Pinching pennies like your grandparents

Garden, Garden, Garden

Smaller meal portions cost less, and help you become slim and trim. And more veggies (cheaper!) and less red meat (more costly!!) will also improve your health. Even drinking water instead of sodas is cheaper and healthier. I write as a retired MD.

Nice article. What is the website address you are writing about? Found some, but cannot be sure it is the same you mention. Somehow I did not find the URL in your article.

Piotr

Well it's a great article, but I won't make pasta from scratch when I can still buy spagetti and macaroni for less than $2. However, Wal-Mart is right, buying ready-made meals for convenience is still WAY cheaper than eating out. Last night we ate out because I had to pick something else up and we were hungry - and we spent $28 at one of those all-you-can-eat buffets. Eating out less will save money, also eating food before it spoils. NOTHING pisses me off more than throwing out food that spoiled before it was eaten. Last week I budgeted $150 for groceries, made my list, bought cheaper frozen veggies, cereal, macaroni & hamburger helper - and spent $156! Also, I have given up on dieting for now. For some reason, you always spend MORE money on food when you're dieting than when you're just getting regular food for regular meals.

I have always bought store brands, I have started subsituting ground turkey for ground beef, I can get a lb of ground turkey at WM for $1.57 as opposed to almost $3 a lb for g meat. The added benefit is that it is healthier. We eat alot of chicken. We have never eaten out alot because our 7 yr old consistently gets sick when we eat out. I really haven't had to cut back to much since we were already eating cheaper and healthier.

I had already started changing the way we ate before prices went up. I subtitute ground turkey for hb meat, it is leaner and better for you and about $1.50 cheaper a lb, we eat alot of chicken. We always use all the leftovers and very rarily eat out. We have 4 growing boys so eating out is an expensive prospect for us and that $40 we drop is at least 2 days worth of meals for us, not to mention our 7 yr old consistenly throws up when we eat out so why waste the money. I have always bought store brands if they are available for what I am buying.

I have been going to this website for years. I think I have printed out just about every recipe, punched holes in them, and put them into a binder for use as a cookbook. My 16 yr old is learning to cook from it too. The address is www.hillbillyhousewife.com . There are many pages and links for other useful things also.

My mother and I were talking about this last night...I firmly believe that I am the only 26 year old in our city that is CANNING! :) My mother-in-law let me plant a garden at her home this year (we rent and can't at our place) and all the extra beans, corn, tomatoes, etc I am canning. I never thought I'd be the Susie homemaker type, but with two little boys to feed, plus my 6'4" bottomless pit husband, we've got to find ways save on the continuously rising the grocery bill!! :)

The best thing you can do is to know where you can get what you need for the lowest price. Sometimes that means buying generic, other times it means buying from another store. In Oklahoma, for example, Braums Ice Cream and Dairy Stores sell gallons of milk for 50 cents less than the grocery stores, and their product is rbgh (growth hormone) free and it tastes better than grocery store milk. It is so much easier to make your grocery dollar go further when you make at least some kind of plan about what you'll be making, and try to have successive meals that have similar ingredients. You could make any number of dishes by adding different ingredients or sauces, and never feel like you had the same thing twice. One of the biggest things we do to help reduce waste is to ALWAYS eat leftovers. My husband and I don't have any kids and it sometimes is difficult to cook for just two. But when you look at the extra food knowing that, instead of going to waste, it is tomorrow's brown-bag lunch, it is easier to move around the portions so that everything fits.

COMBINE TRIPS TO DIFFERENT STORES INTO A SINGLE TRIP.

I GO TO HOME IMPROVEMENT STORE FIRST, FOLLOW THAT UP WITH TRIP TO GROCERY STORE, THEN I MAY GET SOME FAVORITE THINGS TO EAT ( AT DRIVE THRU ).

APPLEBEES APPETIZER IS LESS EXPENSIVE THAN EATING MEALS THERE. EAT THE DRIVE THRU TREATS AT HOME.

OF COURSE DQ ICE CREAM CAN'T WAIT.

I SAVE BIG BY NOT EATING AT PIZZA HUT AND OTHER PLACES WHERE PORTIONS WERE REDUCED AND THE PRICE WAS RAISED. BARGIN NIGHT IS STILL A BARGIN.

DO YARD AND HOME IMPROVEMENTS YOURSELF -- SAVES MONEY AND KEEPS YOU AT HOME.

WINTER WEATHER IS GREAT FOR STAYING HOME, NETFLIX IS REAL NICE TOO AND AS CHEAP OF ENTERTAINMENT AS YOU WILL FIND ANYWHERE.

This is a great article. My daughter and I have been practising this type of cooking for many years but have really increased our use of it since we are retired and living on fixed income and she is recently divorced with three kids.

Our grandparents were right in not wasting any food or time. More people should try it. I think it would help the economy overall by stretching our food dollars.

Many of these ideas I used in feeding a family in the years after World War II. I grew up during the Depression when people had no alternative other than to make do. It made an impression. Too bad that the modern world seems to have forgotten the old proverb, "waste not, want not."

WITH GAS PRICES SOARING AND GOVERNMENT NOT TAKING ANY ACTION, EVERY OTHER BUSINESS HAS VENTURED ONTO THE SCREW THE CONSUMERS HIGHWAY.

THANK YOU MR. PRESIDENT

I have always pinched pennies. I have always lived cheap. I am perfectly fine with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner, oatmeal for breakfast, and ramen noodles for lunch. I do eat a lot of fruit, and to me that is a splurge, but one must have good food. I hardly ever eat any kind of meat, but I eat a lot of beans and yogurt for protein.

I hardly ever move the car, and I rent an affordable, safe, apartment.

I'm really not cutting back, as this is simply the way I have always lived.

I grew up in a large family and learned how to make economical meals from my mother. We enjoyed leftovers and I still do. She had to feed 5 boys and a girl on what my dad made as a service member in the sixties.

Thanksgiving turkey leftovers go into the stock pot to make a meaty soup that I freeze. It's a nice treat on a cold February weekend. Try it with some home made bread. Frozen bread dough makes great loaves if you don't have a bread machine.

To save money on lunches, I make a large batch of something that heats easily in the microwave at work. Most of those meals are stews, casseroles, pasta with meat sauce, stir fry meals or "recession stroganoff" with egg noodles. My 25 year old son loves the latter, so it's slim pickings for leftovers for that dish. He is a professional cook, but sometimes prefers my creations over his!

My wife often asked me what I was making Sunday afternoon and we sometimes had some of it for dinner that day. I generally can make lunches at home for less than $2 per meal as opposed to spending over $5 per day for something more healthy than a burger at fast food places.

Stock up on reusable plastic containers. Most hold about 3 cups, including the ones from Chinese take out. They hold up pretty well in the dishwasher and can be tossed when no longer usable.

I also try to shop logically. Why buy a whole chicken when no one in the family likes the dark meat? The consumer might pay more per pound for frozen chicken breasts, but there is no waste.

It helps that I enjoy cooking and being creative. I also have a lot more time available than I do money. It also helps to be organized, both at the store and in the kitchen. I am paid once a month, so planning is crucial.

I don't even know what it's like to have a lot of things, or to eat at a fancy restaurant. My TV is 21 years old. My car is 10 years old and I still listen to casette tapes.

By the way, I have an MBA and I have been working for the same company for over 25 years. I guess I could spend money, but "stuff" just doesn't matter to me.

I never understood how eating out at a restaurant was faster than eating at home.
Most places we drive by show a long wait just to sit down and then atleast another 20 minutes before you get something to eat at the table. Maybe an hour at a minimum and 3 to 4* the cost of eating at home. Also no one mentions the food poisoning element of eating out. Lots of people handling your food etc.

Eating at home doesnt take that long. Throwing steaks on a grill is like 10 minutes !
I think laziness of people is the culprit. People need everything done for them. Feed me, Clean my yard for me, Watch my kids for me Etc. Etc. This stuff all adds up to alot of time and money. Maybe the old fashioned way is better !

Amen, Doug! I've never understood the thrills of eating out so much. It really doesn't save much time for me and it takes the specialness out of it when you eat out two or three times a week. Besides, it is MUCH cheaper to cook at home and you can often throw a roast into the crock pot before you leave for work and it's ready when you get home. I always get at least two meals from it by making roast beef hash or beef stew with the leftovers. How easy is that?

I love "old fashioned" cooking. We seldom eat out-what's the point-most restaurants throw frozen hamburger patties on the grill, toss frozen chicken breasts or fish filets in the deep fryer or open a packet of frozen beef for a hot beef sandwich. The food tastes about as good as a TV dinner. If I want steak, I can buy enough for both of us at the store for less than the price of one meal at a restaurant. Nothing is easier than throwing a couple potatoes in the oven and broiling a steak why pay for it in a restaurant. I use my crockpot-a slow simmer in that tenderizes the toughest cheap cut of meat. I make pot roast and depending on how big the roast is, we eat it again as hot beef sandwiches and the final leftovers as stew. Leftover chicken can be made into chicken and dumplings and I've made chicken and dumpling soup out of those leftovers.
I use 1/2 pound of ground beef in recipes calling for one pound of crumb fried ground beef. So far, no one has noticed and it is healthier to boot.
I make my own bread-the old fashioned way without a bread maker. It takes a little while to get the bread to turn out consistently every time, but once you get the knack, you have a better quality bread than the spongy stuff sold in the stores. I do a marathon pasty making operation and put about 2 dozen in the freezer. For an easy meal, I just pop a couple in the oven. I make extra large batches and freeze the remaining servings for no-prep meals.

It's harder to put meals together when both husband and wife work! Back when I was a kid, my stay-at-home mom was very good at canning, putting food away, stretching every piece of meat to the max. However, it can still be done. I make up a lot of food on the weekends, put it in the freezer, and we have food for a good long time. The crockpot is great for that, as well, during the week.

Emma, good idea about the pasties (and bread!). I'll make a few loaves of bread occasionally, and they're so fresh, I can mail them to my son in college, and they would last a long time if he and his roommate didn't eat them so fast. He once forgot to take the loaf of bread I sent from out of his friend's car trun for a week, but when he took it out, it was still fresh and good. I'll have to try making some pasties.

Nice thing about making bread by hand is that you can make them whole grain (flax meal, etc.) and healthy for much less money than those fancy whole grain breads in the store. Plus, the house smells great when you bake them.

Maybe I am taking a bit of this article out of context...but I don't know what Farmer and Rancher these people think that are making a killing. It sure as hell isn't "My Rancher". The Farmer and Rancher is getting screwed and then so am I when I go grocery shopping. Its the butthead in the middle that is raking in all the money.

One thing that I do, is set aside money for seasonal purchases. It would be like buying school clothes in August. I buy the seasonal purchases, like canned vegetables, at the end of the peak growing season because the prices are greatly reduced compared to the rest of the year. This would be the fall for these items. I buy enough to last me and my wife until the next year. I do not buy fresh fruits or vegetables in the winter/spring time due to the fact that when I was growing up in the 60's these items were not available unless you wanted to pay a ridiculous price. You just went without. Now, you have to deal with imported fresh items like Mexican tomatoes where the growing methods are less than satisfactory. I realize that times are tough, I am also dealing with these issues as well, but if people would plan a yearly budget and set aside the funds for different timeframes, instead of having it burn a hole in your pocket, you would be surprised at how much more efficient you would be in your food purchases. To many people of the younger generation have lived on fast food most of their lives do not know when the ideal time is to buy these items. They need to do their homework. Do not deprive yourself, occassionally splurge. It is just like a diet, it won't be successful unless you allow yourself a treat once in a while. That doesn't mean everyday, or every week. People would be surprised at how much farther their money went if they looked down the road, whether it be 3, 6, or 12 months. I have cut down on a lot of things in the past year, such as entertainment, because I foresaw the economic downturn coming. I think the housing, financial, and oil companies are good examples of that. I do not have an economics degree. My knowledge is based on life experiences.

I saw an article in the local paper for organic/community farms. They were selling shares in various farms. You could spend less money and sign up to work in the fields or pay a bit more and not work. I paid x-amount of money for a full share of vegetable weekly. The veggies come in a huge box and are organically grown. The season runs from 5/23 to ll/23-that's a lot of veggies! I personally can't eat everything and since my youngest son is away at college, I pass food off to neighbors and co-workers. The thing that makes me feel really good about purchasing the food is that my grandfather and grandmother had a farm in the 30's and I feel as though I'm helping them in some way. Even if the growing season went bust, I would have felt good because I was helping to keep a small farm in existence. The drop off location for the boxes is on my way home from work so I'm saving gas to boot!

We used to be horrible about eating out simply because of busy schedules. My wife set down the law a few months ago and now we only eat out once a week. We've also instituted "Fend For Yourself" night (usually on Wednesday or Thursday) where our kids can augment any leftover in the fridge. We've seen some scary concoctions - most notably strawberries, peaches, green onions and cheese ravioli by our 10 year old. The good thing about it is that the kids think of it as the night when they have control over what they eat, they have the responsibility to make it themselves and we're no longer letting our leftovers linger until we question their safety.
We've limited our grocery store runs to two a week: big shopping on Monday and incidentals on Thursday. We've figured out that we spend less because we're not tempted by impulse buys nearly as much. If it's not on the list, it probably won't get purchased. This is also teaching our kids to be prepared...they know that if they're about to run out of something, it needs to be on the list or they have to do without until the next scheduled grocery store run.
There's lots of creative ways to save these days. We're all getting squeezed but if we help each other, combine resources and share our individual tips, collectively we'll all do better.

We have been surviving on the $100 dollar budget for a while now. My pay was cut, but then gas prices and food prices have spiked. Wal-Mart is about the best place we have found to be frugal and still get OK food. We live in Lancaster County PA and meat can bought cheaply from the Amish farms. Pasta is a great substitute for most meals though. Powdered drink mixes also add to easing the burden with two young boys. we can mix a gallon and load it with ice, which helps stretch it out a little further. Snacks are fruit only, locally bought or if bought in the store, whats on sale. We have begun learning how to make some things from scratch. By buying the ingredients in bulk at like a Costco, we can stretch that out over a whole month. That way you are buying less each week, I call the fillers of the meal. By doing these small things, we went from a $1000.00 dollar a month food budget to a little over $400.00. Oh and don't forget coupons, they do tend to cut pennies which do add up. Good luck to all and don't forget those Moms and Pop stores, no name brands, but sometimes the best prices.. And some times not....