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Pat
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

What are the best tips you've ever read and been recommended so far
and also regularly practice, relating to how your family has made and
regularly makes it's money go a lot further than it ever used to, when
it comes to all your weekly food - drink purchases / expenses, if you
have a family to look after, or when you did.
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Socks
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

On Tue, 01 Jun 2004 19:20:46 -0700, Pat wrote:

> What are the best tips you've ever read and been recommended so far and
> also regularly practice, relating to how your family has made and
> regularly makes it's money go a lot further than it ever used to, when
> it comes to all your weekly food - drink purchases / expenses, if you
> have a family to look after, or when you did.


that seems like an open-ended question. one person might already be
frugal by nature and have little room to cut ... and someone else might be
buying a bunch of high ticket / low nutrition items to cut.

fwiw i'm pretty amazed that 25 pounds of flour costs about $5 at a local
warehouse store. that makes anything based on flour (like bread or pasta)
pretty cheap. of course it is easier if you spring for a $40 breadmaker
(like an oster) or hand-crank pasta maker (like an atlas).
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Louis Cohen
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

- Rice, dried pasta, and dried beans cost next to nothing. Even canned
beans are very cheap Always have some in the house and you won't starve.
- Fresh veggies in season are very cheap; some are cheap year-round (onions,
potatoes, carrots, etc.)
- Canned tomatoes and frozen veggies are pretty cheap
- Whole chickens are pretty cheap; learn to cut one up
- Stew meat is relatively cheap
- Watch the grocery store ads and buy on sales. Be aware that sometimes
generics and house brands are cheaper than fancy brands on sale
- Make lots of stews/braised dishes with cheap, tough meat (including chili,
meat balls and meat sauces, etc.); serve with rice or pasta.
- Fresh garlic, salt, and pepper are cheap; look for specials on dried (or
fresh) herbs and spices
- Canned salmon can be cheap and can be very good.
- Pure olive oil (not first cold pressed EVOO) is just fine; make your own
salad dressing with oil, vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper.
- Eggs are pretty cheap - make scrambles or omelettes or frittatas with
onions, potatoes, and bell peppers (if they're on sale)

If you have a family and a tight budget, you're probably working a lot of
hours and may not feel much like cooking. Or waiting for dinner to be
ready. But maybe try cooking a several meals on the weekend, or even just
the night before - lots of stews improve overnight. If you have a crockpot,
you can load it in the AM with cheap meat and veggies and come home to a
very nice stew or soup.

With a little cooking effort, you can make a variety of very tasty, classy
food (like linguine with clam sauce, or beef stew, or a roast chicken) that
are very good for you and cost very little.

--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Louis Cohen
Living la vida loca at N37° 43' 7.9" W122° 8' 42.8"


"Pat" > wrote in message
om...
> What are the best tips you've ever read and been recommended so far
> and also regularly practice, relating to how your family has made and
> regularly makes it's money go a lot further than it ever used to, when
> it comes to all your weekly food - drink purchases / expenses, if you
> have a family to look after, or when you did.



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Alex Rast
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

at Wed, 02 Jun 2004 02:20:46 GMT in <a019e679.0406011820.5791d291
@posting.google.com>, (Pat) wrote :

>What are the best tips you've ever read and been recommended so far
>and also regularly practice, relating to how your family has made and
>regularly makes it's money go a lot further than it ever used to, when
>it comes to all your weekly food - drink purchases / expenses, if you
>have a family to look after, or when you did.


1) Make everything (and this includes breads, tomato sauce, jam, etc...)
from scratch.
2) Focus on staple beans and grains - barley, wheat, rice, etc, and kidney,
black, pinto, etc. beans - and buy them dry.
3) Buy everything that you can in bulk: beans, grains, spices, etc.
4) Make a lot of things that stretch relatively expensive items like fresh
vegetables and meats - this generally means lots of stews, pies (as long as
they're made *entirely* from scratch, including pizza) and casseroles.
5) Buy all fruit and vegetables seasonally, preferably from local farmers,
and seek out u-picks.
6) Freeze stuff you can make ahead or buy in season at much reduced prices.
7) Waste nothing. Milk gone sour? Make cornbread or soda bread. Extra egg
yolks? Use them for custard or ice cream. Giblet bag? Make gravy or enhance
the taste of a stew.
8) Beware of the fool's bargain - in many ways. 10 packs of Ramen for $1.00
may seem like a deal until you discover how cheap it would be were you to
make them yourself from scratch. That 12-bottle case of sunflower oil on
sale may seem like such a deal, but really, how likely are you to go
through 12 bottles anytime soon? And on the other end, those spices may
seem expensive on a per-ounce basis, but a little bit goes a very, very
long way. The good fresh chicken may seem terribly pricey next to the bulk-
bag frozen chicken parts, but those super-cheapo chickens will give you
miserable yield - lots of bone, fat, and water, and little taste either.
9) Get nothing precut or prepackaged that doesn't need to be - e.g. sliced
mushrooms, bagged salad, chicken parts, beef stew meat in chunks, etc.
10) Decide what expensive foods you really can't live without, and with
those, get the highest quality that you can find. That's not necessarily
the most expensive of its type, though it often is. But you'll get more
satisfaction with relatively small quantities of the best than with huge
amounts of lesser quality.


--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)


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Siobhan Perricone
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

On 1 Jun 2004 19:20:46 -0700, (Pat) wrote:

>What are the best tips you've ever read and been recommended so far
>and also regularly practice, relating to how your family has made and
>regularly makes it's money go a lot further than it ever used to, when
>it comes to all your weekly food - drink purchases / expenses, if you
>have a family to look after, or when you did.


There are several things we do that make a big difference.

We created storage space by building an inexpensive shelving unit made to
fit our living situation that increased our storage capacity a large
amount. Before we had this, we used other closets in the house for storing
foods we bought large quantities of.

We buy things in bulk as much as we can, we only go grocery shopping every
two weeks and we shop from a list sorted by aisle. If I need something
fresh for a particular meal, I might stop at the store between trips, but I
ONLY buy the one thing I need and I go in and get back out again.

We buy up to the limit on items that are on deep discount (that we USE),
sometimes twice the limit and go through the line twice (because there are
two of us), depending on what the item is and how steep the discount is.

We stay away from brand name items on things where it doesn't matter enough
to be worth the extra cost (for instance, I find that brand name soups just
taste better to me and I'm going to actually eat them, whereas off brand
soups just don't taste good and aren't worth the few cents I save when I
end up not eating them and eventually giving them to a food shelf).

We also invested in a used freezer and made space for it in our apartment
(this was when we lived in Alaska on a shoe string). That way we could take
advantage of deep discounts on meats, or fish from our fisherman friends,
and freeze them. This freezer paid for itself in food savings within a
couple of months.

We went through both large supermarkets here with a list of the items we
keep on hand at all times (which is an extensive list, I like variety) and
we figured out which stores had the best prices on which items. In that way
we created two standard shopping lists (I can try to put them up here if
anyone's interested in seeing what I mean). Every other Thursday night we
go over the list and check the things we need. Then Friday night after work
we get dinner out (usually fast food), then, lists in hand (we actually
keep them in ListMaker on my husband's Palm Pilot), we go to each store in
turn, and sit down for a minute to go through the circular. We add items
to the list that are on sale, or note the sale price for items we were
already going to get.

And this is the most important part, we go from item to item on the list,
and only go into aisles that have things we need in them. We don't usually
browse, and we don't go down every aisle. There are times when I might
dawdle, or be trying to remember something that I wanted but didn't get on
the list, but most of the time this saves a lot on impulse purchases.
Grocery stores are set up to get you to browse, to impulse buy, and to
suddenly see things you "need" when you're going to get the basics. By
going item to item, you reduce the chances of this happening, and end up
getting what you came in to get, not what they're trying to sell you this
week.

We also use coupons that are on things we would be normally buying, but
don't go out of our way to use coupons on things we wouldn't be buying.
When there's a limit, we'll go out of our way to buy as many more as we can
by going into the store several times, if the item is something we'll
definately use (like pepperoni).

All in all, these measures have saved us a great deal of money and time
over the years, and I always have enough food in the house that we could go
at least one month without having to repeat many meals, and much much
longer if I'm willing to be more skimpy on the meals. So if anything
happened and we couldn't get paid for a three months, we'd still be able to
eat.

--
Siobhan Perricone
"This isn't right. This isn't even wrong."
- Wolfgang Pauli, on a paper submitted by a physicist colleague
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Gregory Morrow
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?


Siobhan Perricone wrote:

> On Wed, 02 Jun 2004 08:09:51 -0000, (Alex
> Rast) wrote:
>
> >at Wed, 02 Jun 2004 02:20:46 GMT in <a019e679.0406011820.5791d291
> >,
(Pat) wrote :
> >
> >>What are the best tips you've ever read and been recommended so far
> >>and also regularly practice, relating to how your family has made and
> >>regularly makes it's money go a lot further than it ever used to, when
> >>it comes to all your weekly food - drink purchases / expenses, if you
> >>have a family to look after, or when you did.

> >
> >1) Make everything (and this includes breads, tomato sauce, jam, etc...)
> >from scratch.

>
> Time is also a resource, just like money. There is a point where cooking
> from scratch does not actually save you anything. The trick is finding

the
> point of most return for the least investment of money *and time* that
> works for you as an individual.



A few years back I used to do a lot of canning (I live alone in Chicago and
don't have a garden....I grew up on the farm and canning was second nature
to everyone). I'd can tomatoes, relishes, green beans, peaches, you name it
(ever pit 30 lbs of cherries? *I* did ;-). At the time I thought I was
being pretty sly because I was saving money. Turns out that depending on
yer circumstances, home canning may or may not be cost - effective....

You have to lay out some dough for initial purchases, e.g. a canning kettle
with rack (not expensive and you can rig one up yourself), colanders, a food
mill, canning jars (they run about $10.00 per dozen quart jars at the local
hardware or grocery stores down the street, so they are pricey), etc. If
you can a lot these costs will be amortized over time...

Then there is the cost of the produce. There are several local farmer's
markets close by but they cater to a clueless yuppie crowd who think nothing
of paying $3.00/lb for summer tomatoes or a buck apiece for a cucumber or
$4.00 for a bunch of "organic" beets...buy those in quantity are you are
tawkin' big money. So I'd schlepp out on the bus (I don't drive) to the
cheaper farmer's markets where the Poles and Mexicans and the Real People
shop....

Then there was the time factor. Saturdays I'd wake up early, go shop for
the vittles, schlepp them back, and start canning. A few dozen quarts or
pints of whatever would take all day...by nightfall I'd be pretty exhausted
and didn't want to do anything on Sunday but lay around and do
nothing...plus which I only have a small galley kitchen with barely any
counter space so the whole day was a juggling act with pots of boiling
water/produce, clearing prep space, etc (best not to drink *too* much beer
in the course of the day ;-)....

Pretty soon I became aware that those lovely jewel - like jars of tomatoes
or pickles or preserves came at a fairly high price both time and price -
wise *at least for me*....

Home canning *can* be economical if you ,say, have a garden or have
friends/family who give you produce for free...if you live near a Farm 'n
Fleet where Mason canning jars are cheap...if you have the time or even
someone to help you. But it really isn't time or cost - effective for me
anymore (I can a few things around the winter holidays to give as gifts,
nothing more). I can buy green beans or canned tomatoes or whatever at the
local stoopidmarket pretty cheaply when they are on sale. It's easy enough
to whip up a fresh tomato sauce and freeze some for future use (but not
*much* because I only have a typical apartment - sized fridge). And I've
got plenty to keep me busy on Saturdays....

Maybe in my next life I'll have a big farm house with a separate kitchen
just for canning and a bountiful garden out my back door and a giant freezer
and some friendly helpers (say, Mariska Hargitay and Vin Diesel ;-p )...but
in *this* life my canning days are pretty much done with....

--
Best
Greg




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Dimitri
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?


"Pat" > wrote in message
om...
> What are the best tips you've ever read and been recommended so far
> and also regularly practice, relating to how your family has made and
> regularly makes it's money go a lot further than it ever used to, when
> it comes to all your weekly food - drink purchases / expenses, if you
> have a family to look after, or when you did.


This is what I told my girls:

Dimitri


SHOPPING
The grocery stores in America run one of the most scientific and best run
business in the world. If you understand the economy and how it works you
will be way ahead of the game. The supermarkets understand competition,
purchasing habits and the money supply quite well. There is always a
weekend that wraps around the end of the month. That weekend everyone in
the United States gets paid. There is more money in circulation at that
time than any other period of the month. Remember some people get paid
weekly some get paid twice a month and some get paid monthly like some
government workers. The weekend at the end of the month will have the best
or most competitive prices.How much should I buy if it's on sale? Only you
can answer that question properly.

Many years ago, I asked my accountant Bruce about investing for the long
term. His answer was, "You should invest in commodities."
I said, "The commodities market? I don't know anything about the
commodities market."
He said, "No, commodities you use like toilet paper."
"Toilet paper?", said I.
"Yes, toilet paper and coffee and other things you use."
"Here's what I mean." "Your car payment and rent or housing are fixed,
right?" "Other than those two things your biggest expense is food." At that
time I was spending about $500.00 per month or $6,000 per year.
He said, "Look, food prices are going up about 6% per year or in your case
about 360.00 per year or $30.00 per month. If you buy the commodities that
are on sale and you can save 5% of your food budget, you will be able to
save $300.00 per year and be able to afford to go out to dinner and a movie
once in a while." That's when I started looking at the ads. It just made
sense. I like the supermarket companies very much, but I like dinner and a
movie once in a while more than I like the Vons or any other company. If
it's on sale and I use it, I buy it even if I have more at home. I liked
Bruce he was a smart man.

COUPONS
I use them. So should you. The use of coupons can either save you a
substantial amount of money or cost you a lot of money. Remember,
supermarkets and food manufacturers are not in business to loose money.
Coupons are designed to increase sales of an item during a specific period.
The vast majority of coupons are redeemed during the sale period of an item,
usually during the first 2 to 3 weeks of a coupon's life. The supermarkets
are given advance notice by the coupon issuing manufacturers that on a
specific day there will be coupons of a specific value on specific items.
Since the development of Double Coupons, the margins or profits have become
tighter. In some cases the markets actually raise prices so that the
doubled coupon is no great deal. I have personally found it to be more
effective to use a coupon about 1 or 2 weeks before the expiration date or
when the item is really on sale. The other thing you might consider is
purchasing an extra newspaper. If the coupons are for lots of items you
use. An extra $1.50 for the Sunday paper might save you $10.00. That's a
pretty good return on your investment. If you shop at one particular store
most of the time I have found it useful
to arrange the coupons in envelopes in the sequence of the aisles in the
store. For example, coffee, creamer, coffee filters and teas are usually in
the same aisle therefore all those coupons go in the same envelope.

SO HERE ARE SOME COUPON SHOPPING GUIDELINES:
1. Never buy a product just because you have a coupon.
2. Only buy items that you use regularly.
3. Try to remember the coupons you have and use them when the item
goes on sale.
4. Try to do your major shopping at the weekend nearest the 1st of
the month. That's when the prices are the most competitive
because there's more money in circulation.
5. Know your prices. There is no substitute for doing your
homework. Don't shop for price shop for quality and value.

copyright 1995



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Tara
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

Stock up on staple items when they are at their lowest prices, then
plan menus and cook from what you have on hand. The Tightwad Gazette
has excellent ideas for menu planning, shopping, storing food,
cooking, leftover management, etc.

Tara


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Mpoconnor7
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

One thing you can do to cut food costs is when you go shopping, eat a hearty
meal first. If your stomach is full in the supermarket you are less prone to
"impulse buy" junk food items, and you will stick to what is on your shopping
list. Having a shopping list of the items you need is a necessity, and you
have to learn to stick to it; it also helps if you get the weekly supermarket
circulars in the mail and go thru that when you're making out your list.

Michael O'Connor - Modern Renaissance Man

"The likelihood of one individual being correct increases in a direct
proportion to the intensity with which others try to prove him wrong"
James Mason from the movie "Heaven Can Wait".
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Julia Altshuler
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

Going off on the coupon tangent here--


I got into coupons for a while. They seemed like a good deal. It took
me a while to realize that coupons are usually for highly processed
foods that aren't a nutritional bargain. I like junk now and then, but
mostly cooking from scratch is better. Since I enjoy cooking anyway, it
is a double bargain, cheaper than therapy. Besides, the coupons were
often for items that I didn't particularly like. The brand of potato
chips that I like for $1.39 strikes me as a better buy than the brand
that I don't care for as much for 99 cents. Naturally that brings in
the unquantifiable business of how much more do I like something versus
how much do I hate brand X.


--Lia

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Dimitri
 
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"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
news:jRnvc.36133$eY2.641@attbi_s02...
> Going off on the coupon tangent here--
>
>
> I got into coupons for a while. They seemed like a good deal. It took
> me a while to realize that coupons are usually for highly processed
> foods that aren't a nutritional bargain. I like junk now and then, but
> mostly cooking from scratch is better. Since I enjoy cooking anyway, it
> is a double bargain, cheaper than therapy. Besides, the coupons were
> often for items that I didn't particularly like. The brand of potato
> chips that I like for $1.39 strikes me as a better buy than the brand
> that I don't care for as much for 99 cents. Naturally that brings in
> the unquantifiable business of how much more do I like something versus
> how much do I hate brand X.
>
>
> --Lia


I still scan the papers for coupons for products I consistently use like
salad dressings Mayonnaise etc. I think the trick here is to purchase only
what you would normally use.

Dimitri


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notbob
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

On 2004-06-02, Pat > wrote:
> What are the best tips you've ever read and been recommended so far


If it's not 50% off or 2-for-1, I don't buy it. When it is ... and I can't
think of ANYTHING that isn't, eventually ... I stock up.

One store just had whole Alaskan King salmon on sale for $2lb. I bought
15lbs and a Food Saver (been meaning to get one of those things for so long)
and am vac packing those suckers today.

nb
--
Be considerate of others and
trim your posts. Thank you.
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Peter Aitken
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

"notbob" > wrote in message
news:KJqvc.33317$3x.539@attbi_s54...
> On 2004-06-02, Pat > wrote:
> > What are the best tips you've ever read and been recommended so far

>
> If it's not 50% off or 2-for-1, I don't buy it. When it is ... and I

can't
> think of ANYTHING that isn't, eventually ... I stock up.
>
> One store just had whole Alaskan King salmon on sale for $2lb. I bought
> 15lbs and a Food Saver (been meaning to get one of those things for so

long)
> and am vac packing those suckers today.
>
> nb


Another way to save money is to avoid buying pointless gadgets like the
foodsaver. I am sure it saves time but it does not do anything that careful
wrapping cannot do.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.




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Dean G.
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?


"Gregory Morrow" > wrote in
message ink.net...
>
> Siobhan Perricone wrote:
>
> > >
> > >1) Make everything (and this includes breads, tomato sauce, jam,

etc...)
> > >from scratch.

> >
> > Time is also a resource, just like money. There is a point where cooking
> > from scratch does not actually save you anything. The trick is finding

> the
> > point of most return for the least investment of money *and time* that
> > works for you as an individual.

>
>


I agree, but you forgot one thing : If you work instead make things from
scratch, you tend to get paid. If your pay for working x hours is more than
you would save by cooking from scratch for x hours, then you might as well
stay at work. Also, don't forget the extra time and money for the extra
cleaning. I cook from scratch because the results are of higher quality than
the pre-packaged stuff, not because it is cheaper. The way I cook, it often
isn't any cheaper to cook from scratch because canned pasta sauces don't use
basalmic vinegar, chaterelles, or high quality olive oil for example. Crap
is usually very cheap.

That said, there are a few more things worth mentioning : Shop at several
different stores if they are nearby. Where I live, Krogers has cheap house
brand stuff, Biggs has cheap other things, and Aldi's has a few things very
cheap. Big Lots / Odd Lots have cheap spices ($0.48 for 3 oz IIRC.) and
occasionaly some interesting stuff. World Market occasionally has tortellini
on sale for less than the major super markets. The road side tomato seller
has tastier and cheaper (but uglier) tomatoes than any store.

Also, buying large packages of rice, potatoes, and onions is often far
cheaper than buying individual pieces or smaller packages. These will last a
while if stored properly. That said, bulk shallots seem to be cheaper than
packages, so check before you buy.

Finally, if you have a yard, start a garden. Basil grows like a weed, and
they charge outrageous prices for fresh herbs, and even more outrageous
prices for bottles of pesto sauce (!).

Dean G.



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Petey the Wonder Dog
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

Far as I can tell, someone wrote:
>What are the best tips you've ever read


Two words.

Ramen Noodles.
  #19 (permalink)   Report Post  
Mark Thorson
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

Pat wrote:

> What are the best tips you've ever read and been recommended so far
> and also regularly practice, relating to how your family has made and
> regularly makes it's money go a lot further than it ever used to, when
> it comes to all your weekly food - drink purchases / expenses, if you
> have a family to look after, or when you did.


I'm amazed how cheap Cook's ham is. $0.98/lb for the butt end
of a half ham at Albertson's. And this is IMHO the best supermarket
ham you can buy. (The shank end is $0.88/lb, but I consider that
not as good a deal.) Buying this much ham had been a problem
due to lack of freezer space, but I recently figured out a solution
to that problem. :-)

My local Chinese food store has certain items at prices half or less
of the chain supermarkets. Brocolli, mushrooms, onions, and chicken
are all MUCH cheaper, and the quality is usually better. I suppose
this is because the local mom-and-pop Chinese restaurants buy
food there, so they move a lot of volume on these items.



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notbob
 
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On 2004-06-02, Peter Aitken > wrote:

> Another way to save money is to avoid buying pointless gadgets like the
> foodsaver. I am sure it saves time but it does not do anything that careful
> wrapping cannot do.


I DID take the expense of the Food Saver into account. But, in the long
run, I know vacuum packaging is far superior to ANY other method of
preservation in a freezer[0]. I also bought it to preserve whole hops for
brewing beer. Without vacuum sealing, even the best wrapping method will
eventuall render the frozen food to desert-arid mummification within 3-6
months.

[0] In the case of fish, one other method is very good, and that's freezing
the meat in a solid block of ice. This is a great way to preserve seafood.

nb
--
Be considerate of others and
trim your posts. Thank you.


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hahabogus
 
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> Another way to save money is to avoid buying pointless gadgets like
> the
>> foodsaver. I am sure it saves time but it does not do anything that
>> careful wrapping cannot do.

>


I find it takes less time to use the food saver than to carefully wrap.
I find the foodsaver's bags are thicker and less puncuture resistant.
I find that bulk food purchases frozen in meal portion sized packages using
the food saver last longer in the freezer.

Of course the initial out lay for the machine does take several grocery
store sales to recover. And purchasing bag material is an ongoing expense.

--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on nothing but food
and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.
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Kajikit
 
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Pat had something important to tell us on 1 Jun 2004 19:20:46 -0700:

>What are the best tips you've ever read and been recommended so far
>and also regularly practice, relating to how your family has made and
>regularly makes it's money go a lot further than it ever used to, when
>it comes to all your weekly food - drink purchases / expenses, if you
>have a family to look after, or when you did.


Remember that with food, as with all other things, most of the time
you get what you pay for. There are some products where the storebrand
is indistiguishable from more expensive varieties (like pasta and rice
and flour) but a lot of the time the homebrand will have more
water/oil/liquid in it (because water is cheap)... it's not a bargain
if you have to buy two tins to get enough fish/beans for the meal.

Also, if you can, make it from scratch - a tin of tomatoes and a
chopped onion and a sprinkle of dried herbs will cost less and taste
better than a jar of 'tomato sauce' - and it won't have anything in it
that you didn't put there (like flavour enhancers, thickeners etc)

--
~Karen AKA Kajikit
Lover of shiny things...

Made as of 25 May 2004 - 79 cards, 45 SB pages (plus 3 small giftbooks), 56 decos & more!

Visit my webpage: http://www.kajikitscorner.com
Allergyfree Eating Recipe Swap: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Allergyfree_Eating
Ample Aussies Mailing List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ampleaussies/
  #23 (permalink)   Report Post  
Peter Aitken
 
Posts: n/a
Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

"notbob" > wrote in message
news:6_uvc.38600$js4.3426@attbi_s51...
> On 2004-06-02, Peter Aitken > wrote:
>
> > Another way to save money is to avoid buying pointless gadgets like the
> > foodsaver. I am sure it saves time but it does not do anything that

careful
> > wrapping cannot do.

>
> I DID take the expense of the Food Saver into account. But, in the long
> run, I know vacuum packaging is far superior to ANY other method of
> preservation in a freezer[0]. I also bought it to preserve whole hops for
> brewing beer. Without vacuum sealing, even the best wrapping method will
> eventuall render the frozen food to desert-arid mummification within 3-6
> months.
>


I don't doubt the foodsaver does a good job, but if your non-foodsaver
wrapped food is suffering freezer burn in 3-6 months then it is not wrapped
well. But remember the original question was about saving money. Buying
stuff on sale and freezing it for a few weeks hardly requires a vacuum
packing tool.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.


  #24 (permalink)   Report Post  
limey
 
Posts: n/a
Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?


"notbob" wrote in message
>
> In the case of fish, one other method is very good, and that's freezing
> the meat in a solid block of ice. This is a great way to preserve

seafood.
>
> nb


Yes, yes and yes! I do it all the time. If it's not done, the fish becomes
dry and tough. I do the same with crab meat, too. Drain well after
thawing.

Dora


  #25 (permalink)   Report Post  
notbob
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

On 2004-06-03, Peter Aitken > wrote:


> stuff on sale and freezing it for a few weeks hardly requires a vacuum
> packing tool.


You ever try wrapping whole hops in butcher paper? Ain't gonna happen.

I realize a FoodSaver seems gadgety. I pooh-poohed them for years. But,
having observed friends with them, I've come to realize these units are not
just a gimmick, but a serious tool. The food industry has been using vacuum
packaging for years and with good reason. There's no reason the homemaker
should be denied the same technology. Besides, I'm freezer-paper-wrapping
challenged.

nb
--
Be considerate of others and
trim your posts. Thank you.


  #26 (permalink)   Report Post  
The Ranger
 
Posts: n/a
Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

Peter Aitken > wrote in message
m...
> "notbob" > wrote in message

news:6_uvc.38600$js4.3426@attbi_s51...
> > On 2004-06-02, Peter Aitken > wrote:
> > > Another way to save money is to avoid buying pointless
> > > gadgets like the foodsaver. I am sure it saves time but it
> > > does not do anything that careful wrapping cannot do.
> > >

> > I DID take the expense of the Food Saver into account. But,
> > in the long run, I know vacuum packaging is far superior to
> > ANY other method of preservation in a freezer[0]. I also
> > bought it to preserve whole hops for brewing beer. Without
> > vacuum sealing, even the best wrapping method will eventually
> > render the frozen food to desert-arid mummification within 3-6
> > months.
> >

> I don't doubt the foodsaver does a good job, but if your
> non-foodsaver wrapped food is suffering freezer burn in 3-6
> months then it is not wrapped well. But remember the original
> question was about saving money. Buying stuff on sale and
> freezing it for a few weeks hardly requires a vacuum packing tool.


I buy foods in bulk and do not go through full rotations within a few weeks.
I supplement with fresh in between, too, from the farmers market and local
farmers (again buying in bulk). My Foodsaver is a gahd-send and is one of
the most-used gadgets in the house. It makes sealing ground beef, steaks,
chops, filets, chicken, coffee, fruit, and vegetables a snap. SWMBO and I
can easily portion several 3-4 lb. fryers into meals and have them sealed
for freezing within 20 minutes; tops.

I never understood the distaste for these tools.

The Ranger
--
The 56k modem teaches us patience, humility, and the love of quiet
contemplation, grasshopper.
-Kylie, AM Nov. '02


  #27 (permalink)   Report Post  
Julia Altshuler
 
Posts: n/a
Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

I didn't think I had anything to contribute to this thread since in some
ways I'm great about saving by cooking from scratch and in other ways
I'm terrible in that I'll try a new expensive cheese each week. Then I
realized I have the best example of making food dollars stretch in the
form of my in-laws. I find their meals to be painfully plain, but they
have figured out how to eat on very little.


My mother-in-law figured out 50 years ago how to serve nourishing meals
for little money. She's never varied the formula. At every meal, she
cooks exactly the right amount so everyone seated gets enough to eat and
no extra. There are never leftovers unless she's planned it that way.
If so, she cooks enough for 2 meals and puts the right amount for one on
the table. Breakfast consists of cornflakes in the summer and oatmeal
in the winter, one of 5 fruits (apples, pears, bananas, melon, peach),
toast, butter, milk, raisins for the cereal and jam for the bread.
Those items are bought in bulk, and they never vary. There's a little
more variety for lunch, but it too is the same or nearly the same every
day with cut celery, bread, peanut butter, sliced cheese (cheddar bought
in a big block), milk. I think there are 10 dinners that are served in
a cycle, usually pork chops or a lean cut of beef or chicken, potatoes
in one form or another, and a vegetable which is always boiled exactly
right, not overcooked and served with butter. Dessert is vanilla ice
cream bought in a big 2 gallon tub. There are about 5 recipes for home
made baked goods including a dessert crisp and a cake. Every meal is
nutritionally complete and adequate. No one in the family is
overweight. They eat as though they're on a diet all the time. When
they eat out, they look for menu items which are as close to what they
eat at home as possible. I like considerably more adventure and variety
in my cooking, but this suits them exceptionally well. They're healthy
into their 80s. The food is good, and I don't think they spend too much
for it since nearly everything can be bought in bulk.


--Lia

  #28 (permalink)   Report Post  
Miernik
 
Posts: n/a
Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

Socks > wrote:
>
> fwiw i'm pretty amazed that 25 pounds of flour costs about $5 at a
> local warehouse store.


25 pounds of flour costs 2.95 $ equivalent over here (Poland).
It was 2.24 $ few months ago, but went up.

(Actually it's 0.99 PLN per 1 kilogram, but I recalculated the units
for you).

But it's nice to know that the difference is not so high, because
standard food stuff is about 5 times more expensive in the western
Europe then here.

> that makes anything based on flour (like bread or pasta)
> pretty cheap. of course it is easier if you spring for a $40 breadmaker
> (like an oster) or hand-crank pasta maker (like an atlas).


Anyway I spend around 50 $ monthly for food when I cook at home just
for me. Eating out every day would probably make it 150 $.

--
Miernik _________________________
___________________/__ tel: +48888299997 __/
http://www.miernik.ctnet.pl/
  #29 (permalink)   Report Post  
Reg
 
Posts: n/a
Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

Peter Aitken wrote:

> Another way to save money is to avoid buying pointless gadgets like the
> foodsaver. I am sure it saves time but it does not do anything that careful
> wrapping cannot do.


I couldn't disagree more. This may be true for your average cut of meat,
but not for all products. I'm bagging up 50 lbs of smoke-dried tomatillos
today. You couldn't possibly get much air out of the bags without
a vacuum sealer, and removing all that air extends the life of the
product by years.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

  #30 (permalink)   Report Post  
Julia Altshuler
 
Posts: n/a
Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

You really think so? I think of her cooking and housekeeping as an old
fashioned habit, and one, by the way, that her sisters and
sister-in-laws don't share. I often think of her when I read about the
obesity epidemic and all the causes ranging from fast food to television
to cars. In her family, people simply eat simple meals at home and
don't consider eating any other time. It isn't that they show willpower
when they don't buy popcorn at the movies, they just never think of it
any more than I'd think of buying a parachute or a concrete mixer when
on vacation.

--Lia


MisNomer wrote:


> Lots of people do what your MIL does.


> On Fri, 04 Jun 2004 03:30:46 GMT, Julia Altshuler >
> wrote:
>
>
>>My mother-in-law figured out 50 years ago how to serve nourishing meals
>>for little money. She's never varied the formula.




  #31 (permalink)   Report Post  
sd
 
Posts: n/a
Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

Others have mentioned most of the tips I would offer. A couple of
others:

- If you live in a larger metropolitan area, there may be supermarkets
that sell food cheap (places like Aldi, Buy-n-Save, etc.). National
brands are infrequent at these stores and you never see a full line of
anything, but the food can be significantly cheaper.
- There also are a few places that sell "salvage" food. Usually this
means discontinued products, cans with dents or poorly-applied labels,
meat that's frozen at or just beyond its "sell-by" date, etc. The
selection always changes, but the stuff can be amazingly inexpensive.
- Consider ethnic markets if you can. There isn't a place in town that
sells tea as inexpensively as the Asian groceries in town. Ditto for
many fruits and vegetables (including common stuff like oranges and
broccoli).
- Soup is a great money-saver. I buy whole chickens and cut them up
myself; the backs and bones go into a freezer bag. So do leftovers
like broccoli stalks, carrots which are limp from age, tail ends of
onions, etc. When I have a freezer-bag full of each, it's time to make
chicken soup. Lasts a few days and uses up stuff most people would
toss.
- Consider buying a dehydrator (garage sales are great for this) and
drying your own spices (buy parsley, onions, etc. when they're cheap
and dry them yourself). If your kids eat it, you can make dried fruit
or fruit rollups or even beef jerky pretty inexpensively.

HTH!

sd
  #32 (permalink)   Report Post  
sd
 
Posts: n/a
Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

In article >,
Siobhan Perricone > wrote:

> We also invested in a used freezer and made space for it in our apartment
> (this was when we lived in Alaska on a shoe string). That way we could take
> advantage of deep discounts on meats, or fish from our fisherman friends,
> and freeze them. This freezer paid for itself in food savings within a
> couple of months.


For other posters considering this advice, make sure you get a
fairly-recently-manufactured freezer. Freezer (and refrigerator)
efficiency has increased a great deal over the last 10-20 years, and
you may find that the 1983 Dinosaur Supreme that someone gave you for
free puts a pretty noticeable dent in your electric bill. You might be
better spending money on a current-model freezer (closeout, scratch &
dent, etc.) for the lower amount of electricity it will consume in the
long run.

sd
  #33 (permalink)   Report Post  
Julia Altshuler
 
Posts: n/a
Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

I believe some of my in-laws' habits are to save money, and others are
preference. They don't go to movies often, but they will if Jim and I
take them. My MIL will say that they prefer television and the comfort
of their home. It is the same with restaurants. If they go out for a
birthday celebration, they go to one that serves similar food to what
they eat at home. Personally, I think the food is far worse, but they
like it. They might eat out occasionally for convenience if they're
traveling somewhere, but then my MIL purposely orders the least
expensive thing on the menu.


I can believe the study on 10 recipes. I find myself falling into ruts
all the time. That's one of the reasons I spend as much time as I do on
this group. I have tons of cookbooks, but it takes the personal kick to
make me try making something new.


--Lia


MisNomer wrote:
> A few years back there was mention of a study that found most families have
> about 10 recipes that they cycle through for meals.
>
> Your family goes to movies? (That's an expensive outing even without the popcorn.)
> I haven't been to a movie theater in years; I think the last one was
> "Terminator" - with my son, booked off work sick so we could go to the matinee.
>
> Oh well, so, your MIL doesn't go to resteraunts then? I know I like to go to
> one where they have something that I don't make, so it's a real treat, or of
> course - if someone else is paying.


  #34 (permalink)   Report Post  
limey
 
Posts: n/a
Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?


"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
news:8Diwc.43521$pt3.6946@attbi_s03...
> I believe some of my in-laws' habits are to save money, and others are
> preference. They don't go to movies often, but they will if Jim and I
> take them. My MIL will say that they prefer television and the comfort
> of their home. It is the same with restaurants. If they go out for a
> birthday celebration, they go to one that serves similar food to what
> they eat at home. Personally, I think the food is far worse, but they
> like it. They might eat out occasionally for convenience if they're
> traveling somewhere, but then my MIL purposely orders the least
> expensive thing on the menu.
>
>
> I can believe the study on 10 recipes. I find myself falling into ruts
> all the time. That's one of the reasons I spend as much time as I do on
> this group. I have tons of cookbooks, but it takes the personal kick to
> make me try making something new.
>
>
> --Lia


Lia, I find you one of the most common-sense posters in the newsgroup. I
enjoy your posts and commend you.

Dora


  #35 (permalink)   Report Post  
Julia Altshuler
 
Posts: n/a
Default The 10 household recipes - was: your food cost expenses go further?

limey wrote:

> Lia, I find you one of the most common-sense posters in the newsgroup. I
> enjoy your posts and commend you.



Thanks, the trick is all in the killfile. Now let me hijack this thread
and go off on a tangent.


The subject has been brought up that most households have 10 recipes
that the family keeps cycling through, making the same thing over and
over. I can believe that. Despite many cookbooks, without a swift
kick, I'd end up making the same recipes. My top 10 list is:

I. The Stews.

1. A variation on the coq au vin recipe found in Joy of Cooking. I use
chicken thighs instead of a whole cut up chicken and use olive oil
instead of the salt pork. The recipe depends on having the fat from the
chicken. If I accidentally buy the skinless, the dish suffers.


2. Beef stew. The beef cubes are browned. Onions, carrots, turnips,
sweet potatoes and mushrooms are added. The broth is a can of V-8 juice.


I've made a curry lamb stew or a chicken stew with Mexican spices, but I
usually go back to the above standbys. The stews get served over rice
one night (Uncle Ben's converted, long grain brown or short grain brown)
and pasta the next.


II. The Roasts. When the weather is cloudy, we want something simple
that involves turning on the oven.

3. Lamb
4. Beef
5. Turkey Thighs

All are roasted. The variation is in the accompanying vegetables--
sometimes scalloped potatoes, sometimes winter squash, often sweet
potatoes or turnips, carrots, onions. Again, I fall into ruts. For a
nice change, I buy fennel and roast that. There might be a variation on
the spices I sprinkle on top.


III. The quick meals.


6. Burger and broccoli. As simple as it sounds. The leftover burger
gets used in

7. Burger and mushroom tomato sauce over pasta.

8. Pan steaks

9. Tilapia francaise

10. Broiled mahi mahi.


That's what I end up making all the time. Oh, there's one mo

IV. Vegetarians are coming for dinner. (We eat it too when there are
no guests.)

11. The vegetable stir-fry. Onion, carrot, red and green bell peppers,
mushrooms, zucchini, cabbage are stir fried with tamari, vinegar, oil,
mustard, ginger and garlic as a sauce. Serve over brown rice.


I do end up making a few more dishes, but those are the main meals I
cycle through all the time.


--Lia



  #36 (permalink)   Report Post  
Frogleg
 
Posts: n/a
Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 23:49:10 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>On 2004-06-03, Peter Aitken > wrote:


>> stuff on sale and freezing it for a few weeks hardly requires a vacuum
>> packing tool.


>I realize a FoodSaver seems gadgety. I pooh-poohed them for years. But,
>having observed friends with them, I've come to realize these units are not
>just a gimmick, but a serious tool. The food industry has been using vacuum
>packaging for years and with good reason. There's no reason the homemaker
>should be denied the same technology. Besides, I'm freezer-paper-wrapping
>challenged.


I agree. The foodsaver gadgetry (and the bags) may be pricey, but they
appear to be an excellent way to securely seal food for freezing or
other storage.
  #37 (permalink)   Report Post  
Flibbyhivnif
 
Posts: n/a
Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

I'm single but I buy wholesale like sam's for snacks,condiments,ect. be
carefull about the meats the prices may be good but once in a while you
end up chewing a lot, fo that I go to a very reputal meat market and buy
(packages) that have great selections beef, pork, chicken,ect.
The best ones aren't alway's the good onse but looking around helps plus
word of mouth.
I also bought myself a stand-up freezer almost as tall as my frig so
it'll save room in my icebox.
I also freeze my breads if I want sandwich I just put a couple peices
in the toaster on light.
I usually go about a month or so without stocking spending about 100-150
a time.
I also by sliced meats large and bag them small so that I only take out
what I need an don't spoil a good deal.
Don't forget to stock up on different ziplock sizes.
Hope I could help. Jim

  #38 (permalink)   Report Post  
telmgren
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?


"Dean G." > wrote in message
...
>
> I agree, but you forgot one thing : If you work instead make things from
> scratch, you tend to get paid. If your pay for working x hours is more

than
> you would save by cooking from scratch for x hours, then you might as well
> stay at work. Also, don't forget the extra time and money for the extra
> cleaning. I cook from scratch because the results are of higher quality

than
> the pre-packaged stuff, not because it is cheaper. The way I cook, it

often
> isn't any cheaper to cook from scratch because canned pasta sauces don't

use
> basalmic vinegar, chaterelles, or high quality olive oil for example. Crap
> is usually very cheap.
>


A lot of times when I cook from scratch, I make a double recipe and freeze
the extra for another meal(s) which can help reduce the cost in time and
money.


  #39 (permalink)   Report Post  
telmgren
 
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Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?


"Dimitri" > wrote in message
m...
>
> "Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
> news:jRnvc.36133$eY2.641@attbi_s02...
> > Going off on the coupon tangent here--
> >
> >
> > I got into coupons for a while. They seemed like a good deal. It took
> > me a while to realize that coupons are usually for highly processed
> > foods that aren't a nutritional bargain. I like junk now and then, but
> > mostly cooking from scratch is better. Since I enjoy cooking anyway, it
> > is a double bargain, cheaper than therapy. Besides, the coupons were
> > often for items that I didn't particularly like. The brand of potato
> > chips that I like for $1.39 strikes me as a better buy than the brand
> > that I don't care for as much for 99 cents. Naturally that brings in
> > the unquantifiable business of how much more do I like something versus
> > how much do I hate brand X.
> >
> >
> > --Lia

>
> I still scan the papers for coupons for products I consistently use like
> salad dressings Mayonnaise etc. I think the trick here is to purchase

only
> what you would normally use.
>
> Dimitri


I've been using coupons for years, and I save a good bit of money with them,
but I only buy items that I know I will use and the only time I don't is
because it's free with the coupon.


  #40 (permalink)   Report Post  
Karen O'Mara
 
Posts: n/a
Default How do you make your food cost expenses go further?

Siobhan Perricone > wrote in message >. ..
> There are several things we do that make a big difference.
>
> We created storage space by building an inexpensive shelving unit made to
> fit our living situation that increased our storage capacity a large
> amount. Before we had this, we used other closets in the house for storing
> foods we bought large quantities of.


[snip]

Wow... your list was impressive and informative. Have you figured out
how much you've saved after it all? I think you should write a book. A
good title could also include something about how to survive for two
weeks, if you had to, too...

I'd like to be your neighbor after an earthquake.

Karen
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