Ways to get even with the grocery budget!

**canadian gardener** · 01-15-2004, 03:23 PM

Useful links I have in my frugal grocery bookmarks

30 ways to Stretch Your Food Dollar
http://www2.latech.edu/~sld/slashfooddollar.html

Better Times Cookbook and Almanac of Useful Information for Poor People is at
http://www.justpeace.org/better.htm

And 5 weeks worth of very frugal grocery lists and the menus and recipes to go with. Tips on shopping. Quite an education in there and most useful
http://ndsuext.nodak.edu/extpubs/yf/foods/fn529w.htm
http://ndsuext.nodak.edu/extpubs/yf/foods/fn530w.htm
http://ndsuext.nodak.edu/extpubs/yf/foods/fn531w.htm
http://ndsuext.nodak.edu/extpubs/yf/foods/fn532w.htm
http://ndsuext.nodak.edu/extpubs/yf/foods/fn533w.htm

**canadian gardener** · 01-15-2004, 03:35 PM

Have I done this? Yes, its' my back to the wall plan. I no longer am able to consume any legumes due to food allergy but if I was helping someone put together a bare bones back to the wall grocery budget and menu plan this is what it would look like.

Find the cheapest price overall store and shop there.

I'll stroll thru the virtual supermarket here, picking the best bargains possible in each department, for my bottom line frugal foods.

I'd go to the bulk bins or No name big packages for:

Oatmeal
Popcorn
Rice
Lentils
Beans
Pasta
peanut butter (or in no name jars)
yeast (to start a sourdough starter)
salt
baking soda
baking powder
Sugar
spices (they are cheap in bulk, less than 25 cents each for a lot)

In the center aisles I'd get:
sacks of flour for bread, pancakes, biscuits and more
no name crackers
veg oil
lard for biscuits
vinegar (so I can make salad dressing, even mayonnaise)
mayonnaise if not homemade, no name
canned tomatoes and tomatoe paste
canned tuna

Cocoa powder
Tea bags
Instant coffee (much cheaper than ground esp with a coupon)
no name fake vanilla (I use it all the time)

In the dairy dept I'd get:
milk (but not if skim milk powder is cheaper-- here its' about the same cost as fresh)-- I'd freeze it if I found a good buy.
eggs
cheese
margerine or butter (I prefer butter but for a month or two with my back to the wall, I'd do margerine but I avoid it due to the trans fat problem normally)

and over in the meat dept I'd get
frozen chicken quarters
day old regular ground beef for the 2$ off coupon
frozen no name pollock fillets

Over in the fruits and veggies I'd get:
cabbage
carrots
celery
onions
potatoes

and broccoli if on sale

bagged oranges
bagged apples
bananas (when they get older, buy lots and freeze for baking)

In the frozen foods I'd buy:
frozen orange juice
frozen spinach
frozen peas, beans, mixed veggies

and my menus would include:
oatmeal and a boiled egg or
homemade toast and margerine or peanut butter
or homemade pancakes/waffles/biscuits
with orange juice for vit C and folic acid.

Lunch would be a homemade bread sandwich with peanut butter
or leftovers.

Supper would be soup made with the veggies and canned tomatoes and lentils
or
beans/lentils and rice/pasta
some of the meats, made up in casseroles, stretched with homemade cream sauces/gravies and the cheap veggies.

I'd be making chili and spaghetti with the ground beef and cooked beans to stretch it and serve with plenty of pasta, chicken pot pie, chicken soup and chicken and rice casseroles to stretch the chicken, chowder and rice and fish with stir fried cabbage, carrots and spinach to stretch that.

Id be eating lentil and rice casserole, lentil and potatoe salad, refried beans, beans and rice a lot.

I would be making soups and salads out of the cabbage celery, carrots, potatoes, onions, and tomatoe paste and canned tomatoes for fibre, vitamins, and good health.

I would be making desserts from the milk, made into puddings (thicken with flour, flavour with cocoa powder and sugar) or cooked with the rice and some sugar for rice puddings. A small bottle of no name fake vanilla would help a lot and I use that here at home now anyways.

And finally a bit of hot air popcorn, with some margerine and a bit of salt would be a nice snack that doesn't cost much and will keep me from feeling really deprived.

good rich brownies are made from simple ingredients such as cocoa pwdr, sugar, flour, margerine or butter and eggs and baking powder essentially.

**canadian gardener** · 01-15-2004, 03:42 PM

Personal care alternatives that I have done.

I would also be using bar soap again to wash my hair, with a vinegar and water rinse.

I'd be using soda or bar soap again to brush my teeth

I'd be using no name deoderant/antiperspirant (never found that vinegar or rubbing alcohol, baking soda or that stone thing worked for me)

I'd use cloth sanitary pads again (well not now after my hysterectomy, but if I was helping a friend with a back to the wall plan I'd show her how to do that) I always found the cloth to be nicer than disposables.

I use no name hand lotion on hand for my face and hands, but if not, I"ve used veg oil on wet skin to make it slide further and lessen that greasy feel --after a bath is ideal for that.

Vaseline for lip balm

and some tea tree oil for infections would be nice.

I learnt to cut my own hair years ago, and if I were faced with this situation, I'd learn that skill. I've cut mine for years, only had 2 pro hair cuts in 10 year or so, both because of my surgery this summer.

CLEANING:

I would use homemade spray cleaners made with a drop or two of NON SUDSING Ammonia--no name of course, in a spray bottle, filled with water. If I could find the red juice concentrate, I'd use that. Less stinky than ammonia and milder to use.

Same diluted ammonia for floors or walls as necessary. Carpet steaming solution, 2 to 4 TBSP of ammonia to a tank of hot water.

I'd use no name detergent (which I do already) for clothes washing, no name bleach for disinfecting. I don't like the homemade laundry soap, done it, don't like how it washes. Bleach and detergent in as small a quantity as possible.

I'd use a good brand of dish liquid that cuts grease and use as little as possible for dishwashing. IF i had a dishwasher, I'd use no name d/w detergent in the smallest quantities possible. which I do.

I'd use cleaning cloths made from old dish cloths, facecloths or diapers instead of paper towels. do that for the most part now anyway

Oh and cloth napkins at the table instead of paper which I also do.

I'd skip floor and furniture polish for the time being till I was back on my feet financially but I'd still keep them clean with a damp cloth.

Sinks/toilets I'd scrub with a bit of salt or soda and a damp cloth, follow with bleach everyonce in a while.

grocery bags lined with newspaper or junk mail make good kitchen garbage bags and food can be put into recycled plastic bags that had bread or bulk bin stuff in them in a pinch.

This isn't the kind of thing you should be doing permanently, but its little back to the wall tricks I've done to substitute for stuff when I"ve run out or when we are super tight.

**canadian gardener** · 01-15-2004, 03:44 PM

Stretching the produce dollar, and increasing the variety on the "backs to the wall plan"

check out the scratch and dent produce section.

Don't buy if it's rotten, soft spots or moldy. I don't care if you can cut the mold out, the tendrils reach all the way thru the food and some molds will cause cancer. Don't risk it

BUT

lots of fruit for example can have a bruise cut off, and cooked up in a crumble or pudding

and veggies can be quickly cooked that night, eat your fill, freeze the leftovers to enrich soups etc.

Don't buy if it's not that much cheaper than stuff that can last weeks longer and have more vitamins cause it's fresher but you can pick up some awfully fine deals on fruits and veggies this way.

**canadian gardener** · 01-15-2004, 04:07 PM

I used these for years up till this summers hysterectomy. They are more comfy than disposable and didn't give me a rash.

Here is how to make them if you care to enjoy this kind of savings.

They come in a 2 part version:

for the main pad stitch or serge together 2 layers of flannelette, with a layer of nylon jacket material (buy at the Sally Ann, or other secondhand store-- get a windbreaker) in the middle for leak protection.

Make them in a long oval with "wings" that will wrap round the crotch of the panties, and snap together with stitched on dots of velcro.

Use those as is for light days

and for heavier days

Fold up a large "hankie" of flannelette into 3 or so layers, and use that, changing as needed.

that way when you go to wash them, all the layers are being exposed to the scrubbing action in the washing machine.

I originally made mine out of 100% cotton sweatshirt fleece, serged together, but I prefer this other style for washability.

My sister however uses old black cotton sport socks, and she takes the ribbed ankles and folds down over the foot portion and uses those for liners.

the no sew version.

They go thru her dark wash, no rinsing, and no big stains on the clothesline for the kids to ask about.

AND as for care and maintenance.

If you are fussy, soak them in a bucket, change water daily, wash with your next big laundry --but I wouldn't.

all I ever did

was wash them in a dark load of laundry.

If they were heavily stained, I'd fold them so they didn't stain anything else in the laundry hamper that they touched and I'd sometimes run a presoak cycle on the washer with them only in it before doing them in a normal cycle.

Do they smell? no, not if you change regularly, just like you would with disposables.

How sanitary are they? Well I wash them in hot, rinse in cold (don't care about stains, that is their purpose in life) with the occaisional prewash cycle in cold water if heavy staining. That takes out most germs.

How icky is that? Well no worse than changing your child.

DO you save a lot? YUP BIG BIG BIG dollars!!!!!!!!!!!! Well worth the ick factor to learn.

How about the environment? Can't think of a better way, to help reduce garbage especially of that product.

I also used a Keeper which is a tampon alternative but was unable to use it a lot due to latex allergy which sort of rumbled up and down.

**pip** · 01-15-2004, 04:17 PM

Great ideas!

**canadian gardener** · 01-15-2004, 04:43 PM

How I cut my hair using my sewing shears and a vacuum cleaner.

Bend over and brush hair to top of head.

Pull up in a ponytail sort of on top. Hack off end of "ponytail", so the hair sort of layers it'self naturally when I stand up.

Stand up, dampen hair and comb to front of face.

Cut the edges of hair around face, remembering that as it dries it shrinks, the curlier it is, the more it shrinks up.

I then part it in the middle from my forehead to the nape of my neck and swing both "wings' of hair forward and cut them off in front of my shoulders.

That makes the hair taper towards the back and evens out the back.

Then I go over my head and even the cut up using comb and scissors.

Finally I take the vacuum out and suck my hair out sideways and on top looking for straggley hairs or uneven patches and trim them.

Clean up with vacuum and you are done.

Takes less time than making an appt, and driving to the hairdresser.

I got better with practice and

I SAVED A TON OF MONEY!

(this is not for the nervous and faint of heart) I once lost my nerve in the middle of a cut, and had to get a hairdresser to fix it, but I persisted and it paid off.

**aylasmommy** · 01-15-2004, 05:41 PM

Sadly the way our grocery stores are, there is no such thing as a cheaper all over store

Cherry picking is pretty much the only way to go for us, but at least the stores are all fairly close to each other.

**Heather** · 01-15-2004, 06:16 PM

Thanks so much for the awesome ideas!!! The sites are great and I'm going to look through them more tonight.

**mom2matty** · 01-15-2004, 09:52 PM

Thank you so much for sharing this awesome info with us!!!!

**guest2** · 01-15-2004, 10:18 PM

Thank you for sharing all those great ideas!!! Hubby and I take the tag team approach to cutting my hair, he does the back and I do the front. I also cut his hair and we trade off cutting the twin's hair. Jaysn, our oldest son, has hair that is very hard to get good looking with a home cut, so we pay for his haircuts from a friend of ours. It's only $10 every other month if I do a trim in between on him.

**Mom23boys** · 01-16-2004, 09:02 AM

Thanks for these wonderful money saving tips!

I have started cutting my own hair too. I cut the front, sides and I have my DS#1 cut the back. He was nervous the first time, but did great. You couldn't even tell that a teenager cut it.

**homesteadmamma** · 01-16-2004, 09:33 AM

Thanks for the tips Margery. I've cut my own hair, along with the whole family for years and years. I wish I had marked down how much I've saved over all those years. You get better each time you do it.

**canadian gardener** · 01-16-2004, 10:05 AM

It's kind of fun and empowering to look at it, and realize, hey that isn't half bad, I did it, and I saved x bucks.

Dd trims her bangs and ends in between haircuts to help make them last longer between professional cuts. For a time she was doing her own cuts, and she still can if she needs to. Life skills. Independance.

BTW that is a great suggestion from hmsclmom where you do the trims or cuts in between pro jobs that keep you on track so to speak.