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Purchase meat only on sale or
on clearance. Again, butchers mark down their meat a day or two
before the "sell by" date. Generally, meat is good
for 3-4 days after the "sell by" date in the fridge
or 6 months in the freezer.
I never buy meat unless it's
on sale for $1.99 or less a pound. If it's not on sale, we don't
eat it. (Even so, we never have a shortage of meat in our house.)
You can get some great unadvertised deals just by watching the
meat counter's clearance items. I found 5 lb. rolls of hamburger
for $2.95 each just the other day. Of course, I stocked up and
will have enough hamburger to last the next 6 months.
I can get "soup bones"
with enough meat on them to make a great vegetable stew for under
$2.00 for the entire family! Add some rolls and you have a complete
meal for 5 for less than $3.00. When chicken is on sale for $1.66
per pound, I stock up. I do this with all my meats. This way
we can always have a variety of meats."
Another important tip: Ask.
Most people are intimidated by asking, but I regularly ask when
things will go on sale or be marked down. By asking, I've found
out that bananas, milk and meat are marked down each morning.
I try to shop in the mornings to get the best deals. When we
lived in Texas, the stores marked things down in the evening,
so we made it a point to go shopping in the evening. Adjust your
shopping times to find the best deals.
Serve your family proper portions
of food. Most parents give their kids way too much milk, juice
and soda. My kids get soda on special occasions only. They eat
milk with their cereal. For snacks, they eat a piece of string
cheese, fruit or one or two cookies. The kids don't sip on milk
or juice all day long. They drink water and are just fine with
it.
As a general rule, I try to
give them one vegetable and one fruit for lunch and dinner and
then a piece of fruit with cookies or cheese as a snack. This
way, they get their "five a day" in very easily. Stop
letting kids just "graze" on chips and other snack
food all day. My kids get one small "bowl" of chips
(1/2 cup to 1 cup depending on the size of the chips) a day and
that's it.
So what do we eat? Here are
some of our menus:
Slow cooked roast, brown gravy,
onions, carrots, potatoes, buttermilk muffins and a fruit plate
(The next day, the leftovers
from the roast are used as barbecue beef along with potato salad,
green beans and strawberries or grapes.)
Pizza (homemade), tossed salad
and fruit
Maple glazed chicken, scalloped
potatoes, glazed carrots, applesauce and dinner rolls
Sloppy Joes, cucumbers and tomatoes
Tacos, refried beans, green
beans, sliced apples and tortilla chips w/ honey
With savvy shopping, you to
can cut your grocery bill even when prices are going up! |
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