Thursday, March 12, 2009

At the grocery store

Since finding Dave Ramsey we have been very strict about eating at home as much as possible. We do have a budget for eating out but with five kids lets just say it's not much of a budget. LOL
Now, we have decided to tighten our belts even more for awhile and not eat out at all. (That's our goal) for awhile. Sorry, my Chik Fil A friends that includes my Tuesday lunches. I thought the best way to do this would be to plan every menu before shopping.
After 4 weeks of this I remembered why I don't do it that way. My grocery budget went up about $100-$150 dollars. Not really working out for me so much..
So I'm going back to the old ways. A stocked pantry, meal planning when I get home from the grocery store, crockpots working over time.... the frugal kitchenista. :)
With the above method I can spend between $175-$250 every two weeks on groceries for a family of 7 with leftovers. LOL


I buy a couple of whole chickens either roast them for a meal one night or boil them for meat.
If I roast them I take all the bones and leftovers and throw them in the crockpot with some water, some vinegar, carrots, onion, maybe some spices. I let sit for a little while so the vinegar can do it's magic then I turn on the crockpot. In a few hours I have chicken broth that I can now can with my new handy dandy canner and store. If I boil the chicken I do the same thing as with the roasted chicken except when it's all done I tear the meat off the bones and freeze it for future use. This works great when chicken is on sale. I hear you can do the same with turkey but the only turkey I ever bought ended up thawing in my garage while we were out of town. Yeah. Yum.
We also buy beans and brown rice like it's going out of style. I always have those two staples in my pantry. Doing this we discovered that our family LOVES lentils. Who'd of thunk it? We have a lentils meal at least once a week now.
I only buy fresh produce if it's a great sale. With the exception being greens and carrots. They are so much better fresh. Frozen fruits and veggies are a better fit for my budget though I know some would disagree. Also I am hoping to get more from my garden this year.
I do splurge and buy cheese every shopping trip. I get the cheapest I can find but it goes a long way in helping to pull a meal together. I also splurge on Organic milk and when I can really find some extra money I buy raw milk.
I buy cans and cans and cans of tomato products. I buy salsa and spices. With a few ordinary ingredients it's easy to throw together a meal for just pennies.
Every three months or so I go to the health food store and buy olive oil, coconut oil. and honey. I also get organic wheat flour and pastry flour for my bread.
We eat oatmeal for breakfast most mornings and lunch is either pb or cheese on tortillas or leftovers.
When I get home I sit down and plan my menu for the week. My crockpots pull duty with chicken broth, beans, or meals. My oven bakes bread for the week. My food processors chops and dices and shreds. The stovetop is used to brown beef and cook rice. I do a lot of my cooking on Monday and it's that much easier throughout the week to have stuff ready when dinner time rolls around.
Next week I will blog about meals I made and prep that went into it. I won't be grocery shopping for about 4 weeks but then I will blog about that adventure. :)
Be Blessed

4 comments:

  1. I don't know how you do it. I use to spend 400 a week (included eating out) for the 5 of us and got it down to 200 (we eat out once a week-cheap) which was tough. I can't imagine cutting it in half again and spending 250 every TWO weeks. I am clapping my hands and standing up in honor of your money saving abilities!!! Maybe you could do a post to show what you have in your pantry and what you cook for 3 meals for a couple of days.

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  2. Dave Ramsey is the best. If you follow him he will set you free from the bondage of debt.

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  3. I know that I'm commenting on a super old post and nobody will see it exept you but I just love reading about grocery store savings. I found your blog today through a friend's side bar and I've enjoyed it so much! You have beautiful children and an even more beautiful attitude about raising them. I'm going back and reading it all when I get a chance!

    Be blessed!

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  4. Yes! A few recipes would be great! It is getting super hard to stick to a budget at the grocery store while trying to eat healthy. I just recently bought a 7qt crock pot, because we grew out of the other one. I have tried coupons, but I get stressed out trying to use them. Any advise?

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