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seven2hold
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| Posted: Dec 27 2007 at 7:59am | IP Logged
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With the new year coming up I'm sure some of you share my resolution to cut the grocery budget while continuing to provide nutritious meals for a large family.
I'd love to hear how you do it. I'm looking for cheap reicipes, coupon clipping advice, what really is a deal at the super clubs and what to avoid, etc.
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Kathy
Wife to John
Mother to DD(91), DD(93), DD(95), DS(98), DD(00), DS(01), DS(03), DD(05), and DS(07)
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Mary Chris
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I don't have a large family only 3dc but I share this goal with you. I am planning on going back to simple foods and maybe even the weekly menu, I am still mulling this over.
Do you shop at one of the super clubs?
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Blessings, Mary Chris Beardsley
mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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Theresa
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This is one of our resolves as well. We do buy quite a bit of all natural or organic foods as we are following the Feingold program but I know that I can still find ways to save money in this area.
For our family, the biggest saver is having a weekly menu (I have a months worth of dinner meals planned out) and then shopping for two weeks worth of groceries at one time. Sticking to the menu and being well prepared will cut out the quick runs to buy more meat because I forgot (for example) to pull that evenings meat out to thaw.
I am not a coupon user, but I have heard some inspiring stories of others who save quite a bit using them. I would love to learn more about it.
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Theresa
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asplendidtime
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I have worked really hard to find some great ways to really cut our budget... One helpful tip I found was from Crystal Miller's website, where she describes buying several chickens then cooking them at once and de-boning and using up the chicken in meals you've planned. This is terribly inexpensive, and has saved me a lot of time in the kitchen. 4 Meals from 2 Chickens!
I also make large quantities of dried beans, (they are cheap) and I soak and cook them, then freeze in meal sized increments. I freeze them flat in a cheap freezer bag, so I just have to thaw, heat and serve over rice, or a tortilla with veggies! Grocery Budget Helps:What to Do With 25 Pounds of Beans?
I made myself a menu plan, I have three months of menus which I rotate and I planned just how I will use my 4 lbs of pinto beans or the 4 chickens...  I stick to my plan and hardly have any wasted food going bad in my fridge.
I started baking my own bread, I keep some store bought in the freezer though. It is cheaper and hardier, I pour the ingredients into my 3lb-bread maker and run it on the dough mode, it will whip up my dough and I form it into loaves and bake in the oven. We bake our own cookies, eat raw fruits and veggies whenever we can, popcorn for snacks, and tea. We drink a lot of water and powdered milk, but our little toddler doesn't. 
The Family Homestead
We almost exclusively shop at "The Real Canadian Superstore" or "The Real Canadian Wholesale", where we can buy large quantities of no-name foods at very inexpensive prices.
And two book really helped me with learning budgeting, one is Miserly Moms-Living on One Income in a Two Income Economy by Jonni McCoy Miserly Moms and More With Less
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Rebecca~Mama to
Noah 17,
Katie 16,
Mary 14,
Tim 13,
Jonah 12,
Josh 10,
Zoe 9,
Will 7,
Peter 6,
Laura-Mae 4,
Emily-Joy 2,
Genevieve & Gabriella 1
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seven2hold
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| Posted: Dec 27 2007 at 1:05pm | IP Logged
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We do have a membership at BJ's. I never go. It is over an hour away. My husband usually does this shopping on his way home from work. He usually calls me when he wakes up (he's a fireman) and asks me what I want. I usually have no list in mind and tell him TP, paper towels (which I think we need to give up with this budget), diapers, wipes, frozen veggies, frozen chicken breasts and ground beef.
For years I've tried to create menus and stck to them, I start off okay, but before long I find myself staring in the cupboards at 4 PM wondering what to put in front of my large hungry family. I will put together menus again this time I think I'll include some throw together meals using what I have on hand for those days when I'm off track.
I rarely buy a whole chicken unless I'm roasting it for dinner. Is it really more economical? I have one nursing, seven others (two of these are VERY picky) and my husband and myself. I usually can make a casserole for all of us using only two cooked chicken breasts. I think this is pretty economical.
Rebecce, thanks for the link to the beans site. Not including chili and refried beans, I think we had one bean meal this year. I think this will have to change with our new budget. I didn't know you could "make" refried beans. My family does love these. I know we will use this recipe.
As for bread we usually buy loaves at Safeway for 99 cents. Sometimes they are on sale for 88 cents. We usually buy eight loaves at a time and freeze them. We go through about 2-4 loaves per week. I'm not sure I could make bread cheaper - although it would probably be more nutritious (and no one would eat it).
Do you serve sandwiches for lunch or a casserole? Which is cheaper? I think the Duggars make luch similar to dinner.
Another thought, with eight children I'm still alone in the kitchen preparing dinner. The big kids will help pour cereal or put together a PB&J for a younger sibling if I ask. I never cooked with my mother and I don't like to cook (baking I enjoy). Do any of you have the kids help with meal prep or planning? How do you do this? What age do you begin? I often have three small ones sitting on the counter watching me bake. Sometimes they pour in an ingredient or two or get to roll dough. Maybe I should "train" them individually. My 9 yr old could be in charge of heating a veggie every night, my 12 & 14 yr olds could prepare dinner with me, practicing until they could make the meal on their own? Any ideas?
Thanks for all the input so far. I look forward to learning more from all of you.
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Kathy
Wife to John
Mother to DD(91), DD(93), DD(95), DS(98), DD(00), DS(01), DS(03), DD(05), and DS(07)
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Macmom
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I haven't found coupon clipping to be very effective. Coupons are for the NATIONAL brands (which cost more, anyway!) and you wind up spending more $$$ on the "name" brands instead of just buying the generic brand. (Generic, 95% of the time, is indistinguishable from the "big name" brands.)
Also, my kids help cook. My 11 year old is particularly good at cornbread and buttermilk biscuits- always a staple at dinner, to help "fill up the hungry tummies!" (Also, very good with honey or maple syrup, to assuage a sweet tooth!) My 13 year old can chop veggies and make a salad. He and oldest dd (15) can chop meat and brown it, and can EASILY follow the recipe. I keep all of our favorite recipes in a binder, for easy reference. The 8 year old can pour drinks- including mixing up the lemonade powder into the water, or Ovaltine into the milk.
Drink making around the age of 7 or 8 is when they start to "help" and then progress up the ladder of dinner preparation as they gain more confidence and become more reliable. By the time they are 13 or so, they can cook dinner, if I give them the recipe. The 15 year old has been known to plan dinner, and find her own recipes.
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Catholic family life works on the same principle as a washing machine- clothes get clean by agitation.
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Leocea
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My 14-year-old can make great fajitas, start to finish! He can also make other meals, although lately he doesn't want to as much. He is getting a 1/2 credit of cooking, for helping me for 2 1/2 hours per week. :-)
My 9-year-old can make deviled eggs, soup, scrambled eggs, and any kind of sandwich. She likes to help. My 5-year-old is learning. :-)
I firmly believe that everyone should help if they are able. It takes longer sometimes, and is frustrating when they resist, of course. In the long run, his future wife will thank me for teaching him to cook, and take care of her after childbirth/during illness, etc.
My daughters will be able to cook, even if they don't like to/don't have to.
I never knew how to make anything but frozen potpies and patties/fries when we married. I watched my mother-in-law cook homemade soups, etc. and now can make soup without any directions. I eventually learned to make a lot of foods that feed a crowd, lol. My mother hated to cook, and it rubbed off on me for a long time. My grandmothers, on the other hand, loved to cook. Maybe it skipped a generation.
As far as a budget, I try to make the meat stretch if I can. We used half of a bag of frozen naked chicken tenders to make fajitas tonight, for six. One is a toddler, and one a picky 5-year-old. I had frozen peppers in the freezer from the summer, and I cut up one onion. I used a fajita kit, but don't always. It just has salsa and tortillas and spice mix for the meat. I guess the chicken was the most expensive part. I buy two 3 lb. bags for $12 at Food Lion when it is on sale. So, about $5-$6 for dinner, I guess.
I can make it much cheaper, with $1 whole wheat pasta, $.88 can of sauce and some meatballs from my huge bag from BJ's. $9.99 for an enormous amount of meatballs, at least four meals or more.No meat would be even cheaper, but it is hard to get my dh to like meatless meals. Grilled cheese and tomato soup is meatless. Cream of broccoli or potato soup would be cheaper, and everyone but my 5-year-old will eat it.
I have been following some advice I found here and making a pot or two of hot tea during the day. This and bread and butter makes a snack/light meal. We have a pot of Raspberry Zinger going right now. :-)
Instead of trying to change everything at once, try one thing at a time. Maybe one older child at a time could help in the kitchen. Have them : wash/cut the veggies. Get the things out of the cupboards and line them up, and have the pans ready. Run a sink of soapy water for you. They can read the recipe to you and give you ideas for variations.We put on music and try to make it a fun time. Maybe let them listen to *their* music if they have different tastes. Older children could meal plan, too.
I hope this helps!
In Christ,
Leocea
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Barbara C.
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You can check out some recent threads I've started in Our Lady's Loom and Home Arts as I've also been in the process of trying to cut our food budget. I scoured as many Tightwad Gazettes as I could get my hands on.
Here is what I have done so far:
1. Put together a price-list encompassing almost everything we buy. (It was very eye-opening and has made me a more economical shopper.)
2. Found as many recipes I could that used simple staple ingredients that I thought my kids and I might actually eat. I especially tried to replace items that I usually bought in a pre-packaged form.
3. Combined all of my possible regular recipes in one binder with a list of all possible dinners to help me plan out weekly meals. (We only eat dinner together. Lunches tend to be simple short-order items.)
4. Stopped buying sodas and junk foods (after a long talk with older daughter about spending our money more wisely on things that are healthier for us).
5. Started trying to bake muffins or other snack to replace prepackaged junk foods.
There's a lot of good information on economical meals at this website: http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/
I still have a lot of work to do. Of course, starting January 1 we'll be cutting out 99% of drive-thru, delivery, and eat-in restaurant foods. I still want to experiment with making yogurt fruit smoothies to avoid buying those little drinkable yogurt cups. And I'm continually on the look out to stretch things further.
I'm very lucky that we don't have any food allergies to contend with, and I've resigned to myself that we just can not afford to go organic. The biggest thing hindering me is my complete and utter disgust of beans (other than green beans) which are a major staple of frugal and healthy cooking. But you can't win 'em all.
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Barbara
Mom to "spirited" dd(9), "spunky" dd (6), "sincere" dd (3), "sweet" dd (2), and baby girl #5 born 8/1/12!!
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asplendidtime
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About having the dc help, all of my dc are under 10, I try to have one of them help me every time I am in the kitchen, so I have one kitchen helper and maybe one more helping with dishes, that way I don't get too overwhelmed with managing what is happening.
One tip I have is that I made two nights into Soup Night, make one day and leftovers the second (sometimes I will change it somewhat by adding something to it), soups are very inexpensive. We have one night that is homemade pizza night, and this also can be very inexpensive, I got some neat ideas from some other moms on how to do this. Then I have two nights which will be bean meals. That leaves one night for pasta, and another is meat and potatoes. I serve lots of veggies, and we go through a lot of homemade whole wheat bread.
I will also make soup (different than a supper soup) once per week for lunch, we will have this 2 or 3 times till it's done. Some days we eat PB&J sandwiches, sometimes noodles, veggies and sauce.
Breakfast is normally Oatmeal or Granola, once per week we eat Pancakes and if dh wants we'll have eggs and fried potatoes on Saturdays.
If your dh isn't crazy for beans you could maybe have a breakfast night, where you make pancakes and an egg recipe? My dh is fond of that. You can hide beans in lots of places they lend protein in soups, casseroles, etc...
Leocea, has some good advice though, changing everything overnight is painful! I have slowly been changing the way I shop and cook for a good while now, at first I thought "make-your-own" was an incredible waste of my time. But frankly having a smaller debt load, and some savings is a lot nicer than pre-packaged food.
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Rebecca~Mama to
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Mary 14,
Tim 13,
Jonah 12,
Josh 10,
Zoe 9,
Will 7,
Peter 6,
Laura-Mae 4,
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Ruth
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Hi Kathy. My 3 oldest girls take tunes cooking every night. We double the recipe, most of the time, and we always have leftovers for lunch. I rarely buy bread, or lunch meats. I have a 4 week menu plan, which I'm revising. I think I'm going to plan 3 months worth of meals, like Rebecca. The way we have it set up is like this:
Modays- soups
Tuesdays- crockpot. (We usually got to the nursing home for Legion of Mary)
Wednesday- international
Thursday- pasta
Friday- meatless
Saturday- whatever Bernie cooks
Sunday- casseroles
I hope this helps.
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Ruth
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Meal budgets
