amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

Mrsmissy · 02-06-2003, 01:06 PM

We are in a bind right now. And, I'm looking to cut costs in any way that I can.

We usually eat a lot of casseroles, but I'm just clueless how to get enough food for my bottomless pit son, my snacking daughter, my MAJOR meat eating husband, and myself on only $30 a week.

What do you do? What do you eat? Menus? Recipes?

*~Disney_Jen~* · 02-06-2003, 01:23 PM

Do you have an Aldi's around your area? We were tight a few weeks ago and went grocery shopping there. We spent $45 there and it lasted us a week.

Our family snacks alot so the major expense was some of the snacks for the kids and dh to take to work. Crackers, granola bars, yougurt, pudding, canned fruit cheese strings stuff like that.

We ate alot of pasta, mac n cheese, sandwiches for lunch or breakfast at dinner time. and some tuna casserole.

Rainedazze · 02-06-2003, 01:35 PM

I second Aldi's!!

It is basically generic brands but still very good and VERY affordable! Their produce is CHEAP and fresh!! I have never bought their frozen product though because it is 55 miles away and I am always worried things will be thawed out before I get home.

If you have a bread machine you could make all your breads with it, do you have a local farmers market? How about a butcher shop?? I find that the meat is a lot cheaper and better tasting!!

We eat alot of chicken and hamburger based meals which saves a bit on our meat bill, and most snacks, breads etc are made from scratch instead of store bought.

I know there are a few mamas here that do EXTREMLEY well with the grocery budgets, maybe they will post too!

amelia · 02-06-2003, 01:47 PM

Do you have a bakery thrift store nearby? I buy whole chickens when they're on sale (the cheapest here I can get is .59 to .69 a pound) as many as they'll let me lol. I roast one upright on a can in the oven or on the grill we eat on that for a day or 2 then make soup in the crock pot w/the carcass and serve over noodles w/biscuits. there's 3 nights right there, have scramlette one night, tuna casserole another make a pot of chili and the next night put the leftovers in a pot w/ a can of tomato sauce and 2 cans of water to make chili soup.

I cook dried beans in the crockpot often and freeze what i'm not going to use that day

frozen fries are one of my familys favorite things but i make them from scratch now in the oven, as long as we can afford ketchup noones complaining lol.

when peanut butter goes on sale I buy 24 jars, same for tuna and other easy to store in the garage staples. I find interesting things at Big Lots like cheap pasta and canned stuff in brands I've never heard of.

It's a bit of an obsession for me right now so I'm writing a novel, sorry! hope this helps someone

3Gs4Me · 02-06-2003, 01:54 PM

It is hard to do and eat healthfully fo that amount. Many of the cheap foods are high in refined carbs. Make sure if you are cutting your food bill that you leave room for plenty of fruits, veggies, and whole foods. Good luck!

MamaWolf · 02-06-2003, 02:12 PM

this is what we do:

Chicken quarters go on sale here a lot during the summer, so we stock up good. I have a deep freeze. They usually go for .19 a pound. So, that's 1.90 for a 10 lb bag. My monthly budget is $100 (5 people, me, dh, and 2 toddlers, 1 bf baby) Sooo... I would use about 20 to buy chicken quarters. Then I seperate then into legs and thighs at home. Throw some in a crockpot (4 quarters) makes 2 servings of chicken and noodles, some for chicken soup, some for casseroles, chicken salad, barbeque, etc.

Breads, the local store here I can get bread for .59 or on sale for .25 sometimes. They aren't the healthiest bread, it's just cheap white. But sometimes that's all I can afford at the time.

So far milk and cheese etc I get on wic

Hamburger I stock up on when it hits .89 a lb. I usually buy about 10 lbs which last me a while. For a good snack, check into making cheeseburger rolls. They're like hotpockets. You can freeze individually and it takes 2 minutes in the microwave to thaw. 1 lb of burger makes about 12 rolls. www.notjustbeans.com under sample recipes.

Pork chops, steaks, roasts, ,etc, I stock up when on sale. I always spend around $15 on produce and fruits. My family doesn't like fresh veggies, so I stock up on the frozen when it goes on sale.

I guess that's all I have to say, except rice and noodles. Use those and breads as fillers. They will fill you up more than everything else.

Most of all, good luck to you!

mommy2maya · 02-06-2003, 02:24 PM

Scratch cooking! That will save you lots!! Do you have a produce store near you? We have quite a few- and let me tell you it is great! We still eat tons of fresh veggies & fruits, and it is less than half the price of the supermarket. For example, yesterday I spent about $14 for the week, for the three of us, well four if you count me eating alot cause I am pregnant, lol.

Anyway, I got- several heads of broccoli, 10 bananas, lots of baby carrots, 3 lbs, potatoes, 2 lbs onions, 2 bunchs of asparagus, 8 tomatoes, 4 plums, strawberries, lettuce, cucumbers, and more stuff I can't think of right now. Anyway, this was about twice what I spend in the summer- for the same amount of food.

Add to that some pasta, breads, and some meats, and you are good to go!

Do you get wic? That would help a ton as far as milk eggs, cereal & such go.

A_Furry_Thing · 02-06-2003, 02:27 PM

Don't forget about spaghetti. It is really cheap. I buy the cans of sauce,Hunts I think, it is .97 a can, spaghetti noodles are 2/1.00. I onlu usually need one box of noodles. so it is only $1.50 for a meal for 9 people! Of course I always buy premade frozen garlic bread and it costs more than all the other stuff. But you could make your own too. I don't always put hamburger or meatballs in my sauce, I prefer it plain.
Mindi

Mrsmissy · 02-06-2003, 02:55 PM

There is an ALdi's here in town, but it's about 30 minutes on the other side. Probably not worth it in gas money.

I always forget to buy canned fruit. That would be better than no fruit, right? The kids eat apples and bananas right now. We've got canned green beans and peas, frozen broccoli, fresh carrots and celery and peppers.

It's gonna be lean here for awhile (which is OK...I need to lose weight anyway! If we dont' have ice cream, I can't eat it, right??)

No, we're not on WIC. We are above the income restrictions for it. We are just screwed right now. Medical bills that we weren't anticipating (darn HMO insurance! I'm still trying to fight them on this!) and no work for me during the month of December really drained us. I turned down the temperature in the house and everyone got sick, so I put it back up to 70 now.

Thanks for all the advice. I have that "Not just beans" cookbook, but it's usually so full of processed stuff that I don't use it. My family won't fall apart if we eat like that for a couple months, right?

~Denise~ · 02-06-2003, 02:58 PM

Missy, don't you HATE being above the income for many things, yet below to make it easily? Sigh...........

mommy2maya · 02-06-2003, 03:04 PM

Well, to relate this to the Income tax thread- maybe you could take the maximum exemptions for DH's check? That could get you some extra spendable money. And if you like getting a big refund back, you could always change it back once you are comfortable again.

AttachedToFour · 02-06-2003, 03:06 PM

Pasta, potatoes, eggs, bread and beans are fairly inexpensive things that you can do a lot with. I also buy shredded cheese in bulk and freeze it so I always have it on hand...we use lot's of cheese.
The key is to make your own food and not buy convenience foods. I always make home-made cookies or pudding for my little snackers.
Also, Dollar General has great prices on their food. They don't have a huge selection, but what they have is CHEAP. We go there for canned items since the nearest Aldi's is 30 minutes away.
Good luck!

jacNal'smom · 02-06-2003, 03:24 PM

for breakfasts. Usually, pumpkin/raisin. I make a dozen and we snack on them during the day. 1 can of pumpkin will last for 4 batches.

Polenta...basically cornmeal mush. I like to flavor it with herbs and boullion and a little cheese. Sometimes, we eat it hot and creamy..think grits. Sometimes, I put it in a baking pan and in the fridge...when it is solid, I cut it into triangles, put on a cookie sheet and bake. The kids love it that way. Very cheap and goes great with soup, beans, etc... A whole food.

Beans and rice...buy dry beans, throw in the crockpot with some spices and water. Cook all day. Really cheap and really good for you.

Y'know...frozen veggies are more nutritious for you usually. Most fresh got picked before it was ripe and the nutrients didn't get to form properly. Frozen was picked when it was ripe and tended to right away. Cheaper and no waste. Course...I like to eat fresh myself. Go through the ads and buy what's on sale.

Make your meat go a long way...just use a little in spaghetti, soups, etc... We eat frittata sometimes for dinner. Kind of like a baked omelet. No meat and dh usually doesn't complain. Serve it with those cheap muffins..lol.

homemade pizza. Again...really cheap! Homemade bread. You can use whole grain flours and get something fairly nutritious for not that much money.

Yeah...you can eat for $30 a week. For a long time, when I had the energy and time to plan for it...I tried to only spend $20. We live in Wash. DC/Balt. area and food is kind of expensive..

herc · 02-06-2003, 03:30 PM

Missy, if you will go through and list exactly what is in your cabinet and freezer, I can help you make a menu plan. The ideas you are getting are great, but they aren't very balanced as far as veggies go. If you would rather email it, thats fine, but listing it here might help get some menu ideas going

That's usually how i start the month, with cabinet inventory. Muffins with veggies added (carrots or zucchini are easy ones) make great snacks and help deviate from the raw carrots with dip as a snack. You can also do pumpkin muffins. Liam wants attention, so I will type more later

heather

ElDucko · 02-06-2003, 04:09 PM

first off ((missy)) this has got to be hard.....

Now, I'm going to give you a lot of advice here, so if any of it doesn't apply or offends, please realize that I'm just throwing a lot of ...noodles at the wall to see what sticks yk?

So I'm not trying to be mean at all.

First off, I second the cheaper stores/cupons thing, but you probably knew that one.

Then, I'd look around in my cupboards and see what we had, like us, we have tons of rice. So we don't need to buy any for one, and for another, it's cheaper to get stuff to go with the rice than to make a whole other meal.

Then I looked around to see what I could cut out, and what I had to have for sanity. I know coffee's spendy, but I have to have it. Meat (which we do eat here) can go, or we get the most meat for the least amount of money. Plus I realized that I had a lot of stuff in there that I didn't realize would go together to 'make' anything yk? I've made bread and pretzles etc because I had a lot of yeast and flour.

Then I recalled as much as I could from my nutriton class and knowledge my mom had from raising me very poor.....like, you can live w/o meat, but you do need a protein, so beans+ rice = protein kinda stuff helps. You're not going to be able to eat fresh produce probably, so get frozen. It's second best, usually has all it's nurtients and there's not usually all that salt (like canned).

We get the cheapest stuff, like giant peanut butter, which can last more than a week and is cheaper per pound even though it's more spendy at first.

Stuff that's filling and cheap, potatoes etc. You can also cook some things a lot of ways to break up the boredom (like rice and potatoes etc) Do you have any really old cookbooks? They'll have tons of recipies for potatoes and rice and such.

I'm sure you're thinking about wic, foodstamps and the like, Humiliating I know but you gotta eat. I have to apply for a special thing for our foodstamps because I can't get there, some states have the app online (washington does!)

I really hope everything works out mama!
jessica