Someone asked me for some tips on cheap meals and to motivate me to continue my goal of grocery shopping on a budget I am going to try and post a tip or two on Fridays...how we try, and I mean TRY, to live frugal with our food. If you have any tricks email me and I will give you credit and share!
Today I started brainstorming and so I will just grab three items off my list to share. I am no expert and many of the ideas I have gotten from other blogs or books or friends...and many of them are obvious but for me, when I read a tip from someone it motivates me and reminds me what I already know...or it makes me think about something I do in a different way. So some of these things might be so dumb. But like I said, I think this will motivate me to keep up the frugal shopping.
Many grocery stores give you credit if you bring your own bags to haul your goods home in. Target now is doing this too! You get 5 cents off your bill for each bag you use. It might be small...but think about how many times you run into Target and how many bags you carry home. You could easily pay for a can of cream of mushroom soup with the bags alone!
Second, Big savings for us has always been taking a recipe and splitting it in half and making a 9x13 pan of something in two 8x8 pans. Freezing one for another night. Ed and I tend to overeat when we make a whole pan of something and I get lazier about making side dishes if we have a huge pan of something. So by making a half pan I have to supply sides that give us a healthier meal and better portions. I also found that sometimes the leftovers would end up getting tossed because life got busy and they just sat there. Just an idea.
Third, One of the ways I have started saving on our grocery bill is committing to only buying meat when it is on sale. If chicken isn't on sale then we eat something different that week. If a meat item is really nicely priced I will stock up a bit. Another thing I have noticed at Target is they discount their meat if it is going to expire. The other day I bought ground turkey and it was $2.50 off making it under 2 dollars for the pound. If you do this you do have to commit to freezing it right away, cooking it up and freezing it, or using it. But you can really score some deals if you catch one of these deals. I have noticed them more often.
Off the topic....
One other thing that has been on my mind....please do not heat anything in plastic. I know everyone knows this, but periodically I read an article about this and it reminds me how careful you have to be about reheating. I freeze in plastic but I haven't microwaved in plastic for years. Every Christmas I ask for more Pyrex storage bowls...if you are stumped on what to ask the "Big Red Man" for Christmas this year...Pyrex storage dishes. Don't chance it!
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3 comments:
Hmm...I like the idea of splitting a dish into two smaller dishes. We do the same with leftovers. I've tried to freeze single leftover servings, but never take them out of the freezer. I would take a whole pan out though. Thanks!
Kim
Kim, Your Mexican stuffed shells are the favorite dish I make for my meal group. Those work perfect to freeze! One batch makes two or three small pans! Freeze them before you bake them. Thaw during the day, when you get home from work bam! Dinner is done! Seriously though - those shells are their favorite!
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