Last thoughts

Since there is not much more I can offer in money saving tips, I'll leave this last little bit.

Sometimes, you have to spend the money for what works for you. With a child with allergies, I buy certain products because I know they are safe for him. I also buy certain things because I know they work well for us.  If buying name brand but you still want to save, look for coupons, but if searching online, be sure that what you're getting can be used. Some coupons are only applicable in the U.S.

When buying meat, can you get the most out of what you are buying?  Can the meat provide leftovers? Are you able to make multiple meals out of it, with some to freeze? The cost of buying meats can be enough to break a budget, so sometimes, you have to buy sale items, value packs or reduced items.

I've also decided to try and include 1 vegetarian meal a week.  There are a lot of great recipes out there and it helps to make sure there is always 1 really healthy meal my family gets. Plus, depending on how good it is, they may not even notice that the meat is missing.

In my own experiment, my goal was to spend $100 a week on groceries, with $100 a month on just meat. I've had to readjust on some weeks, and haven't always met my goal. I've had good weeks, where I've gotten my bill below $100 , but those have been lean weeks where I'm only picking up the absolute essentials, and sometimes you need to stock up or have a bit of wiggle room. I've also started potty training son which should help to get some of my overall costs down in the long run.  Even with me not always able to meet my goals, there has been noticeable improvement.  I tend to spend between $50-$75 less per grocery bill, then I was in the past, and that's still a win in my books.

I'll be posting other topics, but if I find a good deal, I'll be sure to post here.

Happy saving!

Getting the most out of meat

I apologize for being M.I.A, but have been dealing with some personal stuff that has consumed a lot of my time.

A quick update.  I finally did a meat shop, but because of a big bill we had to pay, ended up only being able to spend $60 at that time. Since then, had to include some meat purchases with my regular groceries.  However, when cutting a grocery bill and trying to get the most out of everything, I did pretty good. That $60 bought a good sized roast that provided left-overs, a full chicken, which was pretty much gone after the one meal. A pack of 3 chicken legs (drumstick and thigh), approximately 5lbs of ground beef and approximately 2 1/2lbs of ground pork.

Now, I like ground meats because added to other ingredients, you can make a good size meal that, depending on the size of your family or the amount they eat, could provide leftovers.  Since ground beef by itself can sometimes be a bit dry, we like to mix it with ground pork. Added benefit to this, ground pork is usually cheaper then beef.

The packets of meat I bought were value packs and each contained a little over 2lbs to 2 1/2lbs.  I took 1 packet of ground beef, and the pork packet and divided each into 4. Then I combined 1 section of beef with 1 of pork. Combined, each section was a little over 1lb. I then began cooking. From those 4 sections, I made 2 meatloaves, which I froze for another day, and 2 large lasagnas. And from the large lasagnas, I was able to also create 2 small lasagnas made with a special cheese for son. We ate one that night, and froze the second one.  So out of the 2 value packs of ground meat, I was able to get 4 meals out of it.

The value packs can live up to their name. You get more meat in them, and it's a bit cheaper then buying multiple single serving packs. I also look at how much I can get out of a pack of meat. Will there be leftovers? Can I make more then one meal from this? My meat buying is the same as my regular grocery buying, I prefer sales, or in certain cases, price matching, and sometimes, if I know that I'll be cooking that meat that night, I'll buy items that have been marked down.

When grocery shopping on a budget, you have to look for ways to extend your money as far as possible.

Down for the count

Well, I haven't posted in a couple of weeks after we had a stomach bug in our house, twice. It's been a fun time of cleaning, disinfecting, and just trying to get through the days, and even remember what day of the week it is sometimes, after frequent night wakings.

The problem with having young children sick with a stomach bug is, it's so much harder to keep it contained. 

I hope to get another post up soon. Sorry for the delay, you know, if anyone is even reading this.