uscarchie i am a huge coupon clipper

Never any coupons for fresh meat and fresh veggies, I've personally never seen any for frozen veggies. (not saying they aren't there)

But the money for the paper, and the few I'd clip, wasn't worth the time and effort, in my case!

online coupon sites are awesome. click and print.

Lori -- For the life of me I cannot picture more groceries in Canandaigua then Wagmen's and the P&C. Are those the only two you have to choose from? The Walmart is pretty small one, at least in comparison to the big super stores we have in AZ. I'm not sure I would enjoy shopping for my groceries at the one on 5&20 either if it carries any grocery items, it's a kind of dingy looking place.

Fortunately this is only a temporary situation for you. When my Ex was unemployeed we usually cut back to just a couple of meals that made the money stretch the farthest and lived off those until we could afford better. There was one year that we ate eggs 3 meals a day, I got to be quiet creative on how many ways you could cook an egg. Dried beans and brown rice really are nutritious way to keep yourself healthy and your budget in line. It will get boring due to the lack of variety but it will get you through the tough time until you can improve your situation. Right now I would be looking at your veggies as to what you can afford, canned, frozen or fresh and go with that. Fresh veggies are wonderful but you can get by with some canned if that is what your budget can support.

My heart aches for you, my ex was unemployed more then he was employed during the 25 years we were married and I know how tough trying to live off such a small income can be.

eofz... um.... how long ago since you have been in Canandaigua? We have a HUGE WEgmans, a Tops (but I hate tops, and they are more expensive than weggies)... and a SUPER CENTER, the built a huge super center next to Lowes, the super center has been there, oh, three year? and Lowes has been there for four. P&C??? I think I know where your talking, they are putting in some sort of dep. store, can't thik of the name, but sort of like Ames.

This year a new plaza where the old chase pitkins is coming in.. they put a Bed Bath & beyond, next to that a Petco, and Michaels... soemthing else is coming in but we don't know what yet!

And did you know that the Roseland is back, in a different spot? That came back, oh 5 yearsor 6?

Shoot, I never did understand why they closed down Roseland Park. The last time I was in Canandaigua I thought that it looked like it was reopened but I didn't go check it out.

I've been in Wegman's, that is where I typically go if I'm shopping because I just think it is such nice store but it was opened many many years after I left NY State. Most of my references are as an annual (ish) tourist walking down memory lane. The last time I was in the PC I got the feeling it was closing down but I can't remember why I thought that. Basically I was thinking you didn't have a lot of selection as far as groceries were concerned. Canandaigua, as wonderful a town it is, is still a pretty small place if you are use to being in major cities.

I use to work in the round glass bank on 5 & 20 way way back when. It was a savings and loan then but don't know what it is now.

I've tried them online coupon sites, they don't accept them around where i live... which i think is bull****.

I've used budget saving tips everywhere I live, and the strategies do change from region to region. What works in some areas, doesn't work in another. Were we live now, there are more options. We have a U-Bake (a small franchise) that sells bulk baking supplies, spices and seasonings and fresh seasonal fruits (and some other bulk items). The spices are cheap and come in small plastic tubs. When we were in Illinois, we got our spices at a small health-food grocery. They were in bulk jars and you had to scoop your own into plastic bags. Cheap, but not very convenient (but worth it, any way).

The Tightwad Gazatte books and similar books, as well as cheap cookbooks and online bugeting and frugal sites have endless tips. Some of them, you'll think ridiculous, but others will work for you. You've just got to do a little digging and be open to doing things differently than you're used to.

I've found that most people think generics and store brands are inferior, but very often they're literally the exact same product as a nationally recognized brand(produced in the same plant, and using the same recipe - only the label is different).

Aldi's tomato and cream of mushroom soup (49 cents per can) are better than Campbell's in my opinion, a lot better. Not perfectly South Beach, but I still use them once in a great while as a cooking sauce for chicken.

Good Cheap Food by Miriam Ungerer is a wonderful classic cookbook, available inexpensively on amazon.com (several editions). While not a South Beach cookbook, many of the recipes are South Beach friendly, or can be easily adapted to be.

And while prices are variable, some foods do tend to be commonly cheaper than most. Foods that crop up most frequently in our diet because of their price are egg, dry beans and lentils, chicken legs and thighs, some cuts of pork, cabbage, onion, carrots, celery, sweet potatoes, canned and frozen veggies (the cheapest brands), apples.

I have a bread maker (and a whole grain bread maker book, I bought for $5 including s/h off amazon.com), a food dehydrator, and I used to have a "seal a meal of Food Saver" vaccuum sealer. I bought mine on a garage sale for $2, and loved it. New, they're very expensive though - so I'm debating buying new, or just hoping to stumble across one on a garage sale again. Vaccuum sealing really helps foods stay fresh longer, so they help avoid waste in the budget.

The biggest difficulty in being frugal, isn't the tips themselves, it's thinking to use them, because one tip doesn't usually save you much money, it's using as many tips as you can. It's a matter of saving pennies that add up, usually rather than saving tons here and there (although that sometimes happens too).

The stores in my area don't accept the online coupons either. So sad because you can get the coupons you'll actually use.

My price cutting tips:
I buy the dried beans and cook up the entire 1 lb package, then freeze into the portions I'll use at one time.

TVP can be very economical if you can find it. Once you add seasonings it doesn't taste bad and it's very nutritrious. I've found it at an organic market nearby.

See if you can find a big asian market near you. If you only have a small one, the prices won't be as good. but if you can find a big one you'll see a huge difference in produce prices.

Good luck.
Sarah in MD

I shop the ads each week and when something is a great buy, go several times that week and stock up as much I can.

I shop the ads too, whenever I need my shampoo and hair dye which I can't afford full price, LOL

You can modify this to fit a tight budget. I have had to. The main thing is to focus on the fresh produce when you can. Also, there are Farmer's markets still and will be until fall.

I have found that apples stretch a long way even though they are a little high. That is my mid afternoon snack almost every day.

Also, you don't have to go for the more expensive cuts of meats. If you are fortunate enough to have or know someone who has a deep freezer you can shop the sales too. I understand some grocery store chains have some good sales on meats.

Someone asked me if this could be done as a vegetarian. I think, I might consider having more "meatless" meals moving forward. It couldn't hurt, could it??;)

I have been eating more meatless lately. It's just easier with DH gone, as he is the big carnivore in the house.
I also just found a good recipe for Top Round Steak, which is inexpensive and goes on sale frequently. It tends to be tough, so I don't llike to get it, but I had to cook one that was in the freezer that defrosted and I tried a new method that came out very tender. I'll post the recipe later.

kaplods, we have been reading the same stuff. I love my Tightwad Gazettes and the Good Food Cheap. I've got another I really like - the More-with-Less Cookbook: suggestions by Mennonites on how to eat better and consume less of the world's limited food resources, by Doris Janzen Longacre. I think Amy Dacyzyn recommended this one.

Loriann, it might be worth your while to take a trip into Ithaca every once in a great while. The Co-op there (Greenstar) has tons of great deals, especially on bulk foods. It's like an SBD candy store as far as choices, go, and some things are tree-mendously expensive compared to Wegman's nature's market, but others are incredibly good deals. Their bulk aisle is huge and they have tons of great deal on nuts, grains, granola, WW pasta (they even have WW alphabet pasta!), etc. I think it could be worth a visit, if it's not that far for you...I forget how far it would be from Canandaigua. :?: I truly think you should check out Wal*Mart for some things. I go there regularly though I am generally a Wegman's shopper. I get a big container of organic FF greek yogurt for about $4.60, while it's nearly $6 at Wegman's. We can get very fresh cilantro at WM for $.49 to $.79, while it's almost always $1.99 at Wegman's. At Sam's Club, I can get an absolutely ridiculous deal on boneless pork chops (i.e. pork tenderloin, cut into chops). They sell it sometimes for a dollar and change a pound in a very big piece. You can ask them to cut it for you in whatever thickness you want for the chops. I end up with weeks and weeks worth to put in the freezer for under $10. It's amazing!!! :love:

I do think eating on SBD can be more expensive some times. But I eat out less and that more than makes up the cost. Plus, I think it's worth it. Though, when I go to the local Weis store and see people shopping with food stamps and getting food that I know isn't really healthy, it makes me SO sad. :cry: I saw a man once getting two small pies for his lunch. We all know what that probably did to his blood sugar. It's just so sad that the cheap food is what's most likely to lead to bad health...though as our many bright Beachies have pointed out, there are lots of cheap ways to eat healthy.

BTW, I'm in love with beans...so I'm glad they're cheap! I made these crockpot beans the other night and just doubled the recipe, so it nearly overflowed my crockpot! But the beans are delicious and I had so much that I was able to save a huge portion in the freezer for later. Yum! :T

I made a cassoulet type dish (a french comfort dish, baked beans with some meats, usually including pork sausage and duck or goose), substituting one chicken thigh quarter and a link of chicken polish-style sausage for the pork sausage and duck. The dish was mostly assorted beans, slow cooked in a crockpot. It was so good, and extremely cheap, and South Beach friendly.

The pot was so huge, we froze half and still had several days worth of meals (and the whole pot had under $4 worth of ingredients).

Stews, soups, and casseroles can often be made very cheaply in comparison to "hunk o' meat and vegetable" meals. Old-fashioned oats are probably the cheapest breakfast, but eggs are pretty cheap too. There are alot of expensive South Beach friendly cold cereals, but alot of the old-fashioned "plain" cereals both hot and cold are much more economical.

I remember a recipe for "instant oatmeal" out of regular quick cook oats (like Quaker in the round box). I think that you put it (dry) in a blender or food processor and pulverized it. Another person (in Tightwad, I think) recommended putting milk or water and qick oats in a glass bowl in the fridge at night, and then microwaving it in the morning.

A lot of "cheap" foods require advanced planning, but not really a lot of extra time, really just more forethought. Once it becomes a habit, you hardly notice.

thank you all for your help! I'll be looking at veggetarian meals for next week! I might be able to stretch what I have into next week as well, with only picking up milk!

Good news! I just called the auto loan company (capital one) to ask about rescheduling payments, lowering them. They couldn't do that, but what I DID find out, is I'm a payment ahead of myself! I don't have to pay this month! woo hoo! That couldn't of come at a better time! :). With the cost of The Dr,. and hospital, this is a blessing!