Last week I wrote about how we've been eating well for $100 a month since February 2020. Some months I can have $20 - $30 leftover. This is always put into the grocery slush fund for when we do need it.
Here are the other tricks and tips I've been using to keep our food bill so low -
* Dinner leftovers are portioned out and frozen that night. Even the smallest amount is frozen and eaten at a later date either as a lunch ( rarely ) or extras like rice are added to make it a complete meal.
* Adding extra vegetables to casseroles and stews gives us extra portions.
* Baking cheaper treats like scones, muffins and cakes. Biscuits are still baked but I'm careful about the cost of the ingredients.
* Sour cream, cream and icecream are only purchased if we have a real need for them, not a want. Sour cream and cream does tend to be thrown out before we can safely use it all.
* When I do buy meat it's usually beef mince, chicken drumsticks, fish portions ( not crumbed ), beef sausages and tinned fish like tuna.
* Writing out a menu plan for 4 - 6 weeks at a time and being careful to use up meals that have been frozen.
* Only buying sauces / condiments we actually use. This means sticking to the basics like tomato, bbq, worchestershire, soy, mint. Not that we bought too many that we didn't use up.
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| A Summer garden haul |
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Adding vegetable to a pasta dish
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My best tip is to shop alone. Honestly when I shop with mum so many extras such as smoked salmon and other expensive treat foods are added. Last week I threw out mouldy parma ham.
ReplyDeleteWe haven’t been buying any beef due to the cost right now. We buy sausage because it is the least expensive meat item we can buy here. I like how you’ve added rice to your freezer meals to bulk them out. Very thrifty indeed.
ReplyDeleteIf you do buy heavy cream and find you are not going to use all of it, you can freeze it to use in cooking later. You can also whip it, pipe it in little puffs onto a cookie sheet, stick it in the freezer until frozen then store them in a freezer bag or freezer container. If you are having hot cocoa or pudding just take one out and put it on top of your dessert/drink. They thaw in jut a few minutes.
ReplyDeleteAlways so impressed with your budget. I've done a $100/month budget, but just for me, and at a time in my life when I was starting with zero supplies/pantry & was working three jobs. (College). I found it incredibly hard. I think I could have done a lot better, but definitely nowhere near your level of skill!
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy, like you, I find that cream and sour cream tend not to be used up before their expiry date. I freeze any I have left over and use it to make lemonade scones. The fact that the cream has been frozen makes no difference to the scones, they are as light and fluffy as if I used fresh cream. Sour cream makes perfect scones too. Waste not, want not, that’s our motto isn’t it.
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing. My fridge died and I am using a borrowed bar fridge which limits storing meals due to poor freezing space. As soon as I can get out and get a small freezer I will be following your ideas. Cheers
ReplyDelete$100 Australian dollars is about $90 Canadian and there is no way I could manage on that little per month - even just for one person - with our prices (which are much higher than the US). For everything I usually budget about $240 Cdn. per month which is still considered to be very frugal. I am going to try to cut back to about $140 per month for the next 3 months and see how that goes.
ReplyDeleteI do have a well stocked pantry (for someone in a small 1 bedroom apt) and I am pretty much stocked for at least 6 months for toiletries and cleaning supplies (which I only buy on sale) so I am hoping to cut back over the next few months and use up a lot of what I have (so that it is properly rotated).
I am trying to cut back on extras like baked goods - I'll make a few things from scratch more often now, cut back on cheese (very expensive), stretch meat with lentils and eat smaller portions. Once it cools down I'll start making more soups and I hope to have simpler meals - especially as I go back to the office a bit more. I also find that many days I only eat two meals. I've been doing intermittent fasting so usually eat brunch and supper so that cuts down a bit as well.
I haven't eaten a roast in ages and try to buy meat when it's on 50% discount - not as easy to find these days and will definitely be eating more eggs, tinned foods like sardines & corned beef and sandwiches as part of my meal plan.
I'm not supposed to eat a lot of carbs but will include a pasta dish at least once a week. I don't even have a balcony so no gardening I'm afraid - but - we do have a lot of great fruit & veg stores in my neighbourhood and a lot of ethnic stores in the city - which also tend to have cheaper prices. It's a good thing that I actually enjoy food shopping as it has become a bit of an adventure.
Great work, having the extra time at home although frustrating seems to have a silver lining:)
ReplyDeleteWow. That’s amazing. $100 Australia dollars is just under $73 USD. My hat is off to you.
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