My latest on being frugal....

**Suzy** · 02-25-2009, 05:22 PM

Well, my snack bag idea is still going strong. That has helped ALOT on buying snacks and hearing "we have nothing to eat". Just a refresher.... I buy snacks (Aldi mostly) but because I have 5 kids someone was always saying that they didn't get any of something. So I have storage bags with their names on them. When I buy groceries (snacks) I separate them when I get home. Everyone gets an even amount. Any leftovers goes to my DH for his snacks and lunch. They know that what ever is in the bag has to last them until my next shopping trip. It has been working great!

Here lately, especially my 4 teenage boys will come home from school and eat atleast 2 sandwiches, grab a can of spaghetti and then hit their snack bag. I put a stop to it. With all 5 being a little picky here and there, I wrote down exactly how each one likes their sandwiches, favorite snacks, favorite drinks etc. When I pick them up from school, I have a cooler with their drinks iced down and sandwiches prepared with a little side snack (goldfish, apple slices w/caramel, DD likes salad)to eat on the way home. I have found that by doing this when we get home (just a 30 minute drive) they don't seem hungry and fore go other snacks. They can actually wait til supper w/o dying of hunger. This has helped some on our grocery bill.

I have gone from a $250.00 /wk grocery bill to $115.00/wk by shopping at Aldi and now to $100.00/wk by taking a few extra minutes and preparing a snack for them.

I have also gone to all white towels and wash clothes (kitchen and bath). I did this slowly over time, hitting sales when I could. I was forever it seems finding towels and washclothes, dish towels, dishclothes with bleach stains on them. By using all white they can all be bleached. Also with head colds going around (flu too) I can bleach bath towels and kill more germs. That has helped some on allergy medicine costs.

Well, that is the latest on me. Ya'll have a wonderful evening.

**staceyy** · 02-25-2009, 05:43 PM

Thank you, very smart tips!

**Debbie-cat** · 02-25-2009, 05:48 PM

Very good ideas!! I know teenage boys can eat you out of house and home! My DH is like a teenager but never gains an ounce! UGH!!! So frustrating when I am trying to lose weight!

**joyofsix** · 02-25-2009, 05:52 PM

Good update!

**NewLeaf** · 02-25-2009, 06:05 PM

I love the snack bag idea. I want to do this for my two sons. What exactly do you put in them? Do you divide snacks into small baggies and put in their bags or do you put a whole bag of chips , pretzels in ea bag????? Payday is coming up and I want to try this.

The sandwiches after school is excellent. I may try that too!!!!

**frugalbabe** · 02-25-2009, 06:23 PM

I read your snack bag idea a few months ago and keep meaning to try it out. I think it would be a great thing to do in my home as well. And I love the idea of teaching the kids some rationing and self-policing skills. Thanks so much for sharing!

**Ceashels** · 02-25-2009, 09:36 PM

Absolutely great tips in your post. Thank you.

**butterflygreen** · 02-25-2009, 09:43 PM

this is a great idea. It would not work at my house.but I could see how it would work if you had older kids and no other health issues.

**Spirit Deer** · 02-25-2009, 09:45 PM

Snack bags sounds like a good idea. Or using Tupperware so it can easily be re-used.

Good idea about feeding them on the way home, too.

**ravenmaniac** · 02-25-2009, 10:00 PM

You have some wonderful ideas. My son pretty much has his 2 friends over our house 24/7, okay that's an exaggeration, but they are here a lot and sleep over 3 - 4 times a week. As a side note both friends do not have very good home lives. They can eat a lot! I have started making them (including my son) help buy sodas. I have always been pretty frugal for main meals, snacks, and drinks. I'm sure I could do better.

When I was young my mother grocery shopped once a week. When our cereal and snacks were eaten that was it. The stock was not replenished until she shopped next week. We also did not have a choice to be picky eaters, the only "picky" we got to be was mustard or mayo on our bologna sandwiches. We ate what ever was put in front of us. My younger brother got to be a picky eater, us girls would look at him like he was crazy.

**MommyBliss** · 02-25-2009, 11:13 PM

Sounds like you have a great recipe for success there!

**Thevail** · 02-26-2009, 04:14 AM

Cleverly done Suzy..

It takes 20 minutes for the stomache to register that it's full..so the 30 minute car ride is perfect!

A teenager can eat two to three times the amount of food they actually need to be full in the time it takes their stomaches to even realize that they ate.

**phoeny_moonstar** · 02-26-2009, 05:45 AM

Great idea! I actually like this idea for myself!! Thanks!!

**ladytoysdream** · 02-26-2009, 08:02 AM

When ours were growing up, I used to do scratch baking almost every day. So when they came home from school, there was something to nibble on. They were allowed peanut butter and homemade jam sandwiches also at that time. We worked for a dairy farmer so we did not eat till like 7 pm. Then we had our regular sit down meal.
If there was any leftovers and I wanted them for another meal, I had to actually label it with a big NO, so they knew it was not for snacking. We have 6 boys and 1 girl between us. Second marriage for both of us and when they all were teenagers .......oh my.......

Another thing we did not do was cater to a picky eater. If one child did not like something the rest of us was eating, it could come down to peanut butter and jelly sandwich for that meal. It all depended on what was in the house. I did a lot of canning and freezing. We had a good size garden. And I used a lot of coupons for cereals. They could have their more pricey ones, but when those were used up, they had to fall back on the bargain ones to get through the week.

**Momto2Boyz** · 02-26-2009, 09:10 AM

That is awesome! You are doing wonderfully on trimming the grocery budget!

I remember when you posted that you were going to try the snack bags, and I'm glad to see you updating that it works! I'm still thinking of trying it with my boys. They go crazy and eat an entire box, if they snack right out of it...so maybe this will have to implimented in our house too!