Make Extra Sauce

As I was making the teriyaki meatballs this past week, I realized one way I try to cut cost on a meal is to make extra sauce when I'm serving it with rice. Rice and a good sauce is always yummy. This also helps you to cut down the amount of meat you serve in a dish. When I do this I don't miss the meat. So, the tip is to double sauce to extend the meal.

It was actually two weeks on Thursday since I went grocery shopping. We still have a few meals that we can eat before I go again. I was hoping to go onto the next step in my plan of a pricing book before I went grocery shopping again, but I don't think that is going to happen. I will update with what our food spending was in the next few days to see if it helped to stay out of the stores.

Waste Not Want Not

I really try not to waste any food. Ocassionally we don't finish up leftovers, and unfornately they go to waste. Overall, though it is rare that food gets thrown out at our house. Recently I have taken the step of starting to freeze chile sauce, broth, etc. when I don't use the whole can. I pour it into an ice tray and freeze it. Once it is frozen I transfer the cubes to a freezer bag. (On a funny note my husband almost used the chile cubes in his koolaid!! Anyone up for some spicy koolaid?)

Probably one of most used items I can think to do this with is tomato paste. It is rare that you need the whole can for a recipe. You can't put it in ice cube tray, but you can put tablespoons of it on wax paper and flash freeze it.

This is a small savings but it can add up. I have a recipe that calls for about a third of a can of chile sauce, so by doing this I can use one can for three batches. If I remember correctly the chile sauce is about $1.25. This is $2.50 in savings, since I'm not buying a can of sauce everytime I make the recipe.

We often dismiss small things we can do to save because we don't think it's worth the time and effort. With that thinking we throw away 100's of dollars a year. So, next time you have part of a can of something left freeze it and remember that you are saving on your grocery bill.

Tip for Buying Bread on the Cheap

We have a bread outlet near our house that sells bread for extremely less than what grocery stores do. Last week I was able to get two loaves of bread, two packages of bagels, and one package of english muffins for less than $6!! Think about how much you would spend for that at regular price. I estimate $14, $2.50 for the bread and $3 for the bagels and english muffins. It's amazing to me the difference in price. I bought so much because of shopping every two weeks. I froze one loaf of bread and one package of bagels.

Do you know of any items that you can get a steal on at a particular place?

Our Menu for the Next Two Weeks

This should actually be step one, but I got a little carried away with reducing the number of times I go to the store. Meal planning most of time is fun for me if I throw in a couple new recipes, otherwise it takes a lot of motivation to get started. I always do it, because without a plan we go out to eat a lot more.

For breakfast I think of several ideas, but don't really place them on a special day, except for if I'm going to do a casserole than I do it mid-week so we can eat it for couple of breakfasts.

Breakfast

Bagel w/Cream Cheese

English Muffin Sandwiches

Overnight Breakfast Casserole

Pumpkin w/Chocolate Chip Muffins

Waffles or Panckes w/Bacon or Ham

Scrambled Eggs w/Toast

Oatmeal is a last resort

For lunch we eat a lot of left-overs. It doesn't really bother us. My husband being able to take his lunch is a priority for us. I make extra dinner to do that and so I don't have to scramble in the morning to figure out what he can take. If there is enough left over my daughter and I will eat left overs for lunch as well. If not I'll throw something together.

Dinner is the meal that I put a lot of detail into. It's the meal that cost us the most. The next couple weeks we will be in and out of town, so if there doesn't seem to be enough meals that is why. I use Taste of Home for a lot recipes. Most of their recipes have ingredients you can find in most peoples' pantries, which I LOVE! Generally, on Fridays I schedule to make pizza from scratch.

Gnocchi w/Homemade Sauce and Salad

Chicken and Rice in the Crockpot

Teriyaki Meatballs w/Rice

Sunday Pork Chops w/Dressing and Potatoes

Kielbasa Bow Tie Salad

Chicken Pot Pie w/Salad

Tacos, Beans, Homemade Spanish Rice

Beef Roast w/Trimmings

BBQ Chicken w/Potatoes and Veggies

Pizza x2

Snacks are an important thing to have with two year old, so here they are.

Bannanas

Oranges

Grapes

Yogurt

Animal Crackers

Carrots

Celery

Cheese

I try to rotate through the different types of meat and also have one meal a week without any meat. No meat is a big challenge for me to find good recipes for. I was thinking I would meal plan once a month but than I wouldn't be taking advantage of the things I already have on hand as well, so for now I'm going to do it every two weeks just like grocery shopping. I may find that I need to put even more detail into the menu.

Step 1 -- STAY OUT OF THE STORES!!

The first step to me getting our grocery budget under control is to reduce the number of times my husband and I step foot in a store. No more asking Scott to pick up stuff on the way home. He isn't even suppose to ask anymore. Last night for instance I really needed some eggs to make salmon patties and we were out. My dinner plans had to change to having breakfast for dinner. So, my plan is to go grocery shopping every two weeks. I will go to the farmer's market for fresh fruit and vegetables once a week. (There isn't really anything there that is an impulse buy for me, so it is a safe place.)

With this being the plan I really have to make sure that I plan a well thought out menu for two weeks. We had a trial run in the last two weeks. I think we did pretty well since it was the first time doing this. I believe we spent $180 total on groceries and eating out. We did have a couple extra trips to the store but not as many as we did previously. I just went shopping last night and spent $125 for the majority of our groceries. I still need to get the fruits and veggies. One thing that did help me make my list was writing things on a list on the fridge. As soon as I realized we were out of something I would write it on the list, that way I wouldn't forget and have the urge to stop at the store again.

We'll see how the next couple weeks go.

The Beginning of Accountability

This blog is a place for me to report my progress on getting some of our spending under control. We actually don't do too bad, but recently I looked at what we spend on average for food a month and realized that I was $250 over where I wanted to be. I had been budgeting $300 a month and in the last four months we spent on average $568. What the??

I thought we were doing pretty good since my main grocery shopping I always spent less than what the breakdown is for the week and we rarely go out to eat anymore. But then I would stop here for meat and go over here for this. On occasion I would have my husband stop and pick up something and he would apply the husband tax to the bill. (Something sweet I wouldn't buy.) All these extra stops really add up even if you only buy a couple dollars worth of extra stuff. I have come to the conclusion it has to stop!! We are a family of four, two being under the age of three. There is no reason we need to spend almost $570 a month to eat. I will be implementing a plan. I will be going through trial and error to figure out what works for our family.