Good day to all. I hope you are all well and safe. Thanks for being here.
It is autumn!!!! It feels it too. 60*F this morning and going to get in the upper 60's. Big change from last week. We will see 70's as highs later in the week.
Monday, I woke to rain, and decent rain. I even had to wait to go feed the kitties! Finally, it died down to a sprinkle, so I fed most of them in the greenhouse. Momma was home, and not happy about going in there with me, so she ate outside in the sprinkles. Crazy cat. They were almost 2 hours late getting their breakfast - and they were HUNGRY! Monday was cloudy all day, and never got past about 69*F. Heat and AC off.
There are ways to cut back on spending and what you use.
You know me - other than pet supplies, I do NOT pay full price for anything. I either buy on sale or clearance. I am fortunate to have a store that has great clearance prices. I would do the same with pet supplies if I could find them - and when I do see clearance on them - I buy all they have!
Amish, Mennonite and other ethnic type stores are good to shop if you have them around. Discount grocers are also nice if you can find one.
We recently (in past couple years) - had a discount place open, and they have prices like no other. I have some friends that are on very strict budgets, that buy all their fresh goods there. I go once in a while, and I do go around the holidays for gift ideas. They sell everything from food to patio supplies, garden tools, and toys and clothes.
You gals close around - Circle City Bargains! (they are on FB)
Buy in season. Now is the time or close to it, for apples, pumpkins, winter squash, cabbage, sweet potatoes, soon there will be turkey, cranberries, baking supplies. There will also be deals for campfire cookouts.
I like to stretch things up with potatoes, carrots, onions, pasta, rice and beans of all sorts.
Have meatless dinners or lower the amount of meat in the dinner. Cut up chicken or pork or beef into smallish pieces and add a gravy or sauce. A little will go a lot further. Always use less than a recipe says!
Think semi-homemade. Remember the cooking show with Sandra Lee - Semi Homemade? She mixed it up a lot, so it was easier for some folks, who really didn't like cooking. A bit of whole food and a bit of canned, frozen, or boxed. Whatever works.
Get CREATIVE with what you have. There are so many sites that you can visit that give you ideas - type in what you have - it gives you recipes and meal ideas.
Can't eat pasta or rice (or chose not to), spiral cut zucchini or sweet potatoes or other fall veggies . Top chopped cauliflower or other veggies with sauces. Make your own egg noodles. Baked potatoes are great smothered in things. No limit on types of potatoes you can make.
Waste nothing - use it all up in some form.
There is a You Tube channel called Ozark Family Homestead, and she has a $900/month food budget for her family of 9. She uses that to replenish or fill in what she needs each month. Now that may sound like a lot - but it is $100 per person per month = $25 each week per person. It covers meat, produce, frozen and canned, H & B, cleaning and paper. And yes, she even buys some snacks - she has 7 kiddos for goodness sakes. She strictly sticks to the budget, watches sales and buy tons of sale and clearance items. Not much full price. It is pretty inspiring.
It is all about using what you have, getting sales and deals on the rest and stretching it into new and different items.
IF your budget gets stretched to the max - just try thinking outside the box. It may seem like an inconvenience to many, but only WE can take control, and WE need to re-learn or actually learn things and skills that can help.
It can be done. I know this isn't for everyone - but it sure is good to know when strapped.
Tomorrow I will be giving a lot of meals ideas and foody ideas that will help stretch any budget and pantry.
Have a lovely first day of autumn!!!!!
We are feeling the cooler weather here too and no AC. Your local store has some great deals. My local Jewel store is where we find some great sales for produce mostly. I made some Great Northern beans in my instant pot and made some Tuscan beans with some of the beans and froze the rest in "can-size" baggies. I look forward to your food ideas in your next post. Darcy
ReplyDeleteKind of a nice change!
DeleteIt does have some pretty great prices.
Good that you can still find good produce pricing. beans sound yummy. It just makes sense to make a big pot full and put some back for later! Smart.
Looking forward to your post for tomorrow! That store has good prices.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeleteIt has some really great pricing. That is where I got my lawn mower last year and I have even bought jeans for $10 there. Everything is reasonable.
Hooray for autumn temps! :)
ReplyDeleteOne of our discount food stores has closed. The other now has prices often equal to the local grocery store - even for out of date stuff. :(
Right now my fridge is stuffed, but I have company and a small fridge. Yesterday we had a great lunch (with company even) of spinach salad (with bits of tomato, cucumber, and onion), with broiler toasted cheese & shaved deli ham on whole wheat bread, followed by icecream with 1 tsp liqueur per serving as a sauce. They had chocolate chili on theirs, I had peach liqueur. Those fancy liqueurs were a gift and I think I have enough to last me the rest of my life! OMGoodness, it was absolutely decadent. :)
MaryB
It seems when places lose competition they rise prices - that really stinks.
DeleteIt is a wonderful feeling to have a full frig, freezer and/or pantry.
Your meal sounds simple enough, but oh, so delish and fancy.
Mmmm on the ice cream. The gift that keeps on giving. What a fancied-up idea! I love these kinds of things.
Hi Cheryl. We are expecting and hoping for cooler weather by the end of this week. I still try to plan my meals by whatever sales there are that week. I’m not cooking as much these days, I’m still doing a lot of errands, trying to get all Billy’s paperwork in order.
ReplyDeleteHi Penny - good to hear from you. Cooler will be nicer.
DeleteThat is a good way to plan your meals - keeps expenses low and you still eat good.
Sorry you are still having to deal with all those things. Hope you get it all done soon. Take good care.
Great produce prices. The only item I do better on at Aldi is grapes at $1.29/pound and they are super sweet. I imagine that your store and Aldi make their money on impulse purchases of the non-food household goods.
ReplyDeleteI got a $10 credit on my credit card by adding it to Apple Pay and using it three times. Earned $11.27 in cash back by charging my car insurance to my cc and then paying it off immediately.
I’m SO glad I sold my townhouse when I did even though it was super stressful. Home Depot CEO this week called the housing market “frozen” and that is certainly the case here. My first interest rate at the townhouse was 9.88% and I refinanced to 6.88% which I thought was great but 7% now is difficult for buyers with housing prices so much higher and in my area home insurance and flood insurance adding so much to the monthly payment. Barbara M.
They sure are. Things change every week and some things get even cheaper. I have purchased new jeans there for $10, and even bought my lawn mower there last year. I think they buy out places - but pricing is always good.
DeleteTiming is everything - there was a reason for you that it happened as it did!
Circle City Bargains looks interesting! It would be quite a hike from Avon, but if we are in that Greenwood area, I think it would be worth checking out. BTW, have you seen that the nonproductive malls are being made into senior living in some cities?
ReplyDeleteToday is lovely. I brought up the 30-day forecast and we will still have some very warm days in October. How they know that is a mystery to me. ha!
Going out to pick beans in a little bit. Hopefully will have enough to can in a day or so. We watch "More Than Farmers" on YouTube and their basement setup for storing and preserving food is enviable. Looking forward to your recipe post! For lunch we are having salmon patties with green beans cooked with small potatoes, onion and garlic. The Farmer planted more green onions, cabbage and some other fall crops. He enjoys being outside so much that it will be a hardship for him when cold weather comes. There is always the garage to be put to rights, though.
Yes, if you are ever down that way - give it a look. I get a lot of for the kiddos there at the holidays. You name it, they have.
DeleteI love the idea of making old malls into housing. That just makes so much sense.
I see those projected forecasts too - I will take it!
They are fascinating to watch - I love their basement!!!! They really do such a good job.
Good for additional planting. Oh, he will find something to keep him busy!!
It is possible to manage a food budget, but dang, it's not easy. I have time to cherry pick deals at my local ( walking distance) or on route to the few places I go. I really feel for those that don't have my kind of free time to sliw shop and compare. I also see low prices are higher than last years low prices and fewer discounted items as I suppose store buyers dont want waste any more than we do. I'll take a look at the YouTube suggestions as always intrigued and want to learn more.
ReplyDeleteNo not easy - but nothing good really is. Most grocers have ads online now, so it should make it easier to check out ads if people work. There is always an excuse people can use - but many still spend hours on FB and chats.
DeleteMy Kroger has increased its clearance area and they always have great things, not even close to sell by dates. I guess it depends on the store.
It is always fun to see what others buy and how they shop.
I think food was the only thing I could control the cost of so I learned early.
ReplyDeleteYou betcha!!!! That is our discretionary expense. We chose what we buy, how we use, and what we will pay. Stores have sales every so many weeks on certain things, and we need to take advantage - play their game!!!!!
DeleteToday my husband went to run a few errands and top up the car with diesel. It is now an eye watering £2.10 a litre. With the help of the internet I have calculated that equates to $10.59 per US gallon (English gallons are different). With supermarkets and produce suppliers facing such high haulage costs I don't think our prices will be coming down anytime soon and we'll all be getting even more creative with searching out bargains and using up leftovers.
ReplyDeleteThat is the main reason for posts like this. Pricing is up, gas is up - so we need to decide what we want to really buy and use it wisely. Getting creative is key. I am so very used to living this way - that it isn't a new thing for me. Many have never worried about it.
DeleteCalifornia pricing on gas has always been much, much higher than what we pay here in the Midwest of the country. So much has to do with location here. I just know that eventually gas will come back down, and then hopefully prices will as well. Let's all get our creative caps on!!!!!!
I think that if I lived in a larger center (we are only 10k population) with more to choose from sales would be so much better. Still I try to save where and how I can. That is all we can do at this point. I do worry about our youngest son though. He purchased a new home about 4 1/2 years ago and will soon have to renegotiate his mortgage and those are rising very quickly.
ReplyDeleteWhen we go and visit I always bring the food for at least one meal, and there are usually leftovers that he can munch on later.
Our eldest son will have his home paid off at the beginning of next year so he isn't as big a worry.
God bless.
Location is a big factor for sure. We all just do what we can and the best we can.
DeleteGoodness, why is he having to renegotiate his mortgage? Isn't that a permanent thing, unless YOU want to try for a lower interest rate?
Nice to help him out, with taking food when you go. I am sure he loves moms cooking!
In Canada, the UK and maybe other countries, mortgages are typically for 5 years and then you have to refinance. We are lucky to have 15- and 30-years mortgages in the U.S. BarbaraM.
DeleteWOW - I had no idea - seriously IMO that sucks!!!!!
Delete15 or 30 sure gives an advantage!
As Jackie has stated, it is easier in a larger centre to find more stores and therefore more competition for pricing. It also helps to have transportation to get to stores outside the immediate location.
ReplyDeleteThat isn't to say, there are no deals out there, I just feel it is a privilege to be able to access and afford those deals.
Something we've had to do is turn to pork and chicken more than beef for our meat options. Though my daughter did find a large beef roast marked down (it was still pricey), that I cut up into a smaller roast, two steaks, and two packages of stew beef. While I grew up on beef and still prefer it, I'll buy what I can afford and stretch it as much as possible.
Yes, location is so important. I live in a big city, and there is no lack of options to choose from for shopping.
DeleteYou really do have to pay attention and keep your eyes open while in a store. Many deals aren't advertised and you have to look very hard to find them.
I think a lot of people are choosing different options now, just something we have to do. Chicken and pork do seem to be cheapest. That is a great way to stretch that roast! It must have been a decent size. Wonderful.