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By Annie Sires http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/usdafoodcost-home.htm It lists what an average family should spend, if they are thrifty, per week or per month for food. Now, as I explained before, we eat no meat. That doesn't mean we don't eat well. So, what do I do, Annie, if I eat meat and want to spend a few dollars less in this crazy economy? Well, according to the Thrifty Food Plan, eat more rice and grains and less fats and sugars and keep your portions of meat small. The basics of living cheaper in this economy are easy: eat less prepared foods, buy cheaper, buy fresh and make it yourself. I will talk about beans for a moment. Beans are one of our greatest foods. They are small, so more of the surface area is digestible than meat, they are full of fiber and if you make them a regular part of your diet, don't cause annoying smells. They are really cheap. Beans, cooked yourself, cost about $.79. Yes that's right. A pound of beans costs less than a dollar and beans can be put in almost any meal, although I have yet to have bean ice cream. Now, I'm not perfect. You see, like you, I have my favorites, like fish. I love grilled salmon and fresh fish. We finally live on the Eastern Seaboard again so I get fresh fish (have you ever had fish in Southern Germany? Let's just say the price will cause you to eat meat). The price is still outrageous. But it's a luxury we will go for on occasion. It does fall into that "less prepared, cheaper, fresh and made myself but not exactly the best bang for the buck. Fish is not a convenience food, but what about other convenience foods? This is one of the biggest cost expenditures in the American Food Budget. Do you buy cookies? Chips? Packaged foods like Kraft Mac and Cheese in a Box? Lunchables came out about 15 years ago and the spot in the deli area has grown to be larger than the vegetable section of the freezer. What about buying sliced deli meats, or pre-sliced cheese? What about bread? Let me tell you about each of these in order. Cookies, the price for a box of cookies, full of hydrogenated fats and can't name ingredients has steadily gone up. Making my own dozen or two takes about a half an hour. And I know that they have pronounceable ingredients. Flour, milk, eggs, shortening, sugar. Yeah, they're not healthy, but who can resist a hot toll house cookie? And they cost way less to make. Chips can be made with pita bread or tortillas. Costs me less than 1/3 to make some chips and they taste fantastic! And in minutes they are hot and salty on the plate to go with loads of home made salsa that is also quick and easy to make. Mac and Cheese your temptation? Learn to make a white sauce, boil some noodles and and add cheddar to the sauce. Put it all in the oven for 30 minutes with bread crumbs on top and your kids will never ask for the blue box again. Lunchables are so expensive and so nasty, and now they even offer a small box of milk and cereal for breakfast! At the cost of a regular box of cereal! You want that for yourself? Buy a bunch of those little shelf stable milks in the drinks aisle (that's all those things in the ready to eat breakfast are anyway) and buy some small plastic Glad ware, you know, the kind that your child could throw away if remembering to bring the thing home is too hard and a big bag of cheap cereal. You know the kind, the $1 a bag stuff. Just as good as the name brand. Never, if you value your pocket book, buy from the candy and cookie cereals. The Captain crunches and Corn Pops just aren't worth it. And if you don't give it to them. Ever. They won't crave it! Try making your own "lunchables" and use cookie cutters to cut the cheese and meat. Make mini pizzas yourself from mini bagels and you can make so many other wonderful foods for your kids, they will laugh at the kids in the lunch room. Just making your child's lunch and putting a note in there will make them happy. You'd be surprised how cheap a "Love you" and a home made cookie can be (not that love should be construed as cheap). Buy deli meat in the larger packages that are specifically marked for large amounts, as long as the price per ounce is cheaper than the smaller. It usually is. And buy cheap bologna. Don't buy the fancy "hickory smoked turkey breast" that is in the $4 package. Regular sliced turkey from the deli counter is cheaper. Buy more and freeze it in small batches. Buy your cheese in blocks. If you need shredded for a recipe, shred it yourself... you don't need the extra paper anyway (cellulose, a component of paper, is a key ingredient in all shredded cheese). You will drop dollars and dollars of money by doing these simple things. Bread. I have to laugh at the bread aisle. I have a 4 ingredient bread that takes 5 minutes and sits in the fridge. I have home made fresh bread and it cost me cents to make. That's right, a loaf of bread for about 10 cents. Most people pay $2-3 a loaf. If I want pizza dough, out comes the dough and the corn meal. If I want fresh cinnamon buns, out comes the dough. Yes, I have to pull the dough from the fridge, yes, I have to form it into a ball, then I have to wait, then I throw it into an oven. Is that so hard? Although it doesn't seem like much, every penny counts. If you buy a loaf of bread at $2.50 once every three days, for a year, you will spend $25 a month, and $300 a year, on bread alone. If you make your own, given a jar of yeast costs $2, two 5 lb bags of flour about $3, and salt is $1 and you will need flour once every 2 weeks, and a jar of yeast a month or more... you are talking $96, give or take. That's a savings of $204 a year. On bread. Where can you use $204. Yes, I know my numbers aren't totally accurate, but do you see the bigger picture. I highly recommend the "Tightwad gazette". It is readily available from eBay or Amazon used. It has many many frugal ideas. Remember the recycling program's green triangle: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle... well that can apply to your home and food life-style too. You can eat better, cheaper and healthier if you are willing to make some sacrifices in order to do it. The real cost of your life-style may be having the satisfaction that you are paying yourself back for all those years of fattening someone else's pockets. I know what I'd do with the $204, what would you do with it? Good luck and best wishes. ~~~~ Annie Sires is a Stay at Home Mom, she trains dogs, teaches her kids at home and runs A Time For Cards, where you can get a real card sent to someone you love without going to the store or licking a stamp or leaving it on the table. Contact her at www.atimeforcards.com atimeforcards@gmail.com or TO LEARN ABOUT BUDGET STRETCHER PREMIUM Giving You The Power To Control Your Money |
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