We have officially cut our grocery bill by 3/4 possibly more. Basically the only thing we spend money on anymore is meat, and since we were so proactive in our freezing of meat after buying in bulk, it seems like we haven't spent ANY money on food in the past month! Here are a 5 cost saving tips for you in case you want to save money by doing things yourself!
1- Buy in bulk, freeze for later. We buy all of our meat in bulk when it is on sale, and force ourselves not to buy more until it is on sale again. That means we have to get everything that we like when it is on sale, or we miss our chance. I package everything individually in saran wrap, and then package it again with as many servings I can fit in Gallon size Ziploc bags. It's great because when I need to pull something out for dinner, I just pull out the amount of servings that I need, and let it thaw overnight. It's also great for unexpected guests that drop by and you need to throw something together for them. We also stock up on staple items like ready to make pasta salads, pastas and rice, and fill our pantry as full as we can while items like that are on sale. It makes it really easy when you want a quick meal and don't have time to go to the store for ingredients.
2- Coupons Coupons Coupons. We really use these like they are going out of style. It's kind of a pain, but I make sure I subscribe to the store fliers for stores I frequent, and clip coupons and keep them in a handy location. It makes it really easy when things are NOT on sale and we need an item. I can't tell you how many coupons I have used.
3- Make your own, anything and everything. Read labels, and if you recognize the items on the label, you probably can make it yourself. For example, I used to buy Torani coffee syrup because I loved the flavor in my coffee, and a 25.4 oz bottle of the syrup and a bulk container of non-dairy creamer was cheaper than buying flavored creamer for the same amount of servings. I read the label only to find out that the main ingredients were water and sugar, and vanilla flavoring. I knew I could handle that! So here is a recipe for you: 1cup water, 1cup sugar, 1 1/2 tbsp french vanilla extract. Mix water and sugar in small saucepan on stove on low till the sugar is dissolved, then stir in the extract and let it cool a bit before pouring it into a container of your choosing. I use an old Torani pump bottle, it fills it about half way each time and just wash it out after ever fill to keep it from getting contaminated.
4- Co-Op Farming. This is actually what has saved us the most money so far. We received ours as a gift this year, but will definitely do it again. There are many farms around NY that offer this type of farming, but it is really inexpensive for what you get. We would normally pay $475 for the full share that we get for the spring, summer and fall season that we are involved in, but the produce in abundant and ours is 100% organic. Right now we are even doing pick-your-own strawberries, and they had an emergency picking last night where we got two free quarts extra, just for going to the farm and helping them pick! It's great and I recommend it to anyone who wants to save money with produce. Many farms around have different pricing but most range from $200- $500 for a full share and much less for half shares or part shares.
5- Plant your own crops. We started a lot of our own vegetables this year, including, lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers. They are some of our favorites, and we already have a blooming crop. The stuff we have added to the stuff we get from the crop share gives us enough food for an entire week, and more. We sometimes share with my mother who lives close-by, in order to use what we need without spoilage. We can't wait for our tomatoes and peppers to start, but at least we have enough lettuce for some amazing salads! We don't have a lot of space at all, but we do most of our gardening out of large pots that we sit at the side of our porch, hanging baskets, window boxes, and in a small plot of land that we have situated under our upstairs neighbors stairs. The amount of space we have is perfect for lettuce, mesclun (salad greens) and tomatoes and peppers to last through the summer.
So those are just some ideas, we had for saving money, and I have to say that we have saved enough already to buy our farm share for next year, and will save even more. I guess all of this money we save will make it much easier to plan the wedding we want!
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