a small boxed pancake mix to take camping....so much easier. I do what I can to eat great, but convenience sometimes works for me best!!!

 

[Okiemommy]

I hear ya on making it from scratch.

sometimes the cost to just buy all the ingredients is pricey...and the store bought is cheaper definitely.....cause we have to buy big bags or such of ingredients to make a "one boxed" pancake mix...LOL-LOL

hmmm...do you understand that what I wrote...I almost didn't..HA HA HA


I still buy a small boxed pancake mix to take camping....so much easier. I do what I can to eat great, but convenience sometimes works for me best!!!

Yep I understood ya! That is about how I would put it also. Maybe that's why I understood exactly what ya meant.

 

[Cybercat]

There are two tips that work for me:

1. Shop when its raining (I live in Oregon, its always raining )
I just hate unloading groceries in the rain because our house has LOTS of steps and between my sore knees and slippery stairs....Well, I just won't buy any impulse items that cause me to make extra trips unloading...

2. Don't push a cart unless you actually need to. Its too tempting for me to toss in stuff I really don't need to get (unless its a PREPPING trip)...
I was in a big box store yesterday without a cart, and decided that I didn't want the plants badly enough to go back to the front for a cart. Saved quite a bit of money there....especially cause today, I don't even remember what I had been coveting yesterday!

 

[dnsnthegrdn]

I was thinking the pulled pork too. Or make a caserole, or stir fry. Chop it up and put it in an omelet.

We follow the rule about eating the left overs till none are left in the fridge. My hubby eats left overs for lunch.

Definately grow and preserve every bit of food you can. ONe of the easiest is a salad bed. That practically grows itself and salad is so expensive!

Keeping a running list till you go to the store is the only way to go. Take your list and you don't have to wander around wondering what you need giving you the opportunity to see an impulse item. Just keep your eyes on the list and make a mad dash for those.
We have a dry erase board in kitchen and write stuff that we need during the week.

When it is a 34 mile drive to the store you tend to make the least amount of trips possible and that one little item will just have to wait.

Never use disposable plates, bowls, utensils, paper towels. But that is more for environmental reasons. Old tee shirts make THE BEST paper towels. I roll them up and have them in a basket. Freeze all left overs if they are not going to be eaten, all that good stuff.


Now this is the one thing I can't believe no one has said. HUNT! FISH! My husband hunts deer, turkey, the occasional rabbit, we now have wild boar around here so that is a blessing.

We fish and keep it all (worth keeping). It won't get freezer burnt if you pack it in water, this goes for any bird meat as well as the rabbit. You can keep it for 6-8 months or more without freezer burn, the water protects it as air causes the burn. You can do the same with broccoli as well.

That being said a deep freeze is a must for this. We very rarely buy any meat, just the occasional brats or something. We are watching Craig's list for another as we are slowly providing our own food more and more.

 

[keljonma]

If you have a large amount of left overs, freeze them and at the end of the month, serve them again. Then they are "new", and no one seems to remember that they were on the menu a few short weeks ago.

 

[Okiemommy]

More great ideas!

The "pulled pork" is in the pot heating up with BBQ now