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?

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

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?

One trick I've learned, it's a good idea to shop mid-morning,
particularly for meats. It's really nice to find heavily marked-down
meats because the 'sell by' date is imminent. The prices are usually
30-percent less than typical, although I'm sure that's quite variable.
But, the trick is to have perfect timing to buy those marked-down items
before the "mass crowds" find them first.

Sky

--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice

"Serene Sprat" wrote
cshenk wrote:
Just curious what tips the rest of you might have? I've been getting a
fair

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:

Hehehe it's ok!

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.

Nor would I! I freeze what makes sense for us to have extra of, but I have
that huge chest freezer so I can do that. Many people dont have space for
one (apartment dwellers etc).

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

We dont eat as much meat as most USA folks, after a 6.5 year tour in Japan
but I've never used seitan or TVP. Beans and tofu yes, and a local asian
grocery has tofu at 3-4 blocks a dollar.

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.

Being debt free is a wonderful feeling isnt it! I too am.

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.

Asian grocery and BJ's for me. Both beat the commisary (military food
store) by a wide margin on most things and the quality is the same or
better. I am not spending 1$ a loaf to make bread, but perhaps you have a
larger loaf. I make the 2lb breadmaker ones for about 50cents.

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.

Same, we dont *want* to eat out all that often but we do indulge about once
a month in some sort of take out chinese or a pizza.

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.

Was same in Sasebo when we lived out in the town (called living in the cho).
Tonoo market was on the way home so I'd stop with my bicycle and it's basket
and see what was there for dinner, as I was riding home.

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.)

Now with my chest freezer, we happen to diverge here but thats ok! It's a
definate good idea for others who do _not_ have a way to store it long term.

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.)

Fruit mostly for us. It's actually more costly but I dont care. We like
it.

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.

Same here.

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.)

Hum! That would equate to me and making my own chicken and fish stock
probably.

Stuff like that. I may think of other things.

Same here.

"Sky" wrote

One trick I've learned, it's a good idea to shop mid-morning,
particularly for meats. It's really nice to find heavily marked-down
meats because the 'sell by' date is imminent. The prices are usually
30-percent less than typical, although I'm sure that's quite variable.
But, the trick is to have perfect timing to buy those marked-down items
before the "mass crowds" find them first.

Thats why it's all gone by the time I get there! You snagged it! Grrrr
;-)

"cshenk" wrote in
:

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?



"cshenk" wrote in
:

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?


Depends on what one considers "eating well" which would probably vary
wildly by individual.

For me (married no kids) we buy a lot in bulk. The people at Costco know
us well. I like Costco because while the prices are not always "cheap"
you can find high quality food for a better price than most supermarkets
or specialty stores. Some of their pastas, olive oils, spices, cheeses,
and meats, are really good deals considering the high quality of the
food.

We buy quite a bit there in bulk. Everything from meats to cereal. We
can't normally eat their bread (most require you to buy 2 loaves) quickly
enough before it goes stale, but often we can split that with my parents
or sister. We have a small chest freezer so storage of bulk chicken
breasts, ground beef/turkey, etc., is no problem.

While some may argue that they aren't cheap and may no save you that much
money I find our FoodSaver vacuum sealer to be indispensable. We've found
that we can really keep things like cheese and sliced meats much longer
in the fridge when sealed. Again we buy the rolls of sealer bags in bulk
from Costco at a pretty decent price; maybe close to the cost of ziploc
bags.

I was shocked at how well the smoked salmon did when sealed and frozen.
You'd be hard pressed to know it was. We also use it on veggies. If we
buy bulk things like brussel sprouts, green beans, and asparagus we
usually blanch them, move them to ice bath, and them seal them with
salt/pepper or spices and butter. Sometimes a little bacon/ham in with
the green beans/brussel sprouts. These can then be pooped in the
microwave for a couple minutes for a quick and tasty vegetable side dish.

Not quite as good as fresh but pretty darn close. That yields 2 bonuses.
One: we make use of buying bulk veggies, and two: we have quick healthy
foods for weeknights where we don't have time to cook.

I'd consider our diet “healthy” given that we incorporate a lots of fresh
or minimally processed foods. Dry beans are about as cheap and healthy as
you can get. Once you master the pressure cooker you can even turn them
out in short time. We do this a lot on weekends where we cook a lot of
food for the coming week.

Aside from the vacuum sealer we tend to use more Tupperware or reusable
containers rather than using rolls of foil, plastic wrap, or ziploc bags.
Over time I'm sure those things add up and we're not creating as much
waste. I'm not an diehard environmentalist but I do try and consider
that everything I pitch in the trash is not just magically disappearing.
It's going somewhere and the less I send there the better.


Whew. Long post and I'm sure more thoughts will surface while this thread
grows. I think most of what we do is pretty common sense and I"m sure
others have some pretty neat ideas. We don't really focus too much on it
but for us I'd asy *buying bulk* is the primary way we save on food
costs.

"Janet Baraclough" wrote

Just curious what tips the rest of you might have?

Advertisers (and supermarket layouts) work on "excess purchase"..they
persuade us to buy more than we will use. They use tactics such as "buy
one, get one free", impulse purchase, and playing on social guilt/
competition. It's so successful that the average western family throws
away, uneaten, a quarter of the food it buys. If you can stop yourself
doing that, you instantly , painlessly save a quarter of your food bills
without eating less.

Excellent point! Yes, I sometimes fall prey to this as well but not too
often. Most likely spot for me to do that is in the frozen (or freezable)
items. As I've mentioned, I have an energy star good modern extra chest
freezer. Every now and again I note an overstock on some item (I normally
wont freeze more than 2 months and all is double wrapped to keep it 'fresh')
so I'll make up a big batch of 'whatever it is' then portion that over into
individual servings in microwavable containers labeled with a wax pencil
with date and contents.

Due to working odd shifts, I need to bring 2 meals to work (12 hour shifts)
and have access only to a microwave. Sample of this: Monday 5pm-5am
shift, (meal 1) -1/2 cup black eyed peas with ham, 1 cup leftover rice (best
fresh but this works well enough) which was topped after separate heating
with the black eyed peas and ham, slice of bannana bread. (Meal 2)- Adobo
chicken (2 small thighs), 1/2 c carrot soup, and (non-freezer) small green
salad.

Portion control and proper fridge rotation are probably the biggest
savers people could make in their domestic kitchen. Work out what

Absolutely. If I have leftovers, they are *planned* leftovers. I normally
will make enough of a meal to have 1 extra serving which then gets rotated
to work. If someone is extra hungry and I don't have a leftover, no harm
done. People however who do *not* have my need for 8 meals at work a week,
won't find leftovers very useful.

dry-weight of rice, meat etc, your family considers a serving, and cook
that weight. Don't buy more fresh milk, veg or fruit than you will use
before it goes off. Aim, never to serve more food on the diner's plate
than will be eaten by that person at that meal. Plan how to use any
pan-leftovers in another meal. Don't let food rot at the back of the
fridge out of sight.

Hahaha! I've done that too at times, but not 'too often'.

It's one of the reasons why I dont get much fresh produce at BJ's. It's
packaged too big for our needs most of the time. Like, it's better to pay
1$ an apple (or whatever the rate is at the time) and get 4, than spend 8$
on a bag of 12 and have 8 of them develop soft spots and get tossed out.

I will get bigger bags of green bell peppers though as I like to have dried
ones handy all the time and they are expensive to buy but relatively cheap
to make in my dehydrator. Although you can freeze green peppers (chop
first) for later use in stews, soups, and cassaroles, it's not as optimal
for the dishes I make as dried ones. I'll usually dry some onions too as in
a few recipes, they taste better with dried than fresh. The other racks of
the dehydrator are often making some sort of dried fruit chips (those extra
apples would go here in my house) and the bottom most layers probably have
some beef jerky. Don loves beef jerky but the commercial stuff is way off
the scale for his sodium allowances, so we do our own with our own mixes of
spices.

I wont say a home dehydrator is much of a money saver because it's cost to
run is fairly high, but we think it acceptable since it's the only way to
get beef jerky Don can eat. The rest then becomes 'bonus'. It gets used
about every 6 weeks for 2lbs (weigh before drying) of meat and the upper
racks then for whatever I find I'm low on and want, or have extra of and can
preserve that way.

"Chile Fiend" wrote

Excellent notes!

Depends on what one considers "eating well" which would probably vary
wildly by individual.

Hehe well we have at least one person in the newsgroup who won't believe
anyone can eat for less than 400$ a person a month and eat healthy. Grin,
I'm a little mystified at that one but he also lives in a rural area with
higher prices so thats a portion of it.

For me (married no kids) we buy a lot in bulk. The people at Costco know
us well. I like Costco because while the prices are not always "cheap"
you can find high quality food for a better price than most supermarkets
or specialty stores. Some of their pastas, olive oils, spices, cheeses,
and meats, are really good deals considering the high quality of the
food.

Same here, though our local one is called 'BJ's' and we also have now a Sams
club. Same thing though. Not everything is cheaper than my commisary (I'm
Navy) but quite a bit of it is. It's also 2 miles from my house (Commisary
is a 40 mile round trip unless I can catch it on the way home which would
only be after the 5am to 5pm shift).

We buy quite a bit there in bulk. Everything from meats to cereal. We
can't normally eat their bread (most require you to buy 2 loaves) quickly
enough before it goes stale, but often we can split that with my parents
or sister. We have a small chest freezer so storage of bulk chicken
breasts, ground beef/turkey, etc., is no problem.

Good! I skip the cereals because the only one who eats them is our 14YO and
they go stale before she can eat that size of box. Besides, she seldom
wants that much of the same brand (likes to swap off types). Hence for _us_
that one doesnt work. I make most of our bread, so the big bags of white
flour work well for us. We go elsewhere for smaller sized ones of wheat as
we dont use that as much. They did have a nice 10lb bag of rye though 4
weeks ago and we like rye. They also had larger sized (and much cheaper)
bread spices so I restocked the comino (cumin seed) and caraway.

On the freezer, yes. You might want to check energy ratings if yours is
more than 5 years old. They've gotten really good at making those more
'energy star' efficient in recent years. A 15 year old 10cf might cost as
much as 300$ a year to run in a high priced electrical area (25$ a month)
and it's hard to make much savings with those. However the newer ones of
the same size run as low as 90$ a year (7.5$ a month) in the same higher
electrical priced areas. My own unit, is 48$ a year per the KWH energy star
ratings and my prices sweet. An older unit can be replaced for about the
amount of electrical savings in 1 year's use. Catch point though, a really
OLD unit may be far more engery efficient than you would think. See, they
used to insulate them better and they've gone back to that. The old one I
donated to the church (was just too big for us and we had a second brand new
one bought when we lived in Japan) has been checked. It's running at 7$ a
month and is a *monster big* unit, commercial grade and predates the cheaper
insulation of later models.

While some may argue that they aren't cheap and may no save you that much
money I find our FoodSaver vacuum sealer to be indispensable. We've found
that we can really keep things like cheese and sliced meats much longer
in the fridge when sealed. Again we buy the rolls of sealer bags in bulk
from Costco at a pretty decent price; maybe close to the cost of ziploc
bags.

Hey, works for you! I know many use them. I avoid them for 2 reasons. 1-
I cant reuse the plastic and I'm sorta 'Japan trained' now to reduce my
plastic use and be able to reuse what plastics I do get when possible. 2- I
like to be able to open the thing and pull out a portion of the contents
then reseal.

You do not however have to double-bag with your type. Me, if it's a meat
already wrapped and of the right portion to freeze as is, I use one more
'ziplock' (or even a plastic grocery bag or so if it's not going to be
frozen more than a week) over the top. When I pull it out from the freezer,
the top layer bag goes in a little bin inside the freezer and will be
reused. When I repackage meats, those get used first from the bin. Inner
bags get tossed out if they had anything other than just fresh veggies.
Each bag gets used twice normally and some may get used 5-6 times before
hitting 'inner bag on a meat' so tossed.

I was shocked at how well the smoked salmon did when sealed and frozen.
You'd be hard pressed to know it was. We also use it on veggies. If we

Absolutely!

buy bulk things like brussel sprouts, green beans, and asparagus we
usually blanch them, move them to ice bath, and them seal them with
salt/pepper or spices and butter. Sometimes a little bacon/ham in with
the green beans/brussel sprouts. These can then be pooped in the
microwave for a couple minutes for a quick and tasty vegetable side dish.

Nice! I seldom freeze anything of the cabbage family but green beans? Oh
yes.

Not quite as good as fresh but pretty darn close. That yields 2 bonuses.
One: we make use of buying bulk veggies, and two: we have quick healthy
foods for weeknights where we don't have time to cook.

The second one would be the main one for me. My work hours are wierd and I
either leave for work at 4:30pm, or get back around 6pm. Our daughter
sometimes has to forage on her own and she's more comfortable with a
microwave at this stage still. In one of my other messages you'll see I
have a stock of 'planned leftovers for work' and she raids those grin.

I'd consider our diet "healthy" given that we incorporate a lots of fresh
or minimally processed foods. Dry beans are about as cheap and healthy as
you can get. Once you master the pressure cooker you can even turn them
out in short time. We do this a lot on weekends where we cook a lot of
food for the coming week.

Good! I never mastered the pressure cooker but I have a simple smaller unit
for making jams and such. What I did master is the crockpot. I've normally
got at least 1 going at any given time so there's always 'something' (14YO
uses this too if she doesnt want to raid my 'planned leftovers for work'
g.). I have 2 crockpots. One is a big unit (6q) and the other is a 5c
'baby'. At this moment both are empty but I plan to start something when I
get done reading my messages.

Sideline: Crockpots are very energy efficient, generally pennies a day.

Aside from the vacuum sealer we tend to use more Tupperware or reusable
containers rather than using rolls of foil, plastic wrap, or ziploc bags.

I use alot of 'tupperware' sorts of things too. Foil rarely but we have it
for a few needs but never the freezer. I do not have any 'saran wrap' sort
of stuff.

Over time I'm sure those things add up and we're not creating as much
waste. I'm not an diehard environmentalist but I do try and consider
that everything I pitch in the trash is not just magically disappearing.
It's going somewhere and the less I send there the better.

True! Seems you are in-line with me pretty much. The only noted difference
was the vacumn bag thing and I agree it does give a better product.

Grin, I don't buy 'bottled water' at all. We save the occasional plastic
pepsi bottle (20oz or so), rinse well, and fill. The water in my area is
_quite_ good tasting right out of the tap so we are lucky there. Big 2L
soda bottles we dont get often, but they too get rinsed, water filled, and
stowed in the freezer. Come hurricane season, we fill an extra 20 or so (or
swap out any gone stale) and put them in along the garage as an emergency
supply.

Whew. Long post and I'm sure more thoughts will surface while this thread
grows. I think most of what we do is pretty common sense and I"m sure
others have some pretty neat ideas. We don't really focus too much on it
but for us I'd asy *buying bulk* is the primary way we save on food
costs.

Hey, reply is longer! The main drawback to our style for others is we have
the storage space to do it. An apartment dweller (at least in a small
apartment) often cant do it. Like my place years ago in Hawaii was a 1 room
efficiency with a kitchen 'nook' so small, you couldnt open the fridge and
the stove at the same time ;-)

"cshenk" wrote in
:


Hey, works for you! I know many use them. I avoid them for 2
reasons. 1- I cant reuse the plastic and I'm sorta 'Japan trained'
now to reduce my plastic use and be able to reuse what plastics I do
get when possible. 2- I like to be able to open the thing and pull
out a portion of the contents then reseal.

I've actually had sucess reusing bags. I slice 3lb bricks of cheese such
as cheddar and mozzerela and place 2 pieces per ziploc. When I remove one
piece I cut the bag just below the seal line and then reseal the
remaining piece. The piece I take out is normally used, stored in an
airtight container, or shredded and stored.

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?


The supermarket ads come out on Tuesdays here. They are gone over
carefully for what's genuinely on sale, as opposed to being advertised
as a 'special' while still being the usual price. Milk is always on
'sale' at one of the local markets as a loss leader; vegetables vary as
well.

Seasonal produce is usually cheaper and better quality than
out-of-season things.

Bulk buying of things that won't spoil quickly or not at all, such as
sugar and flour. They are stored in bug-proof glass and plastic
containers.

Using less meat and cooking 'ethnic', which of course will vary with
what each person regards as such. Most of the world's best foods don't
use a lot of meat but still are excellent. Shopping in local ethnic
markets can often turn up bargains.

We make most of our bread and baked goods; one oven's worth of gas cooks
a lot of food at once. Virtually no work time involved (decent stand
mixer) and bread rises very well overnight without supervision It all
freezes well too.

Obviously learning new techniques in cooking can go a long way to
reducing food bills. A thick steak is more expensive than an equal
weight of a cheaper cut of beef/pork cooked in a soup or stew. Fill
those out with breads or dumplings to make a full meal.

There's more of course!

"cshenk" wrote

Good! I skip the cereals because the only one who eats them is our 14YO
and they go stale before she can eat that size of box.

I'm crazy about their raisin bran ...

that one doesnt work. I make most of our bread, so the big bags of white
flour work well for us.

.... but I'd never get through all that flour! Heh.

nancy

"Arri London" wrote
cshenk wrote:

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

Hehe just to let you know, this message got 3 lurkers

The supermarket ads come out on Tuesdays here. They are gone over
carefully for what's genuinely on sale, as opposed to being advertised
as a 'special' while still being the usual price. Milk is always on
'sale' at one of the local markets as a loss leader; vegetables vary as
well.

Yes, one of the lurkers asked about the 'special' and I explained how a
grocery store just before a markup in price, will sometimes use the old
price as a 'special' then raise it the next week.

Seasonal produce is usually cheaper and better quality than
out-of-season things.

I'd add 'amost always' for both IMHO. In Japan, I took to seasonal shopping
like the locals do and it makes a big difference. I liked the shift in
foods over the seasons once I got used to the idea. In Japan, such eating
is considered 'more healthful' as you get eat item at it's peak. They have
a point in that. They shop frequently (compared to USA folks, not sure of
UK). In Sasebo and every other Japan town I saw except the rural farms,
there were grocery stores on practically every street with some small
seller. They are rarely very large places. Often 3m by 5m or so with the
sidewalk being part of the selling space. A big store there might be 20m by
30m. I knew of only 2 that were larger in Sasebo.

Most city people will find one on their route as they walk or bicycle home,
so shop a small amount daily. Packages tend to be small and amounts of most
things are fresh and by weight (in metrics). It is common to see a person
heading home with 1 carrot, 100g minced chicken, 100g kangkoon (asian
spinach, also spelled kang kong etc), and a tiny packet of tea for use next
morning.

The family will have a farm, and one of the family runs a store. I've
bought eggs so fresh, they were still warm from the chicken!

Bulk buying of things that won't spoil quickly or not at all, such as
sugar and flour. They are stored in bug-proof glass and plastic
containers.

Yes, and only a savings if you store it right. (One of the lurkers asked me
to mention he uses leftover glass jars with tight lids for this and stores
on his porch in a small cabinet. He's in a small apartment upstairs but has
a nice 1m by 3m covered porch).

Using less meat and cooking 'ethnic', which of course will vary with
what each person regards as such. Most of the world's best foods don't
use a lot of meat but still are excellent. Shopping in local ethnic
markets can often turn up bargains.

Definately but I don't reduce meat for cost reasons. I do it because of
health reasons. Super high cholestrol problems in my side of the family.
In Japan, I reduced this partly due to cost though and took to more seafoods
(which are good for me). Fish or other seafoods hit our table at least 3
times a week and there, was apt to be 6 times a week grin. There, seafood
was cheap.

We make most of our bread and baked goods; one oven's worth of gas cooks
a lot of food at once. Virtually no work time involved (decent stand
mixer) and bread rises very well overnight without supervision It all
freezes well too.

Breadmaker here. I prefer the quality of my own and no preservatives. It
doesnt last as long but with 2 good breadkeepers, I can make it work before
it becomes birdfood or breadcrumbs g.

Although I notice I save money by making my own, I actually make it for
other reasons.

Obviously learning new techniques in cooking can go a long way to
reducing food bills. A thick steak is more expensive than an equal
weight of a cheaper cut of beef/pork cooked in a soup or stew. Fill
those out with breads or dumplings to make a full meal.

Yup! Great way to get the cholestrol down is to start looking at meat as
more of a condiment to a dish.

There's more of course!

;-) Thanks for the splendid ideas!

"Chile Fiend" wrote
"cshenk" wrote

reasons. 1- I cant reuse the plastic and I'm sorta 'Japan trained'

I've actually had sucess reusing bags. I slice 3lb bricks of cheese such
as cheddar and mozzerela and place 2 pieces per ziploc. When I remove one
piece I cut the bag just below the seal line and then reseal the
remaining piece. The piece I take out is normally used, stored in an
airtight container, or shredded and stored.

Humm! I hadnt realized you could do that! Ok, not bad!

"Nancy Young" wrote
"cshenk" wrote

and they go stale before she can eat that size of box.

I'm crazy about their raisin bran ...

that one doesnt work. I make most of our bread, so the big bags of white
flour work well for us.

... but I'd never get through all that flour! Heh.

;-) I buy a loaf of some sort about 4 times a year. Usually a specialty
sort that my breadmaker doesnt do well such as a hard pumpernickle or a
jewish rye.

I can make a good rye, but not quite that dense texture. Next machine I get
will have a stronger motor but this one is holding well after close to 8
years of twice a week use.

"cshenk" wrote

"Chile Fiend" wrote

I've actually had sucess reusing bags. I slice 3lb bricks of cheese such
as cheddar and mozzerela and place 2 pieces per ziploc. When I remove one
piece I cut the bag just below the seal line and then reseal the
remaining piece. The piece I take out is normally used, stored in an
airtight container, or shredded and stored.

Humm! I hadnt realized you could do that! Ok, not bad!

Somewhere along the line I read about someone reusing the bags
until all they could seal was a hot dog. Made me laugh.

I'd like the premade bags for reusing, the one end is *really* sealed.

nancy