Help me cut costs, 900/mo normal?

[Anonymous]

White vinegar doesn't stink and the smell does wear off. We buy big jugs of white vinegar to clean -- it kills germs too. We also use a mixture of white vinegar and water to wipe down the hardwood floors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:White vinegar doesn't stink and the smell does wear off. We buy big jugs of white vinegar to clean -- it kills germs too. We also use a mixture of white vinegar and water to wipe down the hardwood floors.

Can you tell me exact proportions for the hardwood floors?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

We often have PB sandwiches or cold cuts (store brand). Cut up veggies. At least one night a week we have whole wheat pasta/sauce. Meat with baked potatoes. Rice/homemade stir fry. Ground beef with homemade taco seasoning on salad with tortilla chips. Eggs are cheap and good for any time of day.




How do you make homemade taco seasoning? I'd love to do this to cut down on the salt in store bought taco seasoning.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/taco-seasoning-i/detail.aspx

We use this one more or less. It's good and not too spicy for the kids.

[Anonymous]

We spend around the same you OP for a family of four with two under two.

Here's what I am trying:
1--pasta twice a week with frozen veggies (throw in pesto or alfredo sauce)
2--black bean burgers (that I make)
3--egg anything
4--bananas for snacks for DH and I so we aren't tempted to buy something while out
5--soups (I like the crock pot suggestion and again easy to make leftovers to take with)

If you cut back on meat, buy paper products from Costco and also take a look at your liquid in take you may see a difference (we did). I stopped buying cans of diet coke to take to work and also bought juice only for the kids. That was $12/week savings alone. Cut out the meat and you'll save another $15/week or so. Those two savings times four saves $100 right there at least.

[Anonymous]

Where do you shop?
I find my grocery bills vary considerbaly depending on which chain i go to. IMO Shoppers is far cheaper than Giant for example.

[Anonymous]

We also clean with vinegar. I started doing it b/c I read about what is in cleaning solution and how toxic it is. The smell doesn't last beyond a few minutes after wiping up. It actually absorbs odors.

We don't use paper towels either- we wash dishtowels and use reusable napkins that we launder. I do keep some on hand for the really gross stuff or patting chicken dry, you get the idea, but I don't use them for regular cleaning or to dry my hands. My theory is why would I buy something to throw away.

We shop a lot at Costco, and we buy organic dairy and certain key fruits and veggies, sometimes more, but at least those. Go to Environmental Working Group to find out what is VIP to buy organic.

[Anonymous]

You could probably save money without drastically changing everything.

If you are non-organic ( we only do organic milk and apples/applesauce) here are some tips:

1. Coupons..useful to save a few dollars but over-rated. Most coupons are for prepared foods or snack things that either are not that good or much cheaper to make yourself. Only use coupons for something you would buy anyway. Save the coupon until the item goes on sale at the grocery store. Check to make sure the larger package is not still cheaper per ounce than the smaller one even with the coupon. Most grocery stores will double coupons under one dollar. Giant occasionally does dollar doublers. I have had good luck with always finding coupons for soup, cereal, and yogurt on a monthly basis.

2. Only buy items on sale and switch off grocery stores. This can really add up anywhere between 30%-50%. Most things seem to go on sale every few weeks at either Safeway or Giant. Stock up and only buy when it is on sale. You can check the circulars or the online store (use the on-line delivery option for giant just don't place the order). Cereal on sale and with a coupon is so much cheaper. We seldom pay more than $2 a box (Cheerios, Wheaties etc for kids, DH loves junk cereals and these can go down to 1.50 sometimes).

3. Costo. Be careful and compare prices. Costco is cheaper than grocery stores or Target full price but more expensive for most things when they are on sale elsewhere. We use it for things that either do not go on sale, or are consistently at or just below sale prices elsewhere. Paper towels, dishwashing detergent, laundry detergent, diapers (Huggies), are good. Toothpaste, shampoo, and cereal mch cheaper on sale at CVS or the grocery store. Milk even organic is cheaper at the grocery stores. Sandwich bread is a good deal at Costco. I buy several bags and keep it in the freezer. This works for the bagels too.

4. Produce. Buy in season and on sale. Whole food's produce can actually be cheaper than safeway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:17:59 here. We are eating homemade soup and cut up veggies. It will probably be lunch for the rest of the week (big pot). Total cost under $10 for the pot. Veggies another $10, but enough for several meals. Don't buy precut, they are much more expensive. I cut everything up and put in tupperware for easy snacking when I have a few minutes.

We often have PB sandwiches or cold cuts (store brand). Cut up veggies. At least one night a week we have whole wheat pasta/sauce. Meat with baked potatoes. Rice/homemade stir fry. Ground beef with homemade taco seasoning on salad with tortilla chips. Eggs are cheap and good for any time of day.

Nothing we eat takes more than 15 minutes to throw together -- I have a newborn and don't have time to cook fancy meals. Today's soup was made of odds and ends -- some burger, some carrots, some celery, some rice, tomato paste, a few parsnips, an onion, half a box of leftover chicken stock, garlic, spices to taste. Throw it all in there and simmer for 2 hours. Easy and cheap.

How can this last you all week? Not trying to be snarky - that sounds like it would be one meal for my husband. Maybe two for me - certainly not lunch for a week. Maybe our bills are so high because we eat too much?

[Anonymous]

I buy organic everything, use a CSA, cook everything from scratch. We go out to eat about once a month. For our family of 5, we spend about $600-700 per month for food, excluding eating out.

I save money by using the CSA. It's far cheaper for organic meats and produce than Whole Foods. Look online or ask neighbors for recommendations for one in your area.

I make my own chicken broth, make my own spaghetti sause, make my own ketchup, etc. I never buy prepared foods, mostly for health reasons. But they cost a lot. OP, look at the processed foods you buy, and see if you can eliminate some of them. That will definitely save you money.

I buy lots of produce at the farmer's market, freeze it during the late fall, and eat it all winter. I supplement with frozen organic Trader Joe's veggies during the winter. We get sick of frozen veggies by spring, but it's far cheaper than buying fresh produce during the winter.

I buy a year's worth of paper towels and toilet paper when I find my brand (scott tissue) on sale. It can be very cheap at a supermarket or Target once a year or so.

My kids are out of diapers now, but I always bought generic diapers on sale at CVS or the supermarket, or at Costco. I never had a problem with the generic brands leaking. Usually they look exactly like Huggies and Pampers, just in a generic package. Diapers are outrageously expensive.

Post-diapers, I quit my Costco membership because I was buying too much stuff I didn't need solely because it was cheap. I'd buy huge bags of organic produce, and end up throwing most of it away because we couldn't use it quickly enough (things like lettuce that you can't freeze).

I always take a list when shopping. it's amazing how many things end up in your cart when you are simply wandering through the store.

If you buy organic, shop at Trader Joe's not Whole Foods whenever possible. WF's prices are always $1 more per item than TJs. You don't notice something's $2.99 vs $1.99 because both prices seem low, but those dollars add up. I researched this, and found many items I buy regularly are cheaper at Trader Joe's.

Clean out your pantry. I found lots of food at the back of my pantry I'd forgotten, things like bottles of simmer sauce and chutneys. Use this stuff up! And don't buy any more of it.

Do menu planning once a week. It takes 20 minutes or so. We have older kids, so we have a family meeting for meal planning on Sunday nights, usually, so the kids get to help decide what they will eat for dinner this week. It cuts down on food complaints (you'll find out someday....)

[Anonymous]

Put .25 tsp of lavender oil in with the white vinegar and it doesn't smell at all (well, it smells, but not like vinegar).

[Anonymous]

Grocery Bill Was 'Out of Control,' but Year-Long Meal Plan Saves Texas Woman Time and Money

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/mom-plans-meals-entire-year/story?id=9618348

[Anonymous]

DH and I have 2 kids (1 and 4 yo) and my grocery bill is at MOST $50-60/week. My DH is provided lunch at work and the kids get lunch and snacks at daycare as well. I bring my lunch and make most dinners at home. I mainly shop at Harris Teeter and use the sales/coupon matches found on www.becentsable.net I get at least 2 copies of the paper each week for coupons and just date and file them in an 8.5x11 plastic accordion file. I usually only buy the sale/coupon matchups each week and stock up on freezables (i.e. meats) and cleaning/household supplies when they are really cheap. I also typically only buy fresh fruits/veggies when on sale. We do hit Costco every so often and I pick up eggs, milk, cheese because their prices are generally very low for these items. Also, almost all of the products I buy are name brand.

I make dinners/meals according to what I have stocked up on or what is on sale. There is some flexibility in what we eat, but overall my DH says he hasn't really noticed a difference in the food we have on hand. There tends to be cycles in sales and I am seeing that now that I have been couponing for awhile. For example, I had a run on cleaning products for awhile and were getting clorox spray, Fantastic, Lysol wipes, Scrubbing Bubbles anywhere from $0.19 to $0.79. I stocked up until DH called 'uncle' and said he couldn't find any more storage space. I see cycles of breakfast items on sale, i.e. eggo waffles (so I tell DH that they will be eating waffles more often for breakfast) and then I score several boxes of raisin bran or cheerios for change and they will eat more cereal for breakfast.

Oh, and I get rain checks for items out of stock - particularly meats. Today, HT was out of the brown sugar bone-on ham (which almost tastes like a honey baked ham) so I got a rain check. At $1.99/lb it will be much cheaper that sliced deli meat next week.

I have brought our grocery/household items bill down from about what you were spending to $200-250/month. We eat dinner out maybe 1x/week. If we can hold out, I usually try to reserve our meals out for lunch on weekends. Lunches are generally cheaper and I tend to find more coupons for lunch specials.

Now if I could only start making larger batches of meals and freezing - that would make my life less hectic after work each day!!

[Anonymous]

Try this website for lots of deals http://redemptionunlimited.blogspot.com/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:17:59 here. We are eating homemade soup and cut up veggies. It will probably be lunch for the rest of the week (big pot). Total cost under $10 for the pot. Veggies another $10, but enough for several meals. Don't buy precut, they are much more expensive. I cut everything up and put in tupperware for easy snacking when I have a few minutes.

We often have PB sandwiches or cold cuts (store brand). Cut up veggies. At least one night a week we have whole wheat pasta/sauce. Meat with baked potatoes. Rice/homemade stir fry. Ground beef with homemade taco seasoning on salad with tortilla chips. Eggs are cheap and good for any time of day.

Nothing we eat takes more than 15 minutes to throw together -- I have a newborn and don't have time to cook fancy meals. Today's soup was made of odds and ends -- some burger, some carrots, some celery, some rice, tomato paste, a few parsnips, an onion, half a box of leftover chicken stock, garlic, spices to taste. Throw it all in there and simmer for 2 hours. Easy and cheap.

How can this last you all week? Not trying to be snarky - that sounds like it would be one meal for my husband. Maybe two for me - certainly not lunch for a week. Maybe our bills are so high because we eat too much?

Soup-maker here -- by the time all that went in the pot (plus water for broth instead of stew) it filled up 3/4 of my 10 qt. stockpot and we have a LOT left over. I used what I had around but a decent amount of the main stuff (1.5 pounds of burger (bought in bulk), a cup each of rice, carrots and celery). I am a big eater too but can't for the life of me seem to make a small pot of soup. Oh, and I threw in a can of low-sodium corn and a can of tomato soup too. Make that $12 for the pot. The rice takes up a lot of liquid so I probably added at least 8 cups of water, maybe more. It was still a pretty thick soup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:17:59 here. We are eating homemade soup and cut up veggies. It will probably be lunch for the rest of the week (big pot). Total cost under $10 for the pot. Veggies another $10, but enough for several meals. Don't buy precut, they are much more expensive. I cut everything up and put in tupperware for easy snacking when I have a few minutes.

We often have PB sandwiches or cold cuts (store brand). Cut up veggies. At least one night a week we have whole wheat pasta/sauce. Meat with baked potatoes. Rice/homemade stir fry. Ground beef with homemade taco seasoning on salad with tortilla chips. Eggs are cheap and good for any time of day.

Nothing we eat takes more than 15 minutes to throw together -- I have a newborn and don't have time to cook fancy meals. Today's soup was made of odds and ends -- some burger, some carrots, some celery, some rice, tomato paste, a few parsnips, an onion, half a box of leftover chicken stock, garlic, spices to taste. Throw it all in there and simmer for 2 hours. Easy and cheap.

How can this last you all week? Not trying to be snarky - that sounds like it would be one meal for my husband. Maybe two for me - certainly not lunch for a week. Maybe our bills are so high because we eat too much?

Soup-maker here -- by the time all that went in the pot (plus water) it filled up 3/4 of my 10 qt. stockpot and we have a LOT left over. I used what I had around but a decent amount of the main stuff (1.5 pounds of burger (bought in bulk), a cup each of rice, carrots and celery). I am a big eater too but can't for the life of me seem to make a small pot of soup. Oh, and I threw in a can of low-sodium corn and a can of tomato soup too. Make that $12 for the pot. The rice takes up a lot of liquid so I probably added at least 8 cups of water, maybe more. It was still a pretty thick soup.