Save up to 50% on Your Grocery Bill By Jill Cooper I have discovered the secret of saving money feeding babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Well, I can’t take the credit for it. My mom taught it to me many years ago but I didn't put it into practice until the first financial crisis we had when my husband was laid off. What I have been practicing now for many years has now become one of the new buzz phrases -- "portion control". Usually when we think of portion control it is in connection with dieters and not young children or saving money. Most American parents serve themselves and their children huge portions of food. Their families eat only part of it, and then they discard the rest. Next time you scrape those half eaten plates of food into the trash, think about this: 30% to 50% of the food and drinks we buy, whether we eat at home or out, get thrown away. If you don't believe it's true, observe your own family this week. How many half full bowls of soggy cereal do you throw away? What about half empty glasses of juice, milk or pop? It is easy to forget that children under the age of four have only about a quarter of an adult's body weight. Often, we feed them adult portions and when we do give them smaller portions, each portion is usually only reduced to about half an adult portion. Do you use that large serving spoon and dump a full spoon of food on your child's plate? Say you give yourself two spoons of green beans and your child one-- That means that you have given yourself about 24 green beans and your child 12 when in reality, that child needs only about six. (cont)
When deciding how much food to give your kids, start small and work your way up. Remember, if they eat what is on their plates you can always give them more. Use the same method for drinks. Even a small sippy cup should only be filled half full. This not only reduces the amount that you throw away, but also reduces the losses from spills. Another great way to save a lot of money is to give children more water. In addition to serving children overly large portions, failing to give them enough water leads to obesity. At this point, many parents point out that young children need lots of milk and juice. That is true to a degree, but consider this: The USDA recommends 12 oz of milk per day for children under 4. That is equal to two sippy cups. Don’t forget that kids get milk from other sources too, including milk with their cereal and cheese. We think the more juice and milk they get the better, but once kids have had as much as they need nutritionally, the rest just adds calories. If you are ready to cut the waste from your food budget, here are a few more tips to save money and make your life easier: 1. Cut the crust off your child's sandwich before you give it to him. I have tried for years to get my children and grandchildren to eat the crust and have discovered that it is like trying to climb Mount Everest. It can be done, but I'm not sure if it is worth all the work and headache. So give in and cut off the crust. Throw it in a bag and use it for bread crumbs or croutons. Then the kids will eat their entire sandwiches instead of just that hole in the middle and you won't waste the sandwich filling that would have been tossed with the crust. (cont)
2. Cut kids' sandwiches into small squares or triangles. Their hands are smaller then ours. Imagine always manhandling sandwiches that are two to three times normal size and you can relate to kids with full adult-sized sandwiches. This goes for all their food. Cut anything they have to hold in their hands into manageable sized pieces. 3. Spills always happen, but they can be minimized. Try placing a paper doily at the top of your child's plate or someplace where you know a cup won't be likely to spill. Then teach the child that the cup belongs on the doily. 4. Start giving your little ones only half of items like candy bars, gum, and popsicles. When you go out to eat, split a hamburger or order of fries between two younger children. You can even ask for an extra cup and split milk shakes and drinks. 5. Control snacks. Don't just let the kids graze all day on candy and chips. Give children healthier things to fill them up, like popcorn or a piece of fruit at specific time intervals. 6. Feed toddlers and preschoolers your leftovers. They usually don't balk at them like older children do. All those two tablespoon leftovers that are hardly worth saving are usually just the right amount for younger children. About the Author: Jill Cooper is the editor of http://www.LivingOnADime.com/ . As a single mother of two, Jill started her own business without any capital and paid off $35,000 debt in 5 years on $1,000 a month income.
Wow, Amy thanks for that article. Has anyone ever shopped at Aldi's? I hadn't been there since I was a kid until this year. I saved a bundle. Their brands are better than any other off brand! I couldn't believe it. In fact, I read that the Aldi's brands and the same as national brands just in different packaging. Aldi's actually buys Cheerios from Kellogs and then packages them in their Millville box. huh. Anyway, it is a great place to shop. some places to have nasty Aldi's, I know. The one around here is very clean and in a very nice area. In order to avoid always buying bags, I just keep some I already bought and some from Kroger in my trunk.
My uncle worked at a bleach factory and he told us that for the most part the bleach brands are the same. He said that stores would call up and put in their order for name brand, store name, and brown label. The only difference is store brand and brown label usually were diluted a bit and they all obviously had different labels slapped on them. I thought this was interesting.
Yes, that is true with soda too. My dh worked in a pepsi factory for along time and he told me that stores would put there store name on name brand soda. Also, thanks Amy for the aritcile looks good and sounds wonderful. I wish I could find a web site for coupons or something. I hate getting the newspaper on Sunday for them I might use one or two and we don't read the paper.
That's true of gasoline as well. My dh delivered that for a long time. We always buy the cheap stuff.
I used to double coupons and it is amazing how much you get for so little. Many stores around here no longer do this but Ralphs still does. I do not like going this far in the traffic just for groceries although it would be worth it in the long run.
I believe the number one rule to cutting your grocery bill is to make a list from what's on sale in the ads, then buy ONLY what is on your list. (OK, that's the second rule. The first is to leave your DH at home, lol!) Another tip, believe it or not, is to pay CASH. NOT a credit card, or debit card or even check. You know you only have a certain amount on you, and you're much more careful not to go over that amount. We've been doing that for about 3 years now, and I've only gone over the amount I had one time. (Though sometimes I will put two or three "unneccisary" items to the end and watch the total carefully just in case, lol!) Also, making menus up ahead will help, but I sure have a difficult time doing that!
That was a great article! Thank you, ABall!! Have any of you heard of the Angel Food Ministry? Maybe I should start a new thread about it, so I don't highjack this one.
We don't have an aldi's but we have a Save a lot & a grocery outlet. Both have great deals. Jackie hit the nail on the head. Look at flyers and plan your meals around them. You will save so much money that way. Another important thing is to have a well stocked pantry. If you have all the basics like spices, flour, ect you can make anything. I will look for the article I saved that says what a well stocked pantry has. It helped me out alot.
Someone posted about Angel Food not too long ago, I think it was in August, because I checked to see if it was available close to me (which it was). I've not used it, though. Sarah, I'd be interested in the well-stocked pantry article if you can find it! I do lots of shopping for deli meats, cheese and staples at a Farmer's Market near my parents' place. That's also where I go strawberry picking!
I plan menus from the sale ads and shop with a list. It really makes a huge difference! We have a Save-a-Lot, but I find that shopping sale items is usually cheaper. The exception is on staple items like cream of soups, canned veggies and that sort of thing. I'd be interested in the well stocked pantry thing, too. I once saw a list of things every pantry should always have, but haven't been able to find it since I saw it first. We have very limited space in our kitchen, so I find things gettting really low here sometimes.
this is a list that I found for the well stocked pantry: Oils, Vinegars & Condiments Extra-virgin olive oil for cooking and salad dressings Canola oil for cooking and baking Flavorful nut and seed oils for salad dressings and stir-fry seasonings: toasted sesame oil, walnut oil Butter, preferably unsalted. Store in the freezer if you use infrequently. Reduced-fat mayonnaise Vinegars: balsamic, red-wine, white-wine, rice (or rice-wine), apple cider Asian condiments and flavorings: reduced-sodium soy sauce, fish sauce, hoisin sauce, mirin, oyster sauce, chile-garlic sauce, curry paste Kalamata olives, green olives Dijon mustard Capers Ketchup Barbecue sauce Worcestershire sauce Flavorings Kosher salt, coarse sea salt, fine salt Black peppercorns Onions Fresh garlic Fresh ginger Anchovies or anchovy paste for flavoring pasta sauces and salad dressings Dried herbs: bay leaves, dill, crumbled dried sage, dried thyme leaves, oregano, tarragon, Italian seasoning blend Spices: allspice (whole berries or ground), caraway seeds, chili powder, cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon,coriander seeds, cumin seeds, ground cumin, curry powder, ground ginger, dry mustard, nutmeg, paprika, cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper, turmeric Lemons, limes, oranges. The zest is as valuable as the juice. Organic fruit is recommended when you use a lot of zest. Granulated sugar Brown sugar Honey Pure maple syrup Unsweetened cocoa powder, natural and/or Dutch-processed Bittersweet chocolate, semisweet chocolate chips Canned Goods & Bottled Items Canned tomatoes, tomato paste Reduced-sodium chicken broth, beef broth and/or vegetable broth Clam juice “Lite” coconut milk for Asian curries and soups Canned beans: cannellini beans, great northern beans, chickpeas, black beans, red kidney beans Canned lentils Chunk light tuna and salmon Grains & Legumes Whole-wheat flour and whole-wheat pastry flour (Store opened packages in the refrigerator or freezer.) All-purpose flour Assorted whole-wheat pastas Brown rice and instant brown rice Pearl barley, quick-cooking barley Rolled oats Whole-wheat couscous Bulgur Dried lentils Yellow cornmeal Plain dry breadcrumbs Nuts, Seeds & Fruits Walnuts Pecans Almonds Hazelnuts Dry-roasted unsalted peanuts Pine nuts Sesame seeds Natural peanut butter Tahini Assorted dried fruits, such as apricots, prunes, cherries, cranberries, dates, figs, raisins (Store opened packages of nuts and seeds in the refrigerator or freezer.) Refrigerator Basics Low-fat milk or soymilk Low-fat or nonfat plain yogurt and/or vanilla yogurt Reduced-fat sour cream Good-quality Parmesan cheese and/or Romano cheese Sharp Cheddar cheese Eggs (large). Keep them on hand for fast omelets and frittatas. Orange juice Dry white wine. If you wish, substitute nonalcoholic wine. Water-packed tofu Freezer Basics Fruit-juice concentrates (orange, apple, pineapple) Frozen vegetables: edamame soy beans, peas, spinach, broccoli, bell pepper and onion mix, corn, chopped onions, small whole onions, uncooked hash browns Frozen berries Italian turkey sausage and sliced prosciutto to flavor fast pasta sauces Low-fat vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt for impromptu desserts
I just coppied the list, I know there is a lot of those things I don't even carry in my pantry, who has room for all that? When it comes to grains and flour, I keep all pourpouse flour and yellow corn meal (for making pizza crust) and oats for no-bakes and oatmeal cookies. I'm lucky if I have raisnis around, a pack of walnuts in the freezer, I keep tomato sauce, tomato paste and chicken broth on hand. I have a pretty good collection of spices. I keep basic condiments on hand, I do have hoisin sauce, but not sure what to use it in. I have plain and apple cider vinagar. After I made a terrible meatloaf my DH vowed to keep plain bread crumbs in stock for me!
Amy I think of that list as a suggested list. It's like our history curriculum...a basic outline that we can add to or subtract from as fits our needs. And I think it's an excellent basic list! So here's the question, but I think I'll follow Marylyn's lead and put it as a new thread so as not to get this one too far gone. (So don't answer it here, lol!) What ten things do you feel is absolutely necessary to have on hand in your pantry?
Looks like Amy beat me to it. LOL Here is the link I was going to post. http://teriskitchen.com/pantry.html Of course this list is probably not complete for every family as we all have our own tastes and dislikes. I jusst highlight the things I think I should have and make sure that I keep some in the cupboard at all times. Another thing you can store can good and stuff in your closets and under your bed. If someone were to offer you 50.00 to use your closet I bet you would let them. Don't think all food items have to go in the kitchen.
