Here in an effort to learn to live my life more cheaply

[New-mom-to-be]

I had a son in August and we moved to a different house to get him in the right schools, so not only has our mortgage doubled, but we pay day care costs.

We aren't struggling. Everything can be paid. But, I am now trying to save much more than I used to. I have no clue what college is going to cost in 18 years, so I am trying to save 300-500 a month for his college fund.

So, I went grocery shopping today with the intention of buying everything I will need for the 10 days or so Until last summer, when I briefly posted, I never really learned to cook. But I have slowly been learning to cook and got some cookbooks to help me.

This was my grocery purchase. Please tell me what I could buy or switch to make it cheaper


2 half gallon containers of milk (regular 2% for husband/organic 2% for me)
2 heads of lettuce
1 green cabbage
2 cucumbers
2 lbs of carrots
5 pound bag of potatoes
4 pound bag of clementines
2 pounds of roma tomatoes
3 containers of easy mac
Box of grits
pound of jasmine rice
2 cans of formula
2 Bertolli frozen dinners in bag
1 loaf of whole wheat bread
1 package of whole wheat hot dog buns
1 package of turkey hot dogs
2 8 packs of G2
1 12 pack of Coke Zero
1 box of rice cereal
10 jars of baby food
2 packages of shredded cheese
1 package of sliced swiss
3 1 packages of ground chicken breast
1 pound of shrimp
2 salmon fillets
1 package of turkey sausage
3 pounds of chicken breasts
1 case of water
2 packages of angel hair pasta
1 jar of alfredo sauce
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1 pound of coffee
1 box of tea
3 cans of black beans
4 cans of stewed tomatoes
3 bags of frozen veggies

I know that I came on here last summer and posted this kind of list (but I think it is better now). But now the need to save is all too real with the wee man kicking in swing right now. Please remember....I am just learning to cook. So buying a whole chicken and cutting it up just isn't possible right now.

[Wendy99]

2 half gallon containers of milk (regular 2% for husband/organic 2% for me)
2 heads of lettuce
1 green cabbage
2 cucumbers
2 lbs of carrots
5 pound bag of potatoes
4 pound bag of clementines ********** would apples / bananas be cheaper?
2 pounds of roma tomatoes
3 containers of easy mac ************* would no name mac & cheese be cheaper?
Box of grits *** can this be purchased cheaper in bulk?
pound of jasmine rice **** would brown rice be cheaper?
2 cans of formula
2 Bertolli frozen dinners in bag ******** frozen dinners $$, learn to do it from scratch
1 loaf of whole wheat bread
1 package of whole wheat hot dog buns
1 package of turkey hot dogs
2 8 packs of G2 ******** not sure what this is, but it is necessary?
1 12 pack of Coke Zero ************ water (even juice) is cheaper or if need be .. no name diet cola
1 box of rice cereal
10 jars of baby food ***** we always made our own baby food (we had twins) cheaper!!
2 packages of shredded cheese *********** your paying for their labour to shred it, buy brick and shred it yourself
1 package of sliced swiss
3 1 packages of ground chicken breast
1 pound of shrimp
2 salmon fillets
1 package of turkey sausage
3 pounds of chicken breasts
1 case of water ******* tap water is cheaper & more environmently friendly
2 packages of angel hair pasta
1 jar of alfredo sauce
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1 pound of coffee
1 box of tea
3 cans of black beans *** maybe cheaper to buy these dry
4 cans of stewed tomatoes
3 bags of frozen veggies



Just my opinion & suggestions .. hope it helps

[Mavourneen]

Do you coupon at all? I mean, your grocery list was all consumables - and that is great. It looks like you eat relatively healthily. But what about personal care products? Toilet paper? Stuff like that?

Just by using those type of coupons you could easily shave 20% off a monthly grocery bill...

[New-mom-to-be]

the g2, coke zero, and water are because my school doesn't want non sealed drinks on campus. There was a problem a few years ago about teachers (who were fired) and students (who were expelled) bringing their own coffee and drinks in regular cups, along with alcohol.

I really don't have a choice there.

The Bertolli meals, yeah. I need to learn to make stuff like that myself. But it is sooooo easy to use when coming home from school.

Beans, I have no clue how to make them. I tried once last fall and they never really got soft. I don't know what I did wrong.

[LastDragonfly]

I think coffee is cheaper in bulk. I know it is for us. I use only jasmine rice also. Its cheaper to buy in the 5 lb bag than the small 1 lb bags.

Beans: I live in a high elevation and it takes beans a long time to cook. So here is what I do....

Put your washed beans (about 2 cups) in a pan of boiling water and boil for 10 minutes. Put the lid on it and do NOT uncover for at least an hour, then cook your beans. They will cook faster.

Or let them soak overnight in your crock pot, turn your cp on low in the morning as you are running out the door. They will be ready when you get home from work. Make sure you have them covered with plenty of water.

I urge you to make at least part of your baby food. Baby is going to get bigger and need more baby food! There are many wonderful books out there on baby food. I have 4 kids ranging in ages from 24 - 7. I made most of their baby food and it saved me tremendous amounts of money. I was a working mom paying for daycare too.

Sliced cheese is more expensive if you buy it from the prepacked aisle instead of the deli. I only buy ours from the deli. What do I care if it doesnt say "oscar meyer" on the package. I'll take oscar meyer that the deli lady cuts for me.

How much tea are you buying? A box? how long will it last you?

I would buy potatoes in a larger quantity. Baby will soon be able to eat mashed taters....yum.

find coupons and use them. You will save. I buy pasta from the dollar store or from big lots. I get them sometimes for 10 cents a piece.

You can do it.

[rowdy35]

i urge you to look online for some frugal recipes since you are just learning to cook. cooking is really easy ! don't be intimidated. get a crockpot at a second hand store or Kmart. You can use your crockpot to save time and money since you are a busy lady.

planning meals saves time and money too. it's not difficult to cook a whole turkey or a whole chicken or ham. You can package up the leftovers and freeze into small portions. Then just pull out the small portions and you have something to make a meal out of instead of the frozen Bertolli meals.

Some convenience foods are great to keep on hand for when you are busy and don't have time to cook

Keep reading, you will be a pro at this in no time.

[fixer]

i urge you to look online for some frugal recipes since you are just learning to cook. cooking is really easy ! don't be intimidated. get a crockpot at a second hand store or Kmart. You can use your crockpot to save time and money since you are a busy lady.

planning meals saves time and money too. it's not difficult to cook a whole turkey or a whole chicken or ham. You can package up the leftovers and freeze into small portions. Then just pull out the small portions and you have something to make a meal out of instead of the frozen Bertolli meals.

Some convenience foods are great to keep on hand for when you are busy and don't have time to cook

Keep reading, you will be a pro at this in no time.

I quoted because this is what I was going to say. We cook whole turkeys, chickens etc. for just two of us. We freeze leftovers for soups, casseroles and other things. Buying this way on sale is economical. I would think about a freezer so you could take advantage of loss leaders and other sales.

As for beans, I soak them overnight, then put them in a crock pot for app. seven hours. I don't have to watch them and they really will not overcook.

[Jessesbride]

HAHAHA!!! You sound a lot like me when I first had my ds ~ I didn't really know how to cook much either! Basically I just tried a "new" frugal recipe 1-5x/mo til I kinda had a handle on it. Crockpots are gonna be your best friend!!! Also, check ads ~ plan a menu for 1 - 2 weeks based on what you have on hand + whatever is on sale for the week.

One of the BEST things I ever did, was just think/look thru my cookbooks for foods that I could easily make (& have most if not all of the ingredients on hand) & put them to a list. 1 list was for MAIN course, another for sides, another for poss. desserts, breakfast, lunch/dinner etc.

Find out where it is cheaper/cheapest to shop in your area (here we have Crest, which is USUALLY cheaper than Walmart, & Homeland (Used to be Albertson's) that is waaaay cheap if you only get the loss leaders (that which is on sale).

Also, check out your local library... The ECONOMIDES are AWESOME! I believe the name of their book is "the cheapest family in america" ~ Not just beans is another great cookbook (& some are quite EASY!!!). Go online & search for "frugal/cheap/easy recipes" you will get a quite a bit of help just googling whatever you need! Plus these ladies here at Frugalvillage have SCADS of awesome recipes! pick their brains for something easy! Also, just see what kind of frugal tips you can pick up just by googling "frugal tips, recipes (any other word you can think of other than frugal also works!), etc!

My fave recipe is for roast beef (cooked crockpot style of course!): 1 cup or so of water, onion soup mix (I use one without ANY msg!), roast & a little bit of salt & pepper! You can put potatoes, carrots, corn etc. into it or nothing extra! Put it on low for 8-12 hours & viola! you have dinner (or at least the main course) made!

Also, earlier this week I put in my spaghetti the regular 1 can/jar of spaghetti sauce w/sliced tomatoes in a can ~ I just browned 1 lb of lean hamb. meat, put in sliced tomatoes, crushed them w/a masher & then poured in a jar of spaghetti sauce... it was soooooo good!

The thing is to not be afraid to make a mistake... we've all made our mistakes & just learned from them & went on! I hope this helps! You can do it! Trust me, if I can you can! (& sadly enough, I can easily screw up boiling water ~ distract me, & there goes the pan! lol! My Aunt is the same way!)

Kim

[mamamia]

The 1st thing that popped out at me was the jarred Alfredo sauce. this is so cheap to make home-made, and no preservatives, additives, etc. to go with it.

Take an 8oz. pkge cream cheese. Don't waste your money on generic brands because they just turn your sauce into an oily mess because it separates. Wait for a sale on Philly brand and stock up. The exp. dates are VERY long.

Anyway, the 1st step is to chop up 2-3 cloves garlic and place in about a tbsp. of melted butter. Saute garlic till softened, being careful NOT to brown. Throw in your cut up block of cream cheese, stirring almost constantly. Get that melted and begin thinning with half & half or milk. When it's at your desired consistency, remove from heat, sprinkle in some dried parsley, and mix in about 3/4 to 1 cup (or more) grated parmesan and stir it in. Place a pat of butter on top of sauce. Let melt down. Your fettuccine/pasta should be done by now also. Slowly pour on top of pasta, stirring up from the bottom for good coverage until all coated. You can add more cheese if desired, I do, and I also like fresh ground black pepper on mine too.

The other thing was the bottled water. We bought a Pur faucet filter and fill clear empty bottles. Would that be an alternative for your school's policy?

Bertilli frozen dinners are nothing more than some frozen veggies, pasta, and shrimp or chicken (from what I've seen anyway). You already but those items separately. Why not try to put that together yourself as a simple home-made version which should be a savings of the VERY least, half price, and SOOO much better.

Do you get a chance to pay attention to the sale ads when they come out? Lots of times Walgreen's, CVS, and Target's will run coupon deals on formula.

Also, isn't the box of the individual packets of Easy Mac quite a bit cheaper than the containers? This is another item to look for coupons for.

I'm sure you'll get alot more advice. This is called the Frugal Village for good reason Hope you'll find some solutions that work for your family and schedule.

Oh, one more thing You can learn how to make a big batch of spaghetti sauce and than freeze it in smaller containers. It's always better later on too. I'd post my own old family recipe, but it's so long and lots of time I play it by feel alot anyway. Alot of it has to do with what kinds of meats I'm adding too. But you can find decent recipes at www.cooks.com. It doesn't take much more than garlic, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, different italian seasonings, and some meats. Before you know it, you'll probably have your own recipe too!

Theresa

[mamamia]

The 1st thing that popped out at me was the jarred Alfredo sauce. this is so cheap to make home-made, and no preservatives, additives, etc. to go with it.

Take an 8oz. pkge cream cheese. Don't waste your money on generic brands because they just turn your sauce into an oily mess because it separates. Wait for a sale on Philly brand and stock up. The exp. dates are VERY long.

Anyway, the 1st step is to chop up 2-3 cloves garlic and place in about a tbsp. of melted butter. Saute garlic till softened, being careful NOT to brown. Throw in your cut up block of cream cheese, stirring almost constantly. Get that melted and begin thinning with half & half or milk. When it's at your desired consistency, remove from heat, sprinkle in some dried parsley, and mix in about 3/4 to 1 cup (or more) grated parmesan and stir it in. Place a pat of butter on top of sauce. Let melt down. Your fettuccine/pasta should be done by now also. Slowly pour on top of pasta, stirring up from the bottom for good coverage until all coated. You can add more cheese if desired, I do, and I also like fresh ground black pepper on mine too.

The other thing was the bottled water. We bought a Pur faucet filter and fill clear empty bottles. Would that be an alternative for your school's policy?

Bertilli frozen dinners are nothing more than some frozen veggies, pasta, and shrimp or chicken (from what I've seen anyway). You already but those items separately. Why not try to put that together yourself as a simple home-made version which should be a savings of the VERY least, half price, and SOOO much better.

Do you get a chance to pay attention to the sale ads when they come out? Lots of times Walgreen's, CVS, and Target's will run coupon deals on formula.

Also, isn't the box of the individual packets of Easy Mac quite a bit cheaper than the containers? This is another item to look for coupons for.

I'm sure you'll get alot more advice. This is called the Frugal Village for good reason Hope you'll find some solutions that work for your family and schedule.

Oh, one more thing You can learn how to make a big batch of spaghetti sauce and than freeze it in smaller containers. It's always better later on too. I'd post my own old family recipe, but it's so long and lots of time I play it by feel alot anyway. Alot of it has to do with what kinds of meats I'm adding too. But you can find decent recipes at www.cooks.com. It doesn't take much more than garlic, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, different italian seasonings, and some meats. Before you know it, you'll probably have your own recipe too!

Theresa

OOPS! Forgot to also mention, do your supermarkets have Baby Clubs? If so, join everyome of them for really great coupons. Lots of them are for freebies. Also did you get to join any of the on-line baby product sites? Pampers.com, Huggies.com, Gerber.com. You get the picture I'm sure. Whatever name brand you can think of, visit their site and sign up for lots of coupons.

Theresa

[joyofsix]

Hi
Great advice you've gotten. Some ideas (may be repetitive)

Try store brand/clearance/sales for drinks if it must be sealed.

Crockpot-I worked until #6 was born so I know how hectic it is when you get home. Research online and you'll find millions of recipes. Eating prepared things at home is cheaper than going out so kudos there, but maybe you can reduce those costs further by making your own stuff.

Baby food-He's only 4mo right? He really doesn't need anything but formula/bm until 6mo and then cereal is fine. Honestly, until kids can pick it up to eat it they don't need food. It's more of a learning experience than a nutritional one. When he can pick stuff up crackers, teething biscuits, soft stuff from the table are fine. If you feel he must eat, baby cereal in a box is cheap and healthy.

Easy mac- Regular (or even box) doesn't take very long and is cheaper. I make some and put it in little gladware containers. My 14yo just zaps those for 'easy mac'.

You are a step ahead thinking about these costs. Be proud of yourself.

[ladykemma2]

remember as teachers we work loooooong days. so be reasonable with what you can do. you shopping looks totally reasonable to me. i wouldn't have bought soda, but that's me.

as a teacher who works 12 hour days, start with the FV basics:

use half the amount of laundry detergent or make your own

unplug everything in the house that is not in use (this resulted in an immediate savings of 100 a month). put frequently used items on power strips.

hang clothes to dry, what is reasonable. I don't hang everything. i actually don't hang, i lay in the grass to dry.

buy cloth diapers and use cheap washcloths as wipes

be uber conservative about electricity usage, turn off lights in rooms not in use. use a candle in the evenings (romantic)

buy the best, cheap can be costly.

secondhand furniture

use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.

learn to sew or mend.

make your own coffee or tea. no starbucks. no restaurants unless budgeted for

[Momto2Boyz]

I think for someone who is just learning to cook, your grocery list is actually quite good! The majority of your food is fresh or "whole" and you have very little convenience foods. I wouldn't beat yourself up over the two bertolli dinners, having simple conveneint dinners on hand can save you from going out or grabbing fast food! I almost always have frozen pizza or hamburger helper on hand for those nights when I need something simple. Sure, I could make them myself, but some nights I just don't want to! So grabbing somethin simple is worthwhile!

Did you know you can make regular mac and cheese in the microwave too? For a whole box, you put the mac in a bowl, add enough water to cover, plus enough water to cover about 1/4 inch above the noodles (honestly, you can't add too much, so don't worry about it...if there is too much just drain it off at the end). Put in the microwave for 3 minutes, remove & stir, cook another 3 minutes, cook & stir, and another 3 minutes, stir, add cheese and your done. It still takes 9 minutes, but you don't have to take the time to boil water!

[MoonMommy]

I don't think I can add anything that the other posters haven't added. There are lots of foods out there that are easy to make and are cheaper than boxed/premade foods.

Another easy one for ya....I make my own version of spicy/spanish rice. I boil the rice, then I add some spaghetti sauce (usually I have some left over in the fridge) and some cajun or taco seasonings. Really easy and it gives you a different taste. Goes well with chicken.

Oh...another thought. Do you have a Sam's club or BJs near you? I found, that for me, the BJs membership payed for itself in diapers alone. The BJs brand diapers were great and they often had coupons for their brand that made them even cheaper. I also used to get my formula from them (not their brand) and I would use the coupons I would get from the formula companies. Also, they sell baby food in cases.
I also found that it was cheaper for me to buy convienience foods like Kraft Mac and Cheese there.

Many of the clubs allow you to walk around before buying a membership so you can see how the prices compare. So, it might be worth a small amount of time to check it out and see if you can save some money.
Also, I share my membership with my mom. Two households with one membership fee. Might be something you could do with another family member. I know my mom used to share her Sam's membership with my Brother.

[Sassyclass]

Ok, I have not read all of the other posts so I'm sure someone else has already commented on this, but the 2 things that caught my attention is the Bertolli frozen dinners. You have all the ingredients on your list already with spaghetti sauce, alfredo sauce, chicken, shrimp, and veggies. You can make these easily by just adding some spices, for a lot less money and I'm sure you will get more than one dinner out of what you make.

Cat