cshenk wrote:
Just curious what tips the rest of you might have? I've been getting a fair
number of emails direct (names NOT to be mentioned here but there are about
15) asking for information but afraid to post because some here get really
rude about this one.

My own way: Mostly fresh foods, few packaged pre-processed items. Crockpot
(low cost to run) and chest freezer (efficient model, lets me get bulk loads
and store flour in an area where bugs are a big problem).

Lets let the lurkers lurk quietly while we see what others use?



Here's something I posted a while back on a now-defunct blog of mine:

Someone on one of my vegan listservs was asking about how we save
money on food. She gave me permission to repost her questions and my
answers here, so here they are. Reading it over, it sounds a little
preachy; I plead indulgence because it was midnight and I was
feeling tired and rambly:


I mean, I could probably make a week's worth of chili for $3. But I
don't want to eat chili for a week.

We eat very cheaply, and part of the reason is that almost all our
meals are made with dirt-cheap protein sources: beans, tofu, TVP,
and seitan. (I don't need to watch my protein intake, but James does;
he's diabetic.) I can feed all three of us for a few dollars, and
could do it on less if I avoided some of the more expensive fresh
veggies and stuff, but thankfully, we're able to get by. We don't
make very much money, but then again, we don't have kids or a car
payment or any debt to speak of, so our money already goes farther
than it would otherwise.

How does everyone else get by? Any tricks?

1) We go once every week or two to the Grocery Outlet for things
that are much cheaper than we can get in the store. Our favorite
bread is $3+ in the regular grocery store and $1.49 in the Grocery
Outlet, [Note: since this post, I've started making my own bread,
for around a dollar a loaf, sometimes less] so we get half a dozen
loaves and freeze them. Also, I get a
big bag (eleven servings) of O'Brien potatoes there for $.99. Stuff
like that. The prices are worth the extra trip from time to time.

2) We make almost all our own meals. We nearly never eat out. We
like the food we cook, and we're fairly easy to please, so eating out
is saved for special occasions or for when we're away from home and
aren't likely to be home before it's time to eat again.

3) We shop for fresh produce every day or two (we walk a few miles a
day, and one of our walks is a mile each way to the wonderful
natural grocery near us). That way, nothing ever goes bad. It's
*extremely* rare that we throw food out.

4) In the same vein, we rarely cook enough to have leftovers. In
our house, unless it's something we adore, leftovers are likely to
sit in the fridge until they get tossed, so we've learned to make
just enough for a meal in most cases. (I will freeze extra portions
of sauces or beans, but only if they're favorites and they freeze
really well.)

5) We snack on popcorn (cooked in the kettle, not the microwave, for
much cheaper) and fruit most of the time, rather than expensive
packaged snacks. (If we want the expensive packaged snacks, we go
for it, but that's another thing we tend to pick up at the Grocery
Outlet.)

6) We pay attention to how much stuff costs. If I make my own
spaghetti sauce, it costs me a couple of dollars a quart. If I see
decent spaghetti sauce pre-made at the Grocery Outlet for $1.49, I
pick some up.

7) Sometimes I buy packaged soy/ricemilk, but I try to make my own
rice or nut milk because the price and freshness are much better. (1
cup of nuts or cooked rice, 4 cups of water, blend, strain.)

Stuff like that. I may think of other things.

Sereme