Welcome to the 6th session of All Things Financial. What we’re going to cover tonight is a fun topic (or at least I think it is) and it’s one that we all need help with. I even learned some new stuff as I was preparing this class, so this is some really cool stuff. It’s great because this is the one thing that YOU and only YOU can actually control in your budget. We’re going to be talking about...
Taming Our Grocery Budget
*and for those in the class, I had a cool little picture with sound effect of a whip cracking. :o)*
Your grocery budget is the monthly expense that YOU can control. Sadly, most people do not control it. The average family of 4 in America spends $600 a month on groceries. Apparently food is the one thing we have a hard time lowering the budget on. If you see food as a necessary expense that you're just not willing to compromise on, then this is certainly a leson for you.
I am hoping to show you some ways to still eat well, without shelling out more money than you have to in order to do it. The first trick in taming our grocery budget is to create a menu or meal plan.
Menu and Meal Planning
For some reason when I say “meal planning or menu” people roll their eyes at me. My mom was telling me the other day that my dad wants them to do a menu and she was saying how much she hated that. Why? Because, just like a budget, people see a menu as a straight jacket – something to keep them from doing what they want to do. This is just not the case – or at least it doesn’t have to be. Menu might be a 4 letter word, but it’s not a bad one.
So, let’s look at Why we plan meals. We plan meals to save time and money at the grocery store AND at home. When you plan your meals ahead of time, you cut out a lot of time wandering around the grocery store going, “this looks good” and “this looks like something we’d eat” only to come home and realize that you don’t have anything to make breakfast with, or that you only have parts of meals. You also save a lot of money because those impulse buys just don’t fit into your plan.
There are 2 different ways you can prepare a menu.
1. Set a meal plan that is set in stone. This is what we do. It works best for us because we like things very cut and dry. I like to know exactly what is going on and when.
2. Create a list of options and choose from it. This is right up the free spirit’s alley. Yeah, there’s a choice and some “freedom”. If you have always viewed doing a meal plan or menu as a straight jacket, then this is probably the best option for you.
So, let’s look at the difference between the two different styles.
A Set Meal Plan
Pros:
1. You do not have to go through the "what do you want for dinner" routine. My hubby and I are BAD about this. We will sit there and spend 30 minutes trying to figure out what we want to eat, when it would have taken me less than that to just fix something for us to eat. It’s just so silly how much time is wasted trying to figure out what to have for dinner, or breakfast or lunch.
2. You know what you're having for dinner ahead of time, so that you can prepare. If you have a plan, you can pull something out to thaw that morning or the night before. You can start the crock pot, you can get things going when you have the time to get it started. It also gives you time to get excited about the meal. Sure, it’s spaghetti – AGAIN – but maybe you can think about what spices you can add to pep it up a bit.
3. Gives you a plan to utilize all the leftovers in upcoming meals. We are big on this. As a recovering vegetarian, I am not a big fan of cooking meat. I just hate to do it, so the fewer times I have to handle something raw and dead, the better. So, I cook meat maybe a couple nights a week – just a big bunch of it. Since I’m cooking it anyway, then I might as well do it big and use the rest in upcoming meals.
4. You can base your entire menu around sales. This is a great thing because you are controlling your grocery budget and getting the best deals possible. You aren’t paying full price for something you can get for less….and that’s always a good thing.
Cons:
Well, there are a few down-sides, depending on how you see things. I don’t mind them much, but some people might.
1. It doesn't allow for much variation or change in the meal plan since the meals build off of eachother. Some people like to have that surprise factor to dinner, and that’s okay. Some people don’t like to sit and think about a particular food all day because then they don’t want to eat it when the time comes. So, if you find yourself in that category, then this might not be the system for you.
2. It requires creative use of leftovers. Yes, leftovers – another bad word. I used to be one of those people who would not use leftovers because it was “gross” or I just didn’t want to eat the same thing again. So, when you use a set meal plan, you have to be more creative when it comes to using what you have.
3. You might hear grumblings from family members that they want something else for dinner. Again, everyone is different. My hubby will eat anything thrown in front of him, so that’s good. However, you may have a family that would grumble about this whole set meal plan thing.
A List of Meal Options
Now, if you choose to go the other route – more of a menu or list of meal options, then you can certainly do that. There are some good qualities of doing it this way.
Pros:
1. You can pick and choose what you want to eat. It let’s you feel more free to make your choices as to what you want that night. It lets you have the ability to change things up based on your mood.
2. You can base your menu around the sales. Like the other option, you can get some amazing deals by planning your list of options around things that are on sale.
3. You are still able to plan your meals without feeling restricted. I think the main reason this is appealing to some people is that they still have freedom. Even though they are the ones planning the meal plan to begin with, they still like being able to pick and choose – as they would at a restaurant (although everyone has to eat the same thing). This is especially good if you have a finicky spouse or kids who like to change things up a bit.
There are some down-sides to this type of plan too…
Cons:
1. It's more difficult to utilize leftovers. When you are flying by the seat of your pants, if you will, it’s less likely that you will use leftovers. Now if you hate them and won’t use them anyway, then that’s just fine by you. However, you can expect to pay more to feed your family than someone who uses leftovers. So, this can affect the bottom line in the grocery budget.
2. It leaves room for indecisiveness over dinner. This does not remove the 30 minute conversation about what to have for dinner. You still have the potential to waste time talking about what you should have, what everyone wants, and coming up with a compromise.
The most important thing to remember is that there is no right or wrong way to plan your meals! There are no cookie cutter families, and what works for one, might not work for another. You may have other ideas about how to make a menu or meal plan work for your family. You might have to tweak this a bit to get it right. The important thing is that you do it, and by doing it, you will save money on groceries.
The Dos and Don'ts of Making Menus
Do: Pick meals that your family will enjoy eating.
Don't: Pick meals that are cheap but you'll have to fight your family to eat.
Seriously, don’t think that your family will be okay with eating Ramen 2 nights a week, beans and rice 3 nights a week, and spaghetti as a special treat 2 nights a week. It’s not going to fly and you’ll have an uprising to deal with. Your family will rebel and will go on strike. So, make sure to plan meals that you all enjoy. Feel free to branch out and try new things – there’s no harm in it, just make sure that you plan to have a couple PB&J back-up sandwiches if the experiment goes very wrong.
Do: Be very specific and list ingredients needed and the amounts needed.
Don't: Just try to wing it and guess how much stuff you will need.
It becomes a science, and then it becomes a very easy task. By knowing that you get 4 salads out of a head of lettuce and you need 12 salads over the next 2 weeks, then you know you need to buy 3 heads of lettuce. It makes it simple when you are at the store, so be specific as to what you need and how much.
Do: Look at the sales ads and base your menu around things you can buy on sale or with coupons.
Don't: Let your menu dictate how much you will spend. You can't have caviar taste on a beans and rice budget without getting good deals.
I know I keep saying this, but it is really important. You can cut your grocery budget by just shopping with coupons and sales ads. You really can! It does take time and some effort, but the savings will be worth it. By doing this, you take the power back. The grocery store no longer has the power, YOU have the power because you are saying what you are willing to pay for _____ item for your menu. If it’s more expensive than you like, then you can change your menu to something else until it’s on sale.
Do: Use your leftovers.
Don't: Get caught in the trap of saying you don't like them or planning on using them but never actually doing it.
How many times have you put leftovers in the fridge with every intent to use them, but then you realize that it’s been there for 3 weeks and is looking like a science experiment gone wrong? I have been guilty of that. When you have a meal plan, you PLAN for leftovers so there are no more mystery containers sitting in the back of your fridge.
Do: Look in your pantry, cabinets, and freezer and incorporate what you have into your meal plan.
Don't: Keep buying new food without using what you have.
If you have 10 lbs of frozen ground beef, then there is really no reason to go buy some more because you just didn’t bother to go spelunking in your freezer. If you have some old cans of cheese soup from who knows when or why, and they’re still good…then come up with a meal that uses them (cheesy potato soup is a good idea) and then base your meals around that. This is also a great idea if you’re having a slim month and just don’t have a lot of money to go around. It’s amazing what kind of creative meals you can come up with once you center things around what you already have.
Do: Make a shopping list of the items you need to fulfill the menu.
Don't: Expect yourself to remember what you have to buy for each meal.
Seriously, you will NEVER remember everything that you need to buy if you don’t make a list. I like lists a lot. Why? Because it keeps me out of the aisles I don’t need to go down, keeps me from buying things I don’t need to buy, and helps me remember to buy the things I DO need to buy. Lists are wonderful things.
Do: Make sure to use everything that you buy.
Don't: Under plan how much you need.
Again, do the math and get this down to a science. The objective is to not waste any food (unless it’s a new recipe that just tastes like sweaty socks), thus saving you money…..money that can go towards other things (like paying off debt, building that savings account, retirement or college funding, or heck….even a new pair of shoes!)
Always be realistic. If you have a family of 4, you are not going to get by on 3 chicken breasts for 2 weeks when you plan 4 meals a week with chicken. You might be good, but you aren’t that good. :o)
Shopping Based on a Menu
So, let’s talk about the actual process of shopping based on a menu.
Make a list of the items you need to complete the menu. If it's not on the list, don't buy it. Man, that will save you a bunch of money right there. Because about 20% of our grocery spending consists of things we do not need but buy because it looks good or we think we could use it. How many times have you walked through the aisles (without a plan and shopping list) and picked up things that you didn’t need, that you didn’t even know existed before you walked by it, but all of a sudden, you had to have it. When you stick to your list, you don’t even pay much attention to that stuff anymore.
Buying only what we need cuts down on waste. You will be amazed at how much less trash you have when you are going through this process. We used to fill our trash can to the brim every single month (with the occasional bag or two on the side) and that was with 1 in diapers. Now we have 2 in diapers and we don’t even touch the top of the can anymore. We have cut out so much food waste. We aren’t throwing out entire containers of yogurt because we didn’t eat it before it expired. We aren’t tossing out rotten heads of lettuce, moldy ricotta cheese, black bananas. We are eating the stuff while it’s still good and fresh, and we’re not throwing our money away. Just think about some of the stuff you’ve had to toss because it spoiled before you could come up with a plan for it.
Another great benefit of menu based shopping is that you are able to cut out a large portion of the unhealthy foods. We still buy the occasional snack food or popcorn, but when we know that we’re going to have pretzels and peanut butter for a snack one day, and carrot sticks and ranch dressing as a snack the next day, the need for fruit snacks, chips, cookies, and other things like that goes away. We are able to plan our snacks in our menus, and we don’t have to rely on the less healthy choices.
Using a shopping list based on a menu will save you a lot of money each visit, especially if you use coupons and sales ads to your advantage. You will be amazed at how much money you save. It will make you think about your purchases more, you will be more focused, and you will be able to get more for less.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Dining On a Dime - Part 2
More Ways To Tame Your Grocery Budget
1. Buy in bulk, but ONLY if you actually NEED it and it's a good deal. Factor in membership costs. I was guilty of that several years ago. I had a Sams club membership and bought more stuff than I knew what to do with. Yes, 1000 fruit snacks for $5.00 is a great deal, but really…one person can only eat so many fruit snacks. Be realistic about what you’re buying in bulk, and make sure you’re getting it at a good price. You also need to factor in the membership costs. If you shop there once a month and the membership cost is $40, then you need to add $3.33 to your total each trip. So, if you only go to buy toilet paper, then add the $3.33 and see if you’re still getting a good deal. Watch the prices. I have found on a couple occasions that buying the bulk package was actually more expensive than buying the smaller sizes. So you have to pay attention!
Jessica (one of the gals attending the group meeting) mentioned GFS Marketplace in Rivergate. She explained that you can buy things in bulk (especially good for entertaining and parties) without that pesky membership fee.
2. Use coupons and sales ads. Yes, I know…broken record, but I cannot stress this enough. If you save $10 off a $200 grocery bill, you’ve just saved yourself 5%. That really does add up!
3. You HAVE to know your prices. It’s amazing that I saw a “sale” price of the TP we use all the time - $9.99. Um…hello…I can get the exact same TP on sale sometimes for $5.00! That’s not a sale. Actually, yesterday I saw that Fred’s has 5 for $5.00 Elmer’s School Glue (4 oz). Walmart has it on sale for $.25! Seriously, that’s a savings of $.75 just by knowing my prices!
4. Consider buying veggies and fruits from local farmers. You can get some amazing deals at the roadside stands or farmer’s markets. In Portland, we have a ton of people selling fresh produce and you can get amazing deals on some really great tasting produce. Or better yet, plant a garden. We planted our first garden this year, and we have been amazed at how much we’ve gotten from it. It did take some money to start up, but next year it won’t be nearly as much and we’ll make that back in no time. It’s a great way to save money.
5. Buy frozen instead of fresh. Fruits and Veggies are flash frozen at their peak of freshness, and especially if you’re cooking them anyway, you will save a ton of money and not even notice the difference if you buy frozen. I love buying frozen fruit for smoothies – I don’t even need ice because the frozen fruit works great!
6. Avoid pre-packaged and convenience foods. You will pay 25-100% more for these items. Those little individual bags of chips are great, but you can buy twice as much in the big bags for less. The 12 packs of the chips are on sale for $6.00 this week. You can buy 2 big bags of the same chips and get 12 baggies (or more) out of them for about $3.00. Yes, there’s the cost of the baggies, but still…you’re saving money and you can be cheap like us and recycle the baggies. Those frozen lasagnas aren’t nearly as inexpensive as making your own. I can make 2 for the price of 1 frozen one (and I get to control the ingredients).
7. We talked about this a couple months ago, but buy generic instead of name brand stuff. The same people who make cheerios make the generic brands too. It’s the same stuff minus the brand recognition.
8. Check the clearance racks. Clearance doesn’t mean stale or nasty. Infact, I have gotten amazing deals when things are on clearance. 2 weeks ago I hit the macaroni and cheese mother-load – 38 cents a box (as opposed to $1.00 a box or even $.50 a box on sale). It’s good until June of next year. Nothing is wrong with it – it’s just cheap. A couple months ago, I hit Target as they clearanced out a bunch of Huggies diapers. I picked up boxes that normally run for $28.88 for $13.88. That’s a HUGE deal and I almost cleared the shelves buying so many.
9. Leave EVERYONE else home while you go shopping. If you want to save money, shop alone. Even with a list, I will still spend more money if hubby or the kids go with me. They just know how to whine and suck the money right out of you because they see something they just HAVE to have! My kids and hubby will wear me down that I give into buying that stupid box of crackers or the hot wheels car, just because it's easier to say yes than to argue my point for the 100th time.
10. Shop with a calculator. If you know exactly how much you’re spending you can make wise choices. You know that you have a limit, and when you start reaching that limit, you can make choices and maybe put back those impulse purchases or the non-generic things you were going to buy.
11. Pay with cash only. It will save you at least 12% (and up to 50%) when you set the limit, not let the price set your budget. If you go in with $100, you leave with only $100 worth of stuff. You will make smarter choices knowing that you only have so much money and that you cannot go over that amount. People don’t believe me on this until they do it themselves. Just last week, one of the gals I help online said, “wow, I didn’t believe you until I did it myself. I came in $30 under budget and got everything I need for the next 2 weeks.” You WILL come in under budget if you shop with cash only and use that list and calculator! See...I'm not completely full of hot air.
Stretching Your Dinner Dollars
So, now that we have our food, let’s talk about stretching your dinner dollars! These are just some tricks that I use to make the food we do have go just a little further, without us feeling like we’re deprived. Some of these may work for your family, some may not, but the point of this is to get you thinking outside the box.
1. Fillers: Add bread crumbs, rice, potatoes, veggies, and/or beans to meals to make them more filling. We actually enjoy our food more with the fillers I mentioned. We love adding some Mexican rice to our taco meat because it gives it a little something special. We enjoy the taste of hamburgers with Italian breadcrumbs added into the mix. Sometimes the fillers just make it taste better. Instead of using a pound of hamburger meat, we use a half pound of turkey (or hamburger) and with the fillers making up the rest of the volume, we still get as much food.
2. Cut up your meat. This may seem like it’s not that big of a deal, but if you want to make the meat you eat stretch further, this will help. I’ve been a recovering vegetarian for 4 years now, but I’m still not a big fan of slabs of meat, so this is perfect for our family. As an experiment to test my theory I cooked 4 chicken breasts and decided to see how far I can make them stretch. We have 3 (sometimes 4) people who will eat chicken in our house. Our oldest is picky and will occasionally eat it. So, if we had taken those chicken breasts and made them the center of our meal, we would have gotten 1 meal out of it (2 for Jon, 1 for me, 1 for Spencer and Hunter to share. We know that’s how it would have worked because we’ve done that before. So, instead of the big slab of chicken we shredded and diced it up. That night we had fettuccini alfredo with chicken. The next day for lunch we had a chicken spinach salad. For dinner the next night we had chicken quesadillas. Yes, we got 3 meals out of 4 chicken breasts, and fed 3 people (Hunter just wasn’t feeling the chicken thing). So really, it does help to cut the meat up.
3. Make Smart Substitutions. For us, since we enjoy a lot of things with ground beef, the smartest substitution we made was going to ground turkey.
4. Cut portions. Americans generally consume too much anyway, so look at what a serving size really is. If you portion out your meal you will find that you will still get full and will have more food left over, which if you’re trying to shave down the grocery budget is a good thing.
5. Use smaller plates. I can see you all kinda thinking I’ve lost my mind. I see it. It’s alright. I'm essentially telling you to use smaller plates because they less food. I don’t know what it is, but for some reason everyone likes to see a nice full plate. Some people like to PILE up their plates. I don’t know what it is, but a full plate makes you think you’re getting enough food. Well, when you have a bunch of surface area to cover, you’re going to have much more food on the plate (and chances are some will go to waste). If you have a smaller area (but still a big plate), then you can fill it with less food, but still give off the illusion that you have a ton of food on there. We switched to these plates, cut our portions in half and hubby never even noticed that he was eating less food.
6. Don't leave the food on the table as you eat. I know a lot of people like to put the pans and pots on the table so everyone can help themselves, but because our brains and bodies don’t sync up when it comes to feeling full, we tend to over eat. By portioning out the food and leaving the extras out of sight, we can focus on what we’re eating, let our bodies and minds figure out if we’re full or not, and 9 times out of 10 you will have more leftovers than if you had left the food on the table.
7. Serve water - not soda at dinner time. Oh I know…what a horrible person I am. :o) Seriously though, by drinking water during a meal, you will not only feel fuller faster, but you will be able to actually TASTE your food because it doesn’t have to compete with the sugary drinks. It makes the food taste better and because you enjoy your food, you are less likely to want to snack and pick at things later on. Plus, sugary drinks and sodas are expensive anyway.
Well, I know some of you have been sitting here saying….oh this is all well and good, and I’d like to do all those things, but
I Don't Have Time To Cook
To that I say, you don’t have time NOT to cook. On average, one person can expect to pay about $10 for eating out at a sit down restaurant. They will spend on average, $4.50 at a fast food restaurant. By cooking your meals and avoiding the convenience foods, you can cut your costs down to $2.00 per person (or less!!!). That’s a minimal savings of over 50% right there! You just have to make smart choices and you can have a tasty and very inexpensive meal.
Learn to love your crock pot. Crock pots are not only great for roasts, but you can cook up some super yummy things in there! You can make enchiladas, lasagna, soups, bbq ribs, sweet and sour chicken. Oh the possibilities are endless, and the best part is that you can start it when you leave for work, and thanks to timers and such, it will be done and hot when you get home. Talk about a time saver (and money saver because you won’t be tempted to just pick up something on the way home!)
Learn how to make freezer meals! I have just started to learn the joys of freezer meals. These things are wonderful time savers (and energy savers). With freezer meals, you have the potential to do prep work only one day a month, but enjoy the benefits every single night. And if you don’t have that kind of room in the freezer, doing it once a week, or even twice a week will certainly lighten your load and keep you from impulse buying that pizza or KFC.
Freezer Meals
Almost any dish can be frozen and re-heated. The major exceptions are sour cream, cooked potatoes, and blocks of cheese. These things are safe to eat if frozen – the texture just changes. Sometimes you will have to experiment with different recipes. Sometimes it’s just easier (and better tasting) to make the sauce and freeze it, or make and freeze only part of it. One such recipe are stuffed peppers. I think freezing the peppers with stuffing in them isn’t the best thing in the world, but freezing the stuffing and then filling fresh peppers is. So, do some experimenting.
Want some examples of freezer meals?
Chicken Enchilladas, Chicken Tetrazini, Lasagna, Baked Ziti, Chicken or Beef Pot Pie, Beef Stroganoff, Meatloaf, Honey BBQ Ribs, Cream Cheese Chicken, Soups/Stews, Stuffed Shells, Chili, Vegetable Lasagna, Meatballs, Breads, most desserts, and even Waffles and Pancakes.
Oh yummmmmm….they sound so good. We make a lot of these for freezer meals. I will make a double batch – eat one that night and freeze one. That’s especially true for pancakes and waffles. I will even triple the waffle batter and make a ton of them just to freeze because the kids love them and I hate cleaning the waffle iron.
Where did I get freezer meal recipes? Most of them are just recipes I have for regular things that I just throw in the freezer. Some of them came from 30 Meals in One Day (no, I do not own it, I just use the free sample recipes) and some Kid Friendly Freezer Meals, and I am also a member of a group on CafeMom called The Once a Month Cooking Club, and there are some great recipes in that forum.
So really with crock pots and freezer meals, it’s so easy to make yummy home-cooked meals – even for very busy people.
The next thing I hear from time to time, and I used to say it myself was…..
But I Don't Like Leftovers
Leftovers can be more amazing than the first go-round. The faster you eat them, the better they taste. And no, I don't mean shoveling them into your mouth faster. If leftovers are a week and a half old they aren't going to taste that fantastic, but if you eat them the next day or the day after that, they can sometimes taste even better because the flavors have had a chance to meld together.
Find creative things to do with leftovers. We eat leftovers like no body’s business, but I like to give it a new life. I mean, who wants to eat the same thing for 3 meals in a row? So, I try to find something interesting to do with them. One great idea I got from one of my favorite books (and it’s saved me quite a bit of money) is Haley’s Hints. In it, it talks about a creative use of leftover mashed potatoes. You simply roll them into balls, dip into egg, dip into breadcrumbs and bake. How yummy does that sound?!? Way yummier than 2 day old mashed potatoes. If you can’t change the actual food, change the way you eat it. We make this layered hot wing dip stuff, and it’s great, but we’ve had to come up with new ways to eat it or else we get sick of it. The first night we use tortilla chips to eat it. The next we use soft tacos and sprinkle on lettuce, tomato, and sour cream. The third night we do hard tacos (if there’s any left). It’s all basically the same thing, but changing it up keeps it more interesting.
If you learn to like and use leftovers, then you will save a lot of money. For an $8.00 meal (the hot wing dip) we get 4 people fed for 2 sometimes 3 meals. That comes out to about $.67 - $1.00 per person per meal. That’s not too shabby. If we didn’t eat leftovers, it’d be a $2.00 per person meal. By trimming $1.00 off each meal, you’ll save $90 a month! That’s why I advocate the use of leftovers like no-body’s business!
How Can We Build Food Storage?
Another skepticism about meal planning (especially among LDS people) is "If we are buying only what we need, how can we build up our food storage?"
My answer to that is, "By buying what you need, when you need it, you are saving yourself money. Whatever money you save on your regular groceries can go towards building up your food storage. We have built up about a 6 month supply of everything we need BECAUSE we followed a meal plan. If we were still sticking with our old shopping habits, we would still have 10 lbs of rice and that’d be about it. Think about it. If you have $400 a month for groceries and you can cut it down to $300 by meal planning, that gives you $100 a month to get that food storage built up (or to pay off debt, or build savings).
Some other ways to build up food storage while on a tight budget is to:
1. Look for free samples. We talked about that a couple months ago. Those things really add up and are fantastic for 72 hour kits.
2. Use coupons and learn how to play the CVS and Walgreens games. Again, this is something we covered a couple months ago. These are great ways to not only save up money, but we have close to a year's supply of all toiletry items we could ever need.
3. Stock up using teh B1G1 sales. If you're planning on buying one anyway, the free one can go towards food storage. I just did this tonight. We had an extra $60 in our grocery budget this month, so I stocked up on B1G1 Peanut Butter at Publix and now I have a year's supply of peanut butter. Talk about great deals. B1G1 deals are the way to go.
4. Hit clearance racks. Again, clearance food doesn’t always mean it’s bad. Sometimes the product is being discontinued or maybe the box is changing. Either way, you can get some great stuff for pennies on the dollar on the clearance rack.
1. Buy in bulk, but ONLY if you actually NEED it and it's a good deal. Factor in membership costs. I was guilty of that several years ago. I had a Sams club membership and bought more stuff than I knew what to do with. Yes, 1000 fruit snacks for $5.00 is a great deal, but really…one person can only eat so many fruit snacks. Be realistic about what you’re buying in bulk, and make sure you’re getting it at a good price. You also need to factor in the membership costs. If you shop there once a month and the membership cost is $40, then you need to add $3.33 to your total each trip. So, if you only go to buy toilet paper, then add the $3.33 and see if you’re still getting a good deal. Watch the prices. I have found on a couple occasions that buying the bulk package was actually more expensive than buying the smaller sizes. So you have to pay attention!
Jessica (one of the gals attending the group meeting) mentioned GFS Marketplace in Rivergate. She explained that you can buy things in bulk (especially good for entertaining and parties) without that pesky membership fee.
2. Use coupons and sales ads. Yes, I know…broken record, but I cannot stress this enough. If you save $10 off a $200 grocery bill, you’ve just saved yourself 5%. That really does add up!
3. You HAVE to know your prices. It’s amazing that I saw a “sale” price of the TP we use all the time - $9.99. Um…hello…I can get the exact same TP on sale sometimes for $5.00! That’s not a sale. Actually, yesterday I saw that Fred’s has 5 for $5.00 Elmer’s School Glue (4 oz). Walmart has it on sale for $.25! Seriously, that’s a savings of $.75 just by knowing my prices!
4. Consider buying veggies and fruits from local farmers. You can get some amazing deals at the roadside stands or farmer’s markets. In Portland, we have a ton of people selling fresh produce and you can get amazing deals on some really great tasting produce. Or better yet, plant a garden. We planted our first garden this year, and we have been amazed at how much we’ve gotten from it. It did take some money to start up, but next year it won’t be nearly as much and we’ll make that back in no time. It’s a great way to save money.
5. Buy frozen instead of fresh. Fruits and Veggies are flash frozen at their peak of freshness, and especially if you’re cooking them anyway, you will save a ton of money and not even notice the difference if you buy frozen. I love buying frozen fruit for smoothies – I don’t even need ice because the frozen fruit works great!
6. Avoid pre-packaged and convenience foods. You will pay 25-100% more for these items. Those little individual bags of chips are great, but you can buy twice as much in the big bags for less. The 12 packs of the chips are on sale for $6.00 this week. You can buy 2 big bags of the same chips and get 12 baggies (or more) out of them for about $3.00. Yes, there’s the cost of the baggies, but still…you’re saving money and you can be cheap like us and recycle the baggies. Those frozen lasagnas aren’t nearly as inexpensive as making your own. I can make 2 for the price of 1 frozen one (and I get to control the ingredients).
7. We talked about this a couple months ago, but buy generic instead of name brand stuff. The same people who make cheerios make the generic brands too. It’s the same stuff minus the brand recognition.
8. Check the clearance racks. Clearance doesn’t mean stale or nasty. Infact, I have gotten amazing deals when things are on clearance. 2 weeks ago I hit the macaroni and cheese mother-load – 38 cents a box (as opposed to $1.00 a box or even $.50 a box on sale). It’s good until June of next year. Nothing is wrong with it – it’s just cheap. A couple months ago, I hit Target as they clearanced out a bunch of Huggies diapers. I picked up boxes that normally run for $28.88 for $13.88. That’s a HUGE deal and I almost cleared the shelves buying so many.
9. Leave EVERYONE else home while you go shopping. If you want to save money, shop alone. Even with a list, I will still spend more money if hubby or the kids go with me. They just know how to whine and suck the money right out of you because they see something they just HAVE to have! My kids and hubby will wear me down that I give into buying that stupid box of crackers or the hot wheels car, just because it's easier to say yes than to argue my point for the 100th time.
10. Shop with a calculator. If you know exactly how much you’re spending you can make wise choices. You know that you have a limit, and when you start reaching that limit, you can make choices and maybe put back those impulse purchases or the non-generic things you were going to buy.
11. Pay with cash only. It will save you at least 12% (and up to 50%) when you set the limit, not let the price set your budget. If you go in with $100, you leave with only $100 worth of stuff. You will make smarter choices knowing that you only have so much money and that you cannot go over that amount. People don’t believe me on this until they do it themselves. Just last week, one of the gals I help online said, “wow, I didn’t believe you until I did it myself. I came in $30 under budget and got everything I need for the next 2 weeks.” You WILL come in under budget if you shop with cash only and use that list and calculator! See...I'm not completely full of hot air.
Stretching Your Dinner Dollars
So, now that we have our food, let’s talk about stretching your dinner dollars! These are just some tricks that I use to make the food we do have go just a little further, without us feeling like we’re deprived. Some of these may work for your family, some may not, but the point of this is to get you thinking outside the box.
1. Fillers: Add bread crumbs, rice, potatoes, veggies, and/or beans to meals to make them more filling. We actually enjoy our food more with the fillers I mentioned. We love adding some Mexican rice to our taco meat because it gives it a little something special. We enjoy the taste of hamburgers with Italian breadcrumbs added into the mix. Sometimes the fillers just make it taste better. Instead of using a pound of hamburger meat, we use a half pound of turkey (or hamburger) and with the fillers making up the rest of the volume, we still get as much food.
2. Cut up your meat. This may seem like it’s not that big of a deal, but if you want to make the meat you eat stretch further, this will help. I’ve been a recovering vegetarian for 4 years now, but I’m still not a big fan of slabs of meat, so this is perfect for our family. As an experiment to test my theory I cooked 4 chicken breasts and decided to see how far I can make them stretch. We have 3 (sometimes 4) people who will eat chicken in our house. Our oldest is picky and will occasionally eat it. So, if we had taken those chicken breasts and made them the center of our meal, we would have gotten 1 meal out of it (2 for Jon, 1 for me, 1 for Spencer and Hunter to share. We know that’s how it would have worked because we’ve done that before. So, instead of the big slab of chicken we shredded and diced it up. That night we had fettuccini alfredo with chicken. The next day for lunch we had a chicken spinach salad. For dinner the next night we had chicken quesadillas. Yes, we got 3 meals out of 4 chicken breasts, and fed 3 people (Hunter just wasn’t feeling the chicken thing). So really, it does help to cut the meat up.
3. Make Smart Substitutions. For us, since we enjoy a lot of things with ground beef, the smartest substitution we made was going to ground turkey.
4. Cut portions. Americans generally consume too much anyway, so look at what a serving size really is. If you portion out your meal you will find that you will still get full and will have more food left over, which if you’re trying to shave down the grocery budget is a good thing.
5. Use smaller plates. I can see you all kinda thinking I’ve lost my mind. I see it. It’s alright. I'm essentially telling you to use smaller plates because they less food. I don’t know what it is, but for some reason everyone likes to see a nice full plate. Some people like to PILE up their plates. I don’t know what it is, but a full plate makes you think you’re getting enough food. Well, when you have a bunch of surface area to cover, you’re going to have much more food on the plate (and chances are some will go to waste). If you have a smaller area (but still a big plate), then you can fill it with less food, but still give off the illusion that you have a ton of food on there. We switched to these plates, cut our portions in half and hubby never even noticed that he was eating less food.
6. Don't leave the food on the table as you eat. I know a lot of people like to put the pans and pots on the table so everyone can help themselves, but because our brains and bodies don’t sync up when it comes to feeling full, we tend to over eat. By portioning out the food and leaving the extras out of sight, we can focus on what we’re eating, let our bodies and minds figure out if we’re full or not, and 9 times out of 10 you will have more leftovers than if you had left the food on the table.
7. Serve water - not soda at dinner time. Oh I know…what a horrible person I am. :o) Seriously though, by drinking water during a meal, you will not only feel fuller faster, but you will be able to actually TASTE your food because it doesn’t have to compete with the sugary drinks. It makes the food taste better and because you enjoy your food, you are less likely to want to snack and pick at things later on. Plus, sugary drinks and sodas are expensive anyway.
Well, I know some of you have been sitting here saying….oh this is all well and good, and I’d like to do all those things, but
I Don't Have Time To Cook
To that I say, you don’t have time NOT to cook. On average, one person can expect to pay about $10 for eating out at a sit down restaurant. They will spend on average, $4.50 at a fast food restaurant. By cooking your meals and avoiding the convenience foods, you can cut your costs down to $2.00 per person (or less!!!). That’s a minimal savings of over 50% right there! You just have to make smart choices and you can have a tasty and very inexpensive meal.
Learn to love your crock pot. Crock pots are not only great for roasts, but you can cook up some super yummy things in there! You can make enchiladas, lasagna, soups, bbq ribs, sweet and sour chicken. Oh the possibilities are endless, and the best part is that you can start it when you leave for work, and thanks to timers and such, it will be done and hot when you get home. Talk about a time saver (and money saver because you won’t be tempted to just pick up something on the way home!)
Learn how to make freezer meals! I have just started to learn the joys of freezer meals. These things are wonderful time savers (and energy savers). With freezer meals, you have the potential to do prep work only one day a month, but enjoy the benefits every single night. And if you don’t have that kind of room in the freezer, doing it once a week, or even twice a week will certainly lighten your load and keep you from impulse buying that pizza or KFC.
Freezer Meals
Almost any dish can be frozen and re-heated. The major exceptions are sour cream, cooked potatoes, and blocks of cheese. These things are safe to eat if frozen – the texture just changes. Sometimes you will have to experiment with different recipes. Sometimes it’s just easier (and better tasting) to make the sauce and freeze it, or make and freeze only part of it. One such recipe are stuffed peppers. I think freezing the peppers with stuffing in them isn’t the best thing in the world, but freezing the stuffing and then filling fresh peppers is. So, do some experimenting.
Want some examples of freezer meals?
Chicken Enchilladas, Chicken Tetrazini, Lasagna, Baked Ziti, Chicken or Beef Pot Pie, Beef Stroganoff, Meatloaf, Honey BBQ Ribs, Cream Cheese Chicken, Soups/Stews, Stuffed Shells, Chili, Vegetable Lasagna, Meatballs, Breads, most desserts, and even Waffles and Pancakes.
Oh yummmmmm….they sound so good. We make a lot of these for freezer meals. I will make a double batch – eat one that night and freeze one. That’s especially true for pancakes and waffles. I will even triple the waffle batter and make a ton of them just to freeze because the kids love them and I hate cleaning the waffle iron.
Where did I get freezer meal recipes? Most of them are just recipes I have for regular things that I just throw in the freezer. Some of them came from 30 Meals in One Day (no, I do not own it, I just use the free sample recipes) and some Kid Friendly Freezer Meals, and I am also a member of a group on CafeMom called The Once a Month Cooking Club, and there are some great recipes in that forum.
So really with crock pots and freezer meals, it’s so easy to make yummy home-cooked meals – even for very busy people.
The next thing I hear from time to time, and I used to say it myself was…..
But I Don't Like Leftovers
Leftovers can be more amazing than the first go-round. The faster you eat them, the better they taste. And no, I don't mean shoveling them into your mouth faster. If leftovers are a week and a half old they aren't going to taste that fantastic, but if you eat them the next day or the day after that, they can sometimes taste even better because the flavors have had a chance to meld together.
Find creative things to do with leftovers. We eat leftovers like no body’s business, but I like to give it a new life. I mean, who wants to eat the same thing for 3 meals in a row? So, I try to find something interesting to do with them. One great idea I got from one of my favorite books (and it’s saved me quite a bit of money) is Haley’s Hints. In it, it talks about a creative use of leftover mashed potatoes. You simply roll them into balls, dip into egg, dip into breadcrumbs and bake. How yummy does that sound?!? Way yummier than 2 day old mashed potatoes. If you can’t change the actual food, change the way you eat it. We make this layered hot wing dip stuff, and it’s great, but we’ve had to come up with new ways to eat it or else we get sick of it. The first night we use tortilla chips to eat it. The next we use soft tacos and sprinkle on lettuce, tomato, and sour cream. The third night we do hard tacos (if there’s any left). It’s all basically the same thing, but changing it up keeps it more interesting.
If you learn to like and use leftovers, then you will save a lot of money. For an $8.00 meal (the hot wing dip) we get 4 people fed for 2 sometimes 3 meals. That comes out to about $.67 - $1.00 per person per meal. That’s not too shabby. If we didn’t eat leftovers, it’d be a $2.00 per person meal. By trimming $1.00 off each meal, you’ll save $90 a month! That’s why I advocate the use of leftovers like no-body’s business!
How Can We Build Food Storage?
Another skepticism about meal planning (especially among LDS people) is "If we are buying only what we need, how can we build up our food storage?"
My answer to that is, "By buying what you need, when you need it, you are saving yourself money. Whatever money you save on your regular groceries can go towards building up your food storage. We have built up about a 6 month supply of everything we need BECAUSE we followed a meal plan. If we were still sticking with our old shopping habits, we would still have 10 lbs of rice and that’d be about it. Think about it. If you have $400 a month for groceries and you can cut it down to $300 by meal planning, that gives you $100 a month to get that food storage built up (or to pay off debt, or build savings).
Some other ways to build up food storage while on a tight budget is to:
1. Look for free samples. We talked about that a couple months ago. Those things really add up and are fantastic for 72 hour kits.
2. Use coupons and learn how to play the CVS and Walgreens games. Again, this is something we covered a couple months ago. These are great ways to not only save up money, but we have close to a year's supply of all toiletry items we could ever need.
3. Stock up using teh B1G1 sales. If you're planning on buying one anyway, the free one can go towards food storage. I just did this tonight. We had an extra $60 in our grocery budget this month, so I stocked up on B1G1 Peanut Butter at Publix and now I have a year's supply of peanut butter. Talk about great deals. B1G1 deals are the way to go.
4. Hit clearance racks. Again, clearance food doesn’t always mean it’s bad. Sometimes the product is being discontinued or maybe the box is changing. Either way, you can get some great stuff for pennies on the dollar on the clearance rack.
Dining On a Dime - Part 3
What About Eating Out?
Am I saying that you can never do it again now that you have a meal plan? NO WAY! There is nothing wrong with eating out, as long as you budget for it.
Plan ahead and don't plan a meal for the one you'll be eating out, or else you'll have paid twice for that meal (one at home and one out). If you know you’re going out to eat on Friday night, leave that space blank on your menu. It will save you money because you won't have the expense of that food sitting around.
If you do decide to eat out, I want you all to remember what we talked about before. You do NOT have to pay full price for ANYTHING! There are so many ways to save money at restaurants that it’s not even funny. What are some things you can do to cut the price of eating out?
1. If you have a favorite restaurant, sign up for their clubs - you will recieve special coupons and promotions by doing so.
2. Look for coupons in the paper, in the mail, and online.
3. Share meals instead of ordering your own. Most meals are big enough for two people to share.
4. Order off the kids' menu to save some money. Usually the portions are just the right size to fill an adult. Not all restaurants will let you, but many will.
5. Eat at places and times when your kids can eat free with the purchase of your adult entree.
6. Sign up for birthday clubs. Most of the time you will get a free meal, dessert, or appetizer on your birthday.
7. Learn who has the freebies!
Who Offers Freebies?
Arby's - every Wednesday (through the end of August) there is a free item when you purchase a certain item.
Captain D's - kids eat free every Thursday (up to 2 free meals per adult entree purchase).
Burger King - join the kids club and get a coupon for a free birthday kids' meal.
Zaxby's - Join the adult club and get a FREE meal deal. Join the kids' club and get a free cookie and then a free kids' meal on their birthday.
Sonic - free kids' meal on their birthday when you join the club.
Baskin Robins - free icecream on your birthday!
Shoney's - kids under 4 eat free.
Black Eyed Pea (Hendersonville)- join the club and get a free gift for joining and a gift on your birthday (free food!)
TGI Fridays - Sign up for the Give Me More Stripes club and you get a pass to skip to the front of the line AND a free appetizer or dessert.
Red Robin - Free birthday burger, and they will email you many other great coupons.
Applebees - Kids eat free Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday from 5 p.m. to close.
Mimi's Cafe - Print a coupon for a free dessert on the homepage. Join the club for more savings. Also, if you tell them it's your first time eating there, they will give you 4 free muffins to take home with you!!!
Smokey Bones BBQ - Sign up and get a $10 off coupon (might not be free but half price isn't bad!).
Lonestar Steakhouse (Bowling Green) - Kids eat free on Tuesday.
California Pizza Kitchen - sign up and get a free kids' meal on their birthday (pizza and dessert).
ANY restaurant that you enjoy eating will have special coupons, promotions, and/or gifts for joining their clubs. Sign up and you may be surprised at what you get.
A Warning!
Just because you have a coupon, it doesn't mean that you need to use it. Why do you think restaurants give you all these freebies? Because they know that you will most likely go in with several people and you will spend money. Just think about it. If your hubby knows that you're getting a free meal, he may be more apt to say, "Well, I'll get a bigger steak than normal because her meal is free." This is part of their game, and if you play it properly you can win. If you fall into the trap, then they will win.
Sometimes it's a good idea to claim your goodies by yourself or with a child who can help you eat your freebies.
Another great way to save some money - especially with all those free birthday kids' meals - is to go to the drive thru of the fast food places and get 1 meal per kid. For example if we go to Zaxby's that's one meal for one child. Then we'd go to Sonic, that's another meal for another child. Then we'd go to burger king, and that's a 3rd meal, for a 3rd child. Hey....we just fed all 3 kids on all 3 birthdays. Everyone wins.
Another thing to remember is that you need to watch the wording on the coupons you plan on using. Many times the coupon will say, "Not valid with any other promotion or offer." That means that you cannot use a $5.00 off coupon if you order something that has a special promotional price. So be careful and watch the wording on coupons. Some may even say that it's not valid on a certain day or at a certain time.
Why Is This Important?
Why do I care what you spend on groceries? Well, to be honest, I care because I hate knowing that people are spending their hard earned money on something that they can get for less. It constantly amazes me when I see people go from $600 a month for groceries to $300 because they made these changes to how they looked at it.
I’ve been there. I’ve done that. I have been guilty of spending over $800 a month on groceries and eating out (I went back to old bank statements from my previous marriage). Isn’t that disgusting? 2 people - $800 on something that ended up in the toilet the next day. I’m sure I had some good meals. I mean, I enjoy the melting pot as much as anyone, but really…I can melt cheese and chocolate at home for much less.
When I finally woke up and realized….it’s just food, I was able to start prioritizing where my money was going. I stopped caring about the brand. I stopped eating so much junk food. I stopped buying convenience foods. I decided to take the control back and set my limits and not let the grocery store control my budget. Let me tell ya….it’s a very liberating experience. We have stopped going out to eat because it’s just not important to us. When we do go (for our freebies or when our parents take us out) we usually get sick because we’re not used to that type of food anymore. You not only go through a mental transformation, but you go through a physical one as well. You learn what is important, you are able to feed your body the right things – and stick to the WOW (eat meat sparingly). It’s a really cool thing, which is why I wanted to teach this.
What kind of things could we do if we were all able to cut our grocery budgets in half? What kind of financial relief could we have? How much debt could we pay off? What could you do with half of your grocery budget?
This is all about taking back the control. It is about being tuned in and paying attention. It’s about keeping more of the money you work hard for, so that you can enrich your family’s lives.
How Low Can You Go?
Just to kind of change things up a bit, we are playing a game called, "How Low Can You Go?"
Objective:
To see how much less you can spend by meal planning. Eat what you normally would eat, but incorporate what we talked about into your shopping trip.
Two winners per week will be chosen and will receive award(s) at next meeting. Enter via email or give it to me on Sunday.
The Rules of the Game:
1. No cheating! Don’t fudge on the prices (I know them very well!)
2. No using only food storage. Treat this as you would a normal shopping trip. Many of us could not buy a thing for months, but this is to see how low you can go with your NORMAL eating habbits by implementing the things we talked about in this lesson.
3. Use form provided (or make your own) and any attachments if necessary. Please feel free to make something or even just write down the information on a sheet of notebook paper. Just make sure to include the date, the type of meal (breakfast lunch dinner), what the meal was (i.e. meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy with biscuits), and how much it cost you per person to make it.
4. Winners will be chosen based on price per person figures not total cost of purchases or total cost of the meal.
5. The following items do not count toward your total: salt, pepper, spices, flour, and sugar. All other ingredients count.
6. Must include eating out on your totals – bill total (including tip) divided by number of people in your party. So you cannot go order a salad while the rest of the family eats steak and expect that to count. :o)
Have fun with this. See how low you can go!
Am I saying that you can never do it again now that you have a meal plan? NO WAY! There is nothing wrong with eating out, as long as you budget for it.
Plan ahead and don't plan a meal for the one you'll be eating out, or else you'll have paid twice for that meal (one at home and one out). If you know you’re going out to eat on Friday night, leave that space blank on your menu. It will save you money because you won't have the expense of that food sitting around.
If you do decide to eat out, I want you all to remember what we talked about before. You do NOT have to pay full price for ANYTHING! There are so many ways to save money at restaurants that it’s not even funny. What are some things you can do to cut the price of eating out?
1. If you have a favorite restaurant, sign up for their clubs - you will recieve special coupons and promotions by doing so.
2. Look for coupons in the paper, in the mail, and online.
3. Share meals instead of ordering your own. Most meals are big enough for two people to share.
4. Order off the kids' menu to save some money. Usually the portions are just the right size to fill an adult. Not all restaurants will let you, but many will.
5. Eat at places and times when your kids can eat free with the purchase of your adult entree.
6. Sign up for birthday clubs. Most of the time you will get a free meal, dessert, or appetizer on your birthday.
7. Learn who has the freebies!
Who Offers Freebies?
Arby's - every Wednesday (through the end of August) there is a free item when you purchase a certain item.
Captain D's - kids eat free every Thursday (up to 2 free meals per adult entree purchase).
Burger King - join the kids club and get a coupon for a free birthday kids' meal.
Zaxby's - Join the adult club and get a FREE meal deal. Join the kids' club and get a free cookie and then a free kids' meal on their birthday.
Sonic - free kids' meal on their birthday when you join the club.
Baskin Robins - free icecream on your birthday!
Shoney's - kids under 4 eat free.
Black Eyed Pea (Hendersonville)- join the club and get a free gift for joining and a gift on your birthday (free food!)
TGI Fridays - Sign up for the Give Me More Stripes club and you get a pass to skip to the front of the line AND a free appetizer or dessert.
Red Robin - Free birthday burger, and they will email you many other great coupons.
Applebees - Kids eat free Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday from 5 p.m. to close.
Mimi's Cafe - Print a coupon for a free dessert on the homepage. Join the club for more savings. Also, if you tell them it's your first time eating there, they will give you 4 free muffins to take home with you!!!
Smokey Bones BBQ - Sign up and get a $10 off coupon (might not be free but half price isn't bad!).
Lonestar Steakhouse (Bowling Green) - Kids eat free on Tuesday.
California Pizza Kitchen - sign up and get a free kids' meal on their birthday (pizza and dessert).
ANY restaurant that you enjoy eating will have special coupons, promotions, and/or gifts for joining their clubs. Sign up and you may be surprised at what you get.
A Warning!
Just because you have a coupon, it doesn't mean that you need to use it. Why do you think restaurants give you all these freebies? Because they know that you will most likely go in with several people and you will spend money. Just think about it. If your hubby knows that you're getting a free meal, he may be more apt to say, "Well, I'll get a bigger steak than normal because her meal is free." This is part of their game, and if you play it properly you can win. If you fall into the trap, then they will win.
Sometimes it's a good idea to claim your goodies by yourself or with a child who can help you eat your freebies.
Another great way to save some money - especially with all those free birthday kids' meals - is to go to the drive thru of the fast food places and get 1 meal per kid. For example if we go to Zaxby's that's one meal for one child. Then we'd go to Sonic, that's another meal for another child. Then we'd go to burger king, and that's a 3rd meal, for a 3rd child. Hey....we just fed all 3 kids on all 3 birthdays. Everyone wins.
Another thing to remember is that you need to watch the wording on the coupons you plan on using. Many times the coupon will say, "Not valid with any other promotion or offer." That means that you cannot use a $5.00 off coupon if you order something that has a special promotional price. So be careful and watch the wording on coupons. Some may even say that it's not valid on a certain day or at a certain time.
Why Is This Important?
Why do I care what you spend on groceries? Well, to be honest, I care because I hate knowing that people are spending their hard earned money on something that they can get for less. It constantly amazes me when I see people go from $600 a month for groceries to $300 because they made these changes to how they looked at it.
I’ve been there. I’ve done that. I have been guilty of spending over $800 a month on groceries and eating out (I went back to old bank statements from my previous marriage). Isn’t that disgusting? 2 people - $800 on something that ended up in the toilet the next day. I’m sure I had some good meals. I mean, I enjoy the melting pot as much as anyone, but really…I can melt cheese and chocolate at home for much less.
When I finally woke up and realized….it’s just food, I was able to start prioritizing where my money was going. I stopped caring about the brand. I stopped eating so much junk food. I stopped buying convenience foods. I decided to take the control back and set my limits and not let the grocery store control my budget. Let me tell ya….it’s a very liberating experience. We have stopped going out to eat because it’s just not important to us. When we do go (for our freebies or when our parents take us out) we usually get sick because we’re not used to that type of food anymore. You not only go through a mental transformation, but you go through a physical one as well. You learn what is important, you are able to feed your body the right things – and stick to the WOW (eat meat sparingly). It’s a really cool thing, which is why I wanted to teach this.
What kind of things could we do if we were all able to cut our grocery budgets in half? What kind of financial relief could we have? How much debt could we pay off? What could you do with half of your grocery budget?
This is all about taking back the control. It is about being tuned in and paying attention. It’s about keeping more of the money you work hard for, so that you can enrich your family’s lives.
How Low Can You Go?
Just to kind of change things up a bit, we are playing a game called, "How Low Can You Go?"
Objective:
To see how much less you can spend by meal planning. Eat what you normally would eat, but incorporate what we talked about into your shopping trip.
Two winners per week will be chosen and will receive award(s) at next meeting. Enter via email or give it to me on Sunday.
The Rules of the Game:
1. No cheating! Don’t fudge on the prices (I know them very well!)
2. No using only food storage. Treat this as you would a normal shopping trip. Many of us could not buy a thing for months, but this is to see how low you can go with your NORMAL eating habbits by implementing the things we talked about in this lesson.
3. Use form provided (or make your own) and any attachments if necessary. Please feel free to make something or even just write down the information on a sheet of notebook paper. Just make sure to include the date, the type of meal (breakfast lunch dinner), what the meal was (i.e. meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy with biscuits), and how much it cost you per person to make it.
4. Winners will be chosen based on price per person figures not total cost of purchases or total cost of the meal.
5. The following items do not count toward your total: salt, pepper, spices, flour, and sugar. All other ingredients count.
6. Must include eating out on your totals – bill total (including tip) divided by number of people in your party. So you cannot go order a salad while the rest of the family eats steak and expect that to count. :o)
Have fun with this. See how low you can go!
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