This post is actually a hybrid: a re-post of an older post from 18 months ago, coupled with a few new ideas that I have embraced since then. Learning to eat well without breaking the bank is an art, one that I'm constantly working at, but also one that most of us can master if we're willing to spend just a little extra time in the kitchen. Convenience will balloon a grocery budget fast!
I am always on the lookout for ways to trim the fat from our household budget. With six kids expenses can sneak up on you in ways and places you least expect: An inopportune trip to the emergency room, new piano lesson books, replacing outgrown sneakers…the list goes on and on.
I am constantly aware that it’s my responsibility as a homemaker to do whatever I can to stretch my hubby’s hard earned dollars as far as possible.While many of our expenses are fixed, there is one area that I constantly struggled to keep a handle on, and that’s our grocery budget. It seemed that no matter how many sales I shopped and coupons I cut, and even prayed, the bottom line wouldn’t budge. I told myself that there was nothing I could do about it except make peace with the fact that our grocery really did cost a small fortune.
One day I noticed how many paper towels were in our trash can. We were literally going through a big roll every two days! My husband asked how much I was paying for them, and when he heard the price, he was the first to question if we really needed paper towels to begin with. Wouldn’t it be more cost effective to use cotton, washable towels in the kitchen? We already use the washer and dryer everyday: no extra cost associated with that.
Who needs paper towels? I do, I thought! They are an indispensable part of my day. Toddlers make a lot of spills, I am constantly washing my hands, and the big girls always grab a paper towel when they make a sandwich or eat a snack of some kind. Why can’t they put their apple slices on plates, he asked? We already use the dishwasher every day; no extra cost associated with that. Now this may seem insignificant, but I was spending $30 per month on paper towels alone.When I finally stopped to challenge myself on the way I’ve been doing things, I discovered that there were many things I was spending extra money on at the grocery store that were wholly unnecessary.
For example, when I was a kid, we used vinegar and water as glass cleaner. The mirrors always shined and rarely had streaks. A gallon of vinegar costs about a buck. A bottle of quality glass cleaner costs $3. Instant oatmeal, turkey breakfast sausage, bagged salad…oh my goodness! I was wasting more money than I ever even realized. Yes, it takes a little more time and energy to make these things from scratch, but it’s not like I have to cook breakfast before I rush out to work in the morning or cook dinner on the fly after a long day at work. I can make the time to do things in a way that doesn’t break the bank.
I have also finally began to make much of our bread from scratch. A big family eats a lot of bread. A quality loaf of bread in our area costs $3. I can make 3 loaves for that much. Don't get me wrong. I still buy a loaf of bread when I shop. I haven't totally discarded convenience. Yet. I just don't buy the 2 per week that was the norm. I don't however, buy hamburger buns anymore. They taste better made from scratch, and are not hard to make. I don't buy dinner breads or baking mixes anymore either.
Cooking from scratch in general, not just breads, will quikly deflate your grocery bill. We pay dearly for the convenience of those convenience foods. Do I even need to mention how expensive it is to eat out on regular basis? And I have found that in general, it really doesn't take much time to make some things from scratch. For example, a jar of mayonnaise costs $3. My daughter and I decided to make some from scratch, just to see how it turned out. It took us a total of 5 minutes to make the most delicious, fresh tasting mayonnaise- right there in our blender. We made it with ingredients we already had in our kitchen. I've also begun buying and cooking dry beans, which go much further than cans for the money. Every week I am incorporating new ways to feed my family fresher, made from scratch foods, rather than the more expensive stuff from boxes, full of dyes and preservatives masquerading as real food.
I am happy to say that in recent months I have shaved $125 a month off our grocery budget! I still buy paper towels, but I no longer purchase them in bulk (yes, I was buying them in bulk!), and we use them much more sparingly. A small roll can easily last us half the week. My kids much prefer my homemade breakfast sausage over the prepackaged stuff. I can’t believe it never occurred to me before to question what I viewed as a necessity. Old habits die hard, I guess.
One question I am learning to ask myself whenever I shop is “Who really needs this?” I find that this is a better question for me than asking if I really need it because I can always find a reason to believe that I need a thing, whether anyone else needs or not. If you are trying to find ways to budget better, you might want to ask your self: Who really needs paper towels? Or pre-shredded cheeses? Or gourmet coffee? Or even glass cleaner? I’ll admit it takes some adjusting to switch from the world of the quick and convenient to one of resourcefulness and creativity, but isn’t that one of the blessings of being full time homemakers to begin with?
21 graceful responses:
Yes and yes. Food is better from scratch, and cleaning is best with vinegar, water, baking soda, and some elbow grease!
It's funny, Terry, I so appreciated your post and it made me refelct on some things. When Caleb and I were first married and we were uber-broke, I couldn't work and caleb had a tiny student income, I made the pennies streeeetch and that included not eating much meat or cheese because it was expensive, learning to cook with dry beans, homemade everything (which I had to learn as I wasn't raised learning to cook) and forget paper towels, that would have been an insane luxury we couldn't afford.
I was a stay-at-home wife at the time, not by choice but because my immigrant status wouldn't yet allow me to work in Canada, so I had time to learn to make bread from scratch, and had time enough to do laundry so that using cloths and rags instead of paper products was totally doable. I even learned to mix my own laundry detergent to save money.
Once I was able to work I of course got a job and it all went down-hill from there as far as buying convenience items. Where as I once would have looked at hte price of prewashed, bagged lettuce and heaved at the cost, I now would never dream of buying a head of lettuce i actually had to wash and spin. Forget it. Who has the time? (And in truth, I probably do have hte time now that I've cut back to part-time hours, but I've grown accustomed and lazy, truth be told). And dry beans? Homemade hamburger rolls? FORGET IT.
I am the perfect example of the fact that when a woman is in the workforce, more often than not the cost of living goes up so much that there's almost little purpose in earning a paycheck, and we don't even have kids yet, which would increase the convenience spending and, God forbid, daycare costs if we went that route (which I would rather pluck out my own eyes that do, of course). I often think about this fact but to be honest feel trapped. As much as I say I believe women should be home, even if they don't have kids, and even though Caleb would probably let me stay home full time, I can't get it in my head that I shouldn't at least be working part time until (or if) the Lord blesses us with children. I can't bring myself to really believe that my contribution full-time in the home, without children, would be equal to bringing in an income, even though i would readily support and encourage another woman to see it that way. It's amazing how the world has warped our mind, and made us fearful of fulfilling the task the Lord has ordained for us.
I'm in prayer about the issue these days in a big way. Thanks for the great tips!
I stopped buying paper towels and napkins when I had to start paying an arm and a leg for organic meat. (We discovered that my son has behavior problems associated with all sorts of chemicals found in food.) I don't miss them one bit, and like you I do laundry every day so it hasn't added to that at all.
Dry beans are only good if they work for you. I have wasted lots of money on them because they were "cheaper". I've followed the soaking directions explicitly, and all I EVER get is hard, unedible beans, I even left one lot soaking for two days and still hard.
Congratulations on trimming $125 of your food budget! I'm always looking for ways to cut back. I love cooking from scratch and my family wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks for the inspiring post :)
So, uh...you gonna share that sausage recipe or what?
Good post. I have similar goals for my grocery budget...eliminate as many convenience foods as possible to cut costs and cook more from scratch. Our tastebuds appreciate it as well as my wallet! I usually only buy convenience foods when I get a great price by combining sales/coupons!
Joanna, the turkey sausage is a very simple recipe. To a pound of ground turkey, add:
1 tsp. sage
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. black pepper (or 1/4 tsp. red pepper if you like your sausage spicy)
Mix and make patties, links, or whatever your prefer. Cook.
When I was growing up in So CA (I'm probably a whole lot older than you and your readers), we never had paper towels. Even as a young married woman, I didn't often use them. Now, though, I am in the habit of buying them. I cringe at the expense, and have made a concerted effort to cut back. I think, however, that I may need to join a support group to break the habit.
Thanks for the ideas. I'm a frugal shopper, and God allows me to get good deals, but I always appreciate new tips and pointers.
Cathy
I with Joanna-I never even thought of making homemade sausage. Wouldn't even know where to start.
Char,
I was surprised to learn how easy it is to make the things that I thought might be very complicated. In fact the other night, my oldest daughter wanted to make some beef sausage (her favorite) so we made up a batch of about 60 links, cooked them all, and then froze them.
When sausage is on the breakfast menu, we just heat and eat. Basically the same thing you do with sausage you buy out of your grocer's freezer- only cheaper and with fewer unknown ingredients that you can't even begin to pronounce!
By the way, ladies, we didn't use a recipe for the beef sausage. We played it by ear but this recipe is pretty close to what we threw in our 2 pounds of ground beef.
Give it a try. You'll like it!
Terry, are the sage and ginger dried? Or are they 'fresh', or does it matter?
Mrs. W, try cooking the beans on a lower heat for a longer period of time. That might help. Another suggestion? Heat the water you are going to soak the beans in. Most recipes claim that after pre-soaking dry beans that they'll be tender enough to eat in 30 minutes. I've never been so fortunate! It takes at least an hour.
Hope that is much more helpful than my unhelpful first response. Oh, and you can always buy canned. I still do from occasionally as a time sabing measure.
Nicole,
I use dried sage (rubbed, actually is what is says on the bottle), and ground ginger. I'm thinking either should work pretty well.
Who needs gourmet coffee? Me!! Me!! (or are you meaning Starbucks and the like, because I brew my own stuff...purchased (and used) in bulk).
Nurse Bee
You know, this is great... and it can apply to singles, too! Don't forget single people who also struggle to make ends meet, especially in high-cost areas. It's true that I don't have time to cook breakfast every morning and am usually exhaused when I come in from work in the evening, but I've taken to doing bulk cooking on the weekends. I then pre-portion/pack foods and either freeze for future use and/or put in the fridge to be microwaved when I'm in a hurry. And yes, it saves a BUNDLE of cash!
Just my two cents from a single's point of view. (Enjoyed your post!) ;o)
Hey Terry! Love this series.
I have some really good (PTL!) brown beans in the fridge from last night. I soaked mine overnight and then poured them in my crockpot the next a.m. with some minced garlic, onion flakes, country ham chips (I'm southern) and seasoned salt. Cooked on high about 5 hours and low about 2 hours. They were very good. Made some corn bread from scratch and even my 5 year old eats them. Cheap and easy.
Mrs W,
I always soak beans overnight and then bring the water to a boil for about a half hour, then cook in the crock pot for 8 hours. That has been the only way have been able to get really good beans.
Kyla Jean
Mrs. W,
Regarding dried beans, if you have hard water, you may not be able to make them soft enough to eat, no matter how long you cook them for. I don't know if there is a way to overcome this problem, but I have heard of people with hard water having this bean problem.
-TK
I've soaked beans for two days, boiled them, and used the crockpot...all with the same lot of beans! I STILL only get hard beans. LOL so I have trouble believing that beans even soften haha.
Well said Terry. Part of being at home is making the money go further. No wonder so many working women don't think they can afford to be at home if they are buying bread, paper towels, etc.
I already teach my daughter, who is three, that daddy works at an office and mommy works at home. And my job is to make sure we get the most for our money.
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