stretching the buck

In today's economy, being a single income family is tough! I know there are a lot of families that are struggling a lot more than we are, but that doesn't make it easier. I realize there are families out there who have to choose between gas, food, paying the bills, etc... For those families I offer sympathy, I offer prayers, I offer compassion.

I stay home most of the time, just so I don't have to put gas in the car. I have started to buying more generic brands at the grocery store. I buy things on sale (got to love the buy one get one free sales). I spend a little over $100 a week for groceries and also spend about $100-$150 a month at BJ's to buy diapers, meats, paper products, etc. I cringe when I see the total, but then step back and say... wait that buy 7 days of breakfasts and dinner for Richard, Blake and myself. Blake and my lunches for 7 days and 5 days of lunches for Richard... ok that feels a bit better

One thing I look at is what I make for dinner. I've talked before about planning meals before grocery shopping. I look at what I can do to make meals stretch. This week we had /will have
Sunday: pizza casserole (noodles, ground turkey, tomato soup, and cheese) this made 3 dinners and a lunch
Monday: Salsa steak over couscous-- dinner and a lunch
Tuesday: Chicken and potatoes (chicken, potatoes, onion, peppers) this will probably make 1 dinner and a lunch
Wednesday: leftover Sloppy Richards
Thursday: chicken parm (chicken, spaghetti sauce, cheese)
Friday: no clue haven't planned it yet

I try to make at least one meal that will result in leftovers. We have a stand alone freezer that I keep all my meats and leftovers in... when I don't know what to have I just have to shop in my freezer

so what do you do to stretch a buck?
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8 comments:

  1. i try to eat the previous nights dinner for lunch! it's a saver!

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  2. I totally get it. I just spent $230 at Walmart on Sunday because Jillian needed eeeeeverything. Diapers, wipes, formula, baby water (we have a well and can't use that to mix bottles),baby food, and on, and on, and on for daycare and at home! I just about passed out when she told me the total!I eat a lot of meals at my in-laws house. I can't even imagine if I had to buy full grocery orders too!

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  3. We eats lots of leftovers. I usually only cook maybe three nights a week and the rest is leftovers. My husband is not a big eater so we alwasy have lots of food left. I try to plan my meals but do not always suceed. I also don't shop much. never for myself- and only once in a blue moon for Eliza.

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  4. I am really bad at making a menu and sticking to it..

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  5. My husband read somewhere that if you can go to the grocery store (at least) every 8 days....I try to stretch it and go every 12 days. I make my menu and stick to it. I normally will make a mini trip in between for milk and/or bread.

    Now having said all that, while we have been renovating and living in this apartment, we've eaten out A LOT!

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  6. I find it hard to save on food. We buy off brand. We are vegetarians- so no meat. I make all out bread products. But I go back and forth over price (we are on a tight budget) and the fresh, organic, EXPENSIVE stuff I would like...

    Your boys are adorable, by the way...

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  7. We try to stay close to home on the weekends and entertain ourselves in the backyard now that we have some fun stuff to play with!

    I also just called our car insurance co and saved us quite a bit by finding another discount we weren't getting.

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  8. I don't know how you do it that cheaply! According to my budget tracker, we've already spent $800 this month on grocery/Costco trips. Mabye I should follow your lead and plan ahead for our meals. Me and the girls do eat dinner leftovers for lunch a lot.

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