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| Gardening should be #1 thing for everybody to do in 2011! |
One of the things I have been concerned about is that I think food is going up. Every time you go to the store you see the prices rising. Maybe the Social Security Administration doesn't see it, but everything in the store has gone up since 2008. They say it hasn't. Wonder where those people shop? I'd like to go there!
Livestock feed has risen quite a bit and so has the fuel prices including diesel. You know what that means don't you? It means that we will be paying substantially more at the check-out counter. So the time to implement your frugal skills at buying food is right now! Better get a start on it. Here are some ideas I have, of course everyone who reads my blog know that I buy meat in bulk and can it. And that I have a garden and do the same with my harvest. Now is the time to talk about other ways to save.
Everyone keeps telling me about the Angel Food Ministries and I studied it. I looked at the menus and I am sorry but they just don't offer enough food for the price. Most of it is breaded or processed but I see they are offering more of the meat than they used to. My husband is a big eater, not fat mind you, just a big eater and he does a lot of physical work. No way can a one l.5 lb. roast feed us. Maybe in an emergency. But not for a good meal with more than one helping and giving us some leftovers for the next day.
Same with coupons. Coupons usually are not for the foods I use. Most of the stores in my area have signs up saying they will not accept them if they are printed out on your computer. They need to be the ones you cut out of the papers and magazines. I could use some for condiments and pet foods. But I am working on a good grocery budget that does not use them unless I happen upon one that I really use. Some of the stores of the discount grocery stores do not accept coupons. So making your own condiments, bread and dry mixes, such as baking mix, pudding mix and hot cocoa mixes is another big savings at the store. Of course, we don't use any of the high carb foods or anything with sugar, white flour or processed so that is a big saving right there.
If you go to the store and see meat on sale. That is when you buy it. Buy a quantity. Bring it home and freeze it if you must, I can mine. Try to find things on sale as much as possible. Make a network of friends in your area who shop to save money. Maybe you can go into together on larger quantities of foods. Buy from a co-op or local farmers. I shop at my local Mennonite market. Nothing is boxed in fancy boxes. Just plain bags of oatmeal, cream of wheat, brown sugar, etc. You can get a lot of stuff in these stores.
I like to shop at a restaurant supply store near me. They have some of the best deals on all sorts of things. What I usually buy is the meat, produce and some of those large cans of tomato products which I can into pint jars. The brand I purchase is one that has no sugar and nothing but tomatoes. I can't find that everywhere. Since two years in a row my tomato crop was hit with the Late Blight, I have to buy them. But they also have great deals on paper items, such as paper towels that go in rest rooms. I like them for a variety of things. Plastic garbage bags, is another thing I found I could buy a box of them that will last almost forever. Our landfill will only allow clear bags and they are getting harder to find lately. Otherwise I would not be purchasing plastic if I can help it.
Tomorrow I am making a spread sheet and keep track of every penny I spend. I just need a picture of where it is going. Easier to track the groceries this way and to see what we can knock off the list. Anything we can make at home cheaper and better tasting will also be a plus, and a significant savings. What about you? Are you trying to save money on food and household supplies this year? What ideas do you have? Gardening will be the number one way people can cut back but many won't. Even people in the country with huge yards. I see them out there mowing the lawn, but no garden. Wonder why?
Copyright © 2010 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2010 Kathleen G. Lupole
10 comments:
I coupon, we shop at Aldi's as much as we can, buy sale meat only. Our veggies are pretty cheap around here and often what I tell Hubby we want to plant, he says we can get them cheap enough at the store. We both work FT and are limited on the gardening time. So we plant peppers, tomatoes, herbs that we use a lot - like rosemary, oregano, mint, and parsley. We grow squash and beans. I think that is about it. Speaking of couponing - I need to do that tomorrow. I ran out of time to fool with it the last few weeks. Ohhh - we save money by giving each other food for Christmas - lol. We love it!! My daughter got baking supplies and goods (sprinkles, cake mixes, cupcake holders, etc.) George got various rices and sauces. I got all kinds of spaghetti sauces and pasta. And we ALL got coffee! lol I'm so enjoying your blog. Have a great week ahead.
You're so right about the price of groceries and supplies. Unfortunately, it's only bound to increase even more with the gas prices forecast for 2011.
People could even split seed packets so no seeds go to waste. Those tipsy planters are so cool too for herbs and green onions and such AND they don't take up much room.
I go through all the piles of junk mail in our box every week looking for ads/coupons. But like you said, a lot of coupons are for things we don't use/eat/etc. I've been cutting out a lot of junk from our diet and cook typically 5 days a week (with a couple of days with leftovers). By cooking more (even making our bread every week), I've continually saved us money each month. This month, I was 30 dollars under budget. I hope to keep lowering it as this year goes along.
And this will be my first year of attempting my own little garden. I'm even on a list for a community garden plot....
Every year I hope I will get better at gardening. I'm not home much during the week and I feel like I don't weed and water enough. Last year I did at least plant a couple of tomato plants and a green peppper plant and will do that again this year too. Good luck with your spreadsheet! That sounds like a good way to track your spending
Another great post Kat. Do you mind if I link over to this post on my blog?
Annie
Annie, feel free to link to my post. I love it when someone wants to do that. Thank you!
I just stumbled upon your blog and noticed you are in Upstate NY. Me too. Not sure which part but if you are near a Price Chopper or Hannaford, they both accept printed coupons as long as they have a bar code on them. All that I have found thus far do have a bar code. Target and the other big stores take them too. I am super new to couponing but I have found LOTS of coupons for organics out there too. If you like or see a particular brand on sale, go to the products website. That's where I have had a lot of luck finding coupons. For example, my food co-op has a brand of organic greens on sale this week. I went to the company's website and prited off a $1 coupon. So tomorrow I will pick up a pack of mixed organic greens for less than $2- half the price regularly! I think Aldi has good prics but I also think if you use coupons you can find better deals at Pchop and HF.
Great message! I followed Annie's lead to you! I like what was said about sharing seeds so no seed goes to waste; cooking at home for healthier, better tasting food for less. Our evening "fast food" is eggs on toast from the hens on the farm. Thank you for a great blog!
I too skip the center isles at the grocery store and we raise most all our meat. Coupons do me no good because there is nothing to buy that isn't very processed. Where I save most is buying on sale enough of an item to last until the next sale at its lowest price. This goes for olives and things we can't raise. I'm also learning to make much of my dairy products that we consume from our goat's milk like buttermilk and butter. Sometimes in our quest to save money we forget it is more valuable to spend more money to make something or grow it than to buy it because of the lessons learned and enjoyment in the journey of discovery. Am I saving lots of money in comparison to time spent making buttons, probably not, but I'm having a ball creating buttons for my hand knits from scraps from my husbands knife making. I've begun to create buttons from elk horn, Red Deer horn, exotic woods, and scraps of mammoth ivory. Who knows maybe I'll need this skill someday. I enjoyed your comments.
I need to plant as soon as the tropical rains subside. The floods and cyclone Anthony have caused the price of fruit and veg to go right up.
Now with cyclone Yasi the prices will rise even higher.
I'm going to try and get some bricks to build the garden sides from freecycle. We live in a suburban flat with a shared backyard but luckily everyone gets on and no one is precious about only having fancy green lawns.
We already have bits and pieces growing such as bananas, pawpaw and tiny wild passionfruits. I need to add to it ASAP.
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