by BlondieWrites on December 2, 2009
When you’re on a tight budget, going to the grocery store might bring about a sense of impending doom. Feeding yourself and your family can be quite expensive. But there are many ways to save money. Here are some tips that anyone can use to slash their food bill.
* Plan your meals for the week before you go to the grocery store. If you go in with no idea of what you will be eating, it’s hard to buy the right amount and types of food. You will either come out of the store with too much or not enough. Buying too much food means you’ll spend more than you should have, while not buying enough will make more trips to the store necessary. So write down what you will prepare for each meal, and make your list from that.
* Add snacks to your list. Make sure they are things that your family will actually eat, and realistically figure up how much of them you will need. If you fail to do this, you could end up buying a lot of unnecessary junk food.
* Stick to what’s on your list. This is a rule with few exceptions. If you get to the store and see a great unadvertised sale on something that you use frequently, go ahead and stock up. Otherwise, buy only what you’ve written down. If you’ve properly planned your weekly menu and based your list on it, you won’t need anything else. (On a related note, always eat before you go to the store. If you’re hungry, you’re more likely to buy things you don’t need.)
* Cook in bulk, and use the leftovers to make different dishes. For example, if you roast a chicken, you could use what’s left after dinner is over to make soup, chicken and rice, or some other dish. Alternatively, you could cook meals in large batches and freeze them in individual portions to eat later. Either of these techniques will yield several meals at a low cost.
* Combine coupons with sales to get items you will use at very low prices. When you get your hands on a valuable coupon, scour the papers to see if any local store has the item on sale. As long as it has a long shelf life, it doesn’t matter if you’ll use it right away or not.
Simply shopping smarter can save you lots of money on food each week. So don’t go in the store with no list and no idea what you actually need. Plan ahead, and keep your budget in mind. By following these simple guidelines, you can spend your money on the right things and avoid ending up with a cart full of expensive junk.
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by BlondieWrites on October 10, 2009
With the sluggish economy right now and the price of things going up, coming up with inexpensive and quick recipes is a must. Some of us have to work two jobs while others have home businesses that are done in the evenings and on the weekends to make ends meet. This could be another reason why inexpensive and quick recipes are needed.
This article will give you some ideas that will help you to have meals that are good for you while saving money at the same time.
Here are some inexpensive meals that you can make whether you have a family or you are on your own.
1. Eggs, ham, and toast
2. Hamburgers and French fries
3. Frozen meals
4. Macaroni & cheese and hot dogs
5. Spaghetti with garlic toast
6. Taco’s with Spanish rice
Quick recipes can take a few minutes to prepare or you can prepare them ahead of time and use a crock pot to cook them. Either way works for the busy family. These meals can also lead to leftovers which saves money in the long run.
Here are a few fairly inexpensive and quick recipes you can make with the crock pot.
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Crock Pot Meatloaf
2 lbs ground beef
½ cup chopped green peppers
½ tsp salt
½ tsp onion powder
1 cup Ritz cracker crumbs
1 egg
7/8 oz envelope brown gravy mix
1 cup milk
10 small red potatoes cut up
1. Combine all ingredients except potatoes in a large bowl. Mix together with your hands and then shape into a loaf. Place in crock pot.
2. Place potatoes alongside the meatloaf.
3. Cover. Cook on Low for 8-10 hours or High for 4-5 hours.
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Crock Pot Stroganoff
4 cups of roast, cubed
10 ¾ oz can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
Seasoned salt
Pepper
Noodles
1. Place cubed roast in crock pot and add seasonings. Cover with mushroom soup.
2. Cover. Cook on Low for 8-10 hours or High for 4-5 hours.
3. Cook the noodles.
4. Before serving stir in the sour cream.
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Crock Pot Roast
Roast
Potatoes
Baby carrots
Garlic powder
Pepper
Place the roast in the crock pot and season it with garlic powder and pepper. Cut the potatoes into wedges and add them around the roast. Next add the baby carrots on top of the potatoes.
Cook on Low for 8-10 hours or High for 4-5 hours. This meal is better if you can cook it for 10 hours on low.
You can serve a vegetable and a salad with the first two meals or a salad to the last one to make it complete.
Inexpensive and quick recipes are easy to find online. Do a Goggle search for recipe sites and then look to see what you can find. Whether times are tough financially or you have a lot of mouths to feed, inexpensive and quick recipes can really help save you time and money!
Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com
Darlyn Burkle of www.I-Choose-Us.com, offers resources to show women how to survive a depression and thrive through the financial crisis. The 52-week Money Saving Toolkit helps women save and earn extra money. It covers practical money saving tips for saving on food, utilities, mortgage, gasoline, entertainment, college education, travel, gift-giving, and more.
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by BlondieWrites on September 20, 2009
Convenience foods such as premade pizzas, frozen dinners, or refrigerated mashed potatoes make life easier. The question is: are they easier on our food budgets? You might be surprised to learn that convenience foods are actually more expensive. Here’s how cooking from scratch can save you money.
Yes, it’s true that many people have given up cooking and baking from scratch in favor of store-bought convenience foods. And while they may help you get dinner on the table quickly after a day out and about, they pale in comparison when you look at nutritive value and bang for your buck. The truth is cooking for scratch is better for your health and your pocket book.
* Plan your meals ahead of time and you can save time and money. You’ll be able to make a grocery list based on your meal plan which will enable you to get everything you need for the week. This will keep you from running back to the store when you don’t know what to fix or run out of something.
* Buy in bulk. Items bought in bulk always come out cheaper per unit than buying them pre-packaged. Most stores have identification cards showing the cost-per-unit price. Take a look and you’ll see it costs less to buy the big bag of rice rather than boxes with just enough for a few servings.
* Prepare for more than one meal at a time. Here’s an example: You plan on making spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner. You have five pounds of ground beef. Instead of taking out just what you need for the meal, go ahead and cook all of it at once. You can freeze what you don’t need for use at a later date. Remember to mark on the freezer container what the item is, when it was frozen, and a suggested use-by date. This can be done with many foods – casseroles, meats with or without sauce, and desserts.
* Use fresh when possible. You’ve probably seen the little bags of pre-chopped vegetables. They make it easier when you need them, but there’s no reason you can’t make your own rather than spending a good bit to have the chopping done for you. Buy the vegetables when they’re cheaper, chop them up all at once, and then freeze what you don’t need.
* Don’t forget your crock pot. If you know you’re going to be rushed one day, there’s no need to head for the nearest drive through. Planning ahead and cooking from scratch can easily be accomplished in your crock pot. Chop needed vegetables, pre-season meat, and get as much done the night before if you know you’ll be rushed in the morning. Put everything in the crock pot before you leave for the day and you’ll return home to a hot, home cooked meal your family will love.
* Use what you have. Be sure to look through your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer to see what you already have on-hand. This will help you to use items before they expire, let you know what you need to purchase, and allow you to save money on your grocery bill on those weeks money is tight.
It’s not hard to learn how cooking from scratch can save you money. The more meals you cook from scratch, the more money you can save on your food budget. Cooking from scratch also enables you to know exactly what went into the meal so you don’t have to be concerned about additives and preservatives.
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by BlondieWrites on July 19, 2009
If you are at your wits end trying to manage your grocery bills, you are not alone! Prices of groceries have jumped a ridiculous amount in the past year alone and people are facing the biggest price increase since the 1970’s. Thousands of people are scrambling to feed their families and feed them well somehow, on a painfully small budget.
10 Frugal Ways to Cut Down on Your Grocery Bill offers frugal tips and ideas on how to save money on your grocery bill and feed your family healthy meals for less. Get your copy of 10 Frugal Ways to Cut Down on Your Grocery Bill.
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