[ssgtswife33]

What I like to do is clip out coupons and check out all the ads. There are many stores out there that match competitors ads and I know walmart is one of them. I buy store name brands alot and that is a savings there. When I find chicken or other meats on sale, I buy 2 or 3 and stick them in the freezer/deep freeze.

[Tara D]

I quit buying chicken breasts, and started buying chicken drumsticks. I eat two each night with dinner, and that's only 154 calories/5 grams of fat. LOTS cheaper than chicken breasts and just as good.

[sportmom]

I have found that the coupons in the Sunday paper more than pay for the cost of my subscription, esp. if you can do the Sunday only or weekends only subscription. I routinely save anywhere from $7-8 on each trip to $27 last week. I average about 10-12% of my total bill saved on coupons. Store brands and walmarting too.

[ATSBeautiful]

I invested in a Food Saver. It has saved us literally hundreds of dollars in one year. I buy cheeses, meats, eggs, milk ,butter and some produce at costco as most freeze well. I pre-package them myself to our needs. We eat alot of organic. I also pick our berries at local farms...strawberries,raspberries,blackberries and blue berries. I then wash, dry ,freeze and seal them. For 40 bucks we have berries until the next summer. We have a garden and dry our own herbs. Local farmer markets are another way to save, I haggle. LOL Brown rice,wild rice and beans (I buy Organic) are bought on sale. I make chicken broth with the carcase and veggies that are about to spoil,freeze into 1 cup portions and seal. Aldi is also great on a budget and the produce is usually from local farms and fruit is reasonable. Also some local groceries will discount meats that are almost to their expiration date...I bought 5 lbs Ground Turkey for 4.50. I can't praise our Food Saver enough!!! I buy the bags on E bay for a fraction of the cost.

My mom and I make a game of who can save the most money in a month. It works great for my family as I work part time. Good Luck and Happy Shopping.

Mary

[phantastica]

My tricks have all been mentioned - buy what's on sale for produce, stay away from convenience foods, and shop a few different stores for deals. I also highly recommend a garden if you can do one. Kids can have a lot of fun with that, too. If you're interested, here's a link on how to make sprouts:

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/cat...tml/ec/ec1358/

[AquaWarlock]

The hillbilly housewife site offers some great low-calorie recipes with generally low-cost ingredients ~ most are fairly easy to prepare:

http://www.healthy.hillbillyhousewif...ecipeindex.htm

There's also a section specifically on dieting on a budget... I, however, don't care much for the religious overtones that's all over the site (esp. a page devoted to "Christian Weight Loss"; what the...?)

[EZMONEY]

Originally Posted by AquaWarlock

The hillbilly housewife site offers some great low-calorie recipes with generally low-cost ingredients ~ most are fairly easy to prepare:

http://www.healthy.hillbillyhousewif...ecipeindex.htm

There's also a section specifically on dieting on a budget... I, however, don't care much for the religious overtones that's all over the site (esp. a page devoted to "Christian Weight Loss"; what the...?)

HUMM...what's the matter with that? There are a lot of women/men here that know that their strength comes from their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

[Luminous]

Mary, your post is inspiring! You make me want to do so much more. Funny you mention the Food Saver. I tried a veggie burger recipe the other night and they came out so wonderfully that I'm going to make a few dozen patties and freeze them using my mom's Food Saver. SO much cheaper than the ones in the store, and I daresay tastier.

I'm definitely saving your post and planting more herbs next (this!) year and freezing more berries when they are in season.

Originally Posted by ATSBeautiful

I buy cheeses, meats, eggs, milk ,butter and some produce at costco as most freeze well. I pre-package them myself to our needs.

Which of those above freeze? I'm assuming cheese, meats, and butter maybe but I'm kind of ignorant about how dairy freezes. I'd be tickled if I could buy a big slab of cheddar on the cheap and freeze 8-oz. portions.

[ATSBeautiful]

Originally Posted by Luminous

Mary, your post is inspiring! You make me want to do so much more. Funny you mention the Food Saver. I tried a veggie burger recipe the other night and they came out so wonderfully that I'm going to make a few dozen patties and freeze them using my mom's Food Saver. SO much cheaper than the ones in the store, and I daresay tastier.

I'm definitely saving your post and planting more herbs next (this!) year and freezing more berries when they are in season.

Which of those above freeze? I'm assuming cheese, meats, and butter maybe but I'm kind of ignorant about how dairy freezes. I'd be tickled if I could buy a big slab of cheddar on the cheap and freeze 8-oz. portions.

I have to be honest in saying I've never frozen cheese. My mom and I split the big blocks and seal into portion size. If you seal properly it will last 6 months in the refrigerator. Milk is never frozen only because it's consumed so rapidlly....5 gallons a week,(dh & ds). My granny also makes preserves so we don't buy jams. Oatmeal,grains and beans I vacuum in the containers so they are always fresh. I do freeze nuts. They can be quite expensive but we have several relatives with black walnut and pecan trees so we crack our own. Also my neighbor has a fig tree that's enormous so we trade off. If you vacation at the beach ask a local where to buy off the boats. We buy the day returning and put in a cooler until we get home. Honestlly why pay $22.00 a lb for "fresh" Sea Bass when you can buy right off the boat for $8 lb and know it's fresh. Flounder,shrimp,etc are also great deals. I live in the country where the men hunt so we get turkey and deer every fall/winter. It just takes a little time but finding ways to save is easy.

Do you have a friend that will go in on bulk items? Your mom perhaps? That's how I started out. It really makes a difference. Hope that helps.

Mary

[Jasmine31]

I have heard that shredded cheddar cheese is freezable. Great tips here ladies keep them coming!

[kimpo101]

Look at your local sales papers and then plan your menus around what is on sale. Also Walmart will price compare so you dont have to run all over town if you are doing most of your shopping at Walmart. Just take in the sale ad and they will give you that price. Also towards the end of the week (esp if the store is going to be closed the next day) they discount meat. You can get some really good deals. Just be careful to check the dates and the color of the meat.

[Mami]

In my house, if I bought all those fresh veggies at once, 1/2 would go rotten before I ate it. I buy canned and frozen veggies, and maybe one bag of greens, a few limes (for salad dressing) and tomato. As you know, rice and dry beans is a staple in some very poor countries, for good reason because they cost pennies per serving. Eggs are also pretty cheap and are healthy. Sweet potatoes are great, though I don't know how much they cost.

[707Goddess]

THANK YOU FOR THIS THREAD i was just telling my husband last night how hard it is for me to stay healy and aware of the food i eat because we are so broke we just bought a house and both me and hubby are applying at different stores for 2nd income last night was walmart tonight will be win co a grocey store near our new home
so thanks again
And EZ money im with you even though i do belive EVERYONE has they're own beliefs

[Jasmine31]

I agree with 707 Godess. My strength comes from Jesus Christ too. But I do try to be respectful of other people's beliefs.

There's also a section specifically on dieting on a budget... I, however, don't care much for the religious overtones that's all over the site (esp. a page devoted to "Christian Weight Loss"; what the...?)

This is just her opinion. There are times where I find overly religious stuff annoying too. Like when my older brother wants to chastise me on the phone for using the words **** or damn yet he abandoned his first wife and baby, abandoned his gf of 4 years when she got pregnant with their child and refuses to admit it is even his let alkone take part in his life and is now married and just had another child. So his overly religious fanatism is anoying when it is directed at me. He needs to clean up his own life. Sheesh!

ANyhow what I was trying to say is I didn't take offense to what she said. The religious part of that persons website just wasn't for her. *shrugs*

[bravissima82]

I froze a block of cheese once, and when I unfroze it, the texture was kind of funky. It was a little crumbly, and it was kind of like there were tiny air pockets or something in it. It tasted fine, but it was a little weird to cut/shred because of the texture. Maybe pre-shredded it would work?