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Forum
-> Household Management
-> Finances
ceo
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 Mon, Dec 04 2006, 12:34 am
I am really frustrated, as I am trying to trim our grocery bill a bit. I've been reading a lot, but it seems that so many of the tips out there are not really so nogeah for a frum family
Other than the obvious tips (stocking up when items are on sale) what do you do?
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anon
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 12:45 am
That's a goooood question.
I don't think there's a magic answer.
One way to go about things is to make things from scratch, rather than get prepared prepackaged foods. And to always look for the cheaper brand of the same item. Also, try to shop in cheaper stores. And if you have a costco or walmart near you, make sure to stock up on what you can there. Walmart may be even better since youdon't have to pay membership fees. But they both can help you save a lot, especially if you're buying food for a lot of ppl.
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amother
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 1:07 am
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My friend serves alot of potato dishes. (not for no carb diets) soups are nutritious and inexpesive, eggs, pasta,tuna are lower cost.
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Marion
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 1:38 am
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A lot of pasta and rice. I buy huge soup mix containers and use that for flavouring (a little bit of cottage cheese and a couple of teaspoons of mushroom soup with a bit of milk and voila, you have creamy mushroom sauce for pasta). I try not to buy single serving anythings...not cup-of-soups, not "manot chamot". I buy whatever cereal is on special, not whatever our favourite is. If that's what there is, it will be eaten. I don't buy soft drinks, we drink water or juice. I buy eggs by the flat at the shuk rather than by the dozen at the supermarket. If it's just us we use pita for hamotzi on Shabbat instead of 2 big challot which we won't finish (we're only 2 of us, and DH can't have gluten, so it's really just me).
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ButterflyGarden
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 2:05 am
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I make a lot of soups. I do all my own baking and don't buy a lot of prepackaged foods and I freeze everything. I also buy eggs by the flat and do a lot of pasta. I make a lot of veggie dishes too. Here in Israel bread and veggies are subsidized by the government so that's the cheapest thing to make food from. Also we have more guests for shabbat day and shudat shlishit then dinner. It's cheaper to through more barley in the cholent then to buy a bigger chicken. We don't eat so much meat during the week (whatever is leftover from shabbat and maybe one night of either chicken, if it's on sale, or fish). I also try to start every meal with a salad. Aside from being very healthy it means we eat less of the main dish. I make my own dressings too.
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willow
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 2:08 am
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Good question. I wonder the same thing but with a little twist. I wonder how frum ppl can save while still eating healthy. Healthy food is so expensive. Even produce (at least where I live) comes to a huge bill every week. Generally in our home we eat healthy which means going to the health food store, no cheap packages of white pasta, vitamins, big produce deliverys every week and I could go on. Yes I look for bargains and try to buy in bulk. But our grocery bills come out so high:( I am a pretty frugal person and I just do not understand how people do it?
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Ribbie Danzinger
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 4:32 am
My dh and I once went to Rav Mordechai Eliyahu and we asked him a few questions. On leaving his office, we remembered that there was one more question that we needed to ask him - whether it was better for a family on a limited budget to buy regular products or more expensive products that are healthier. We told the Rav's secretary the question and the secretary thought it was obvious that a family on a limited budget should not buy more expensive foods, but he went to ask the Rav in any case. He was surprised by the Rav's reply which was:
מעט, אבל בריא, ויש בזה ברכה
A little, but healthy and there is a bracha in it [doing so].
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klotzkashe
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 5:27 am
as anon adn a few other pple said - try not to buy prepraed foods. That means make your own marinades, your own croutons, no nosh - bake cakes instead. dont buy cookies etc - all homemade.
don't buy expensive cereals - put raisins inside them.
don't drink soft drinks during the week.
don't make salads with fancy additions like nuts/chow mein noodles, taco chips.
cut down on how much your family eats meat and how much they eat PERIOD.
I never pay full price for certain things like diapers, wipes, laundry detergent, toilet paper bc these things even if you buy them when u have 100 rolls of t paper - you'll need the new ones too!
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klotzkashe
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 5:30 am
also, don' t make up your menus until u see how much the ingredients cost in stores. ie. don't make brocolli salad if u see that brocolli is 4.99 a kilo. dont plan on making salmon if salmon is 32.99 a kilo.
I go, see whats on special and base my menu on that.
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sarahd
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 5:37 am
| klotzkashe wrote: | cut down on how much your family eats meat and how much they eat PERIOD.
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Yes. Where I live food is very expensive, especially kosher food, so people just eat much less than in America. Nobody appears malnourished, just maybe slimmer on the whole than in America.
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red sea
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 9:43 am
| Ribbie Danzinger wrote: | My dh and I once went to Rav Mordechai Eliyahu and we asked him a few questions. On leaving his office, we remembered that there was one more question that we needed to ask him - whether it was better for a family on a limited budget to buy regular products or more expensive products that are healthier. We told the Rav's secretary the question and the secretary thought it was obvious that a family on a limited budget should not buy more expensive foods, but he went to ask the Rav in any case. He was surprised by the Rav's reply which was:
מעט, אבל בריא, ויש בזה ברכה
A little, but healthy and there is a bracha in it [doing so]. |
thanks for sharing that ribbie.
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miriam
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 9:53 am
Maybe cut corners in other areas. It is priority to me to buy healthy foods. I rarely look at the price tag b/c they are staples, to me. I do stock up when things go on sale. I call my basement, Sam's Club, lol.
I also rarely buy new clothing. I buy from second hand stores or handmedowns. I also try to not to buy dry clean only clothing. The truth is, only acetate really requires dry cleaning. Anything else can be thrown in the wash in cold water and might need ironing.
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Meema2Kids
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 10:07 am
It is really frustrating (and a little amusing) to read tips on being frugal that includes stocking up on gr. beef when it's 99cents a pound. 
Some things that I do:
- buy everything that I can store brand. There are only a couple of products I can think of that the store brand is inferior quality than name brand. In fact sometimes it's the store brand that is kosher and the name brand not.
- my DH eats a LOT. For fillers for him I give him pasta.
- I make my own bread (most of the time). I make a couple loaves at once a freeze.
- I bake from scratch. Almost no storebought cookies, etc. No cake mixes. I freeze what we don't eat right away.
- I haven't been too good on this lately, but I try to make a double recipe of whatever we're having for dinner and freeze half. Then I'm not stuck on a busy day wanting to use convenience food.
- Price book. Mine is in my head but most people keep it in a notebook in their purse. Then you can tell if a sale price is really a good deal. I also will try to incorporate the cheapest foods by weight into our menu. Also I can tell if for example something at costco is really a good deal or just a lot of food.
- stock up from loss leaders. I only buy peanut butter when it's 99cents a jar. Then I buy about 20. We use a lot of PB - it's very cheap by weight.
- never buy any individual containers. I have 1/2 glad ware containers that I fill up with applesauce, cottage cheese, etc. for lunches. If grandparents give us individual containers of something I save it for a treat.
- oatmeal for breakfast.
- for shabbos, instead of making ALL the ingredients special, I dress up a dish with one or two special ingredients. For example the salad I add nuts and avocados but the rest of the ingredients are inexpensive.
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Meema2Kids
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 10:10 am
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And agree with others there's only so much you can do with groceries when you're frum. Like miriam, I cut in other areas. Second hand clothing. I use vinegar and baking soda for cleaning instead of store bought products. We seal up our windows in the winter and keep thermastat low to save on heat.
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chocolate moose
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 10:15 am
It's true, you can only do so much. You def have to be cognizant of what's happpeing in your store and in your stomachs....
And shopping around can help, and enlisting a friend so you can help each other find sales, etc.
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ceo
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 10:33 am
Thank you all for these ideas. That's another thing that I forgot to menton- we eat relatively healthy. No white flour or white pasta, only all-natural peanut butter. These types of foods are harder to find on sale. I actually looked into joining an natural foods co-op/ buying group in my city for some of these products, but it didn't work out.
I think that we might start cutting out cold cereal. I was thinking of buying a small crock-pot ($10) and using it for milchigs, and making crock-pot oatmeal.
Keep other tips coming!
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Sregion28
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 10:51 am
These tips will only apply to people who live in America but I do these things and I not only save so much money but I get a lot of stuff completely free.
COUPONS! The coupons that come in the Sunday newspaper - I cut them out, and keep a binder of them. I will almost never buy a brand name item without a coupon - and for those of you who think that store brands are always cheaper, it's not true. A brand name item on sale with a coupon can be VERY VERY cheap - sometimes free.
When something is on sale I will use coupons, and stock up. I have piles of groceries arranged in my basement to the point that it looks like a small store down there! For example - Cheerios are on sale this week at my grocery store for $2 a box. I use a coupon for $1 off two boxes, which makes each box $1.50. That is cheaper than the store brand Cheerios, and however many coupons I have, that's how many boxes I'll buy. I get extra coupons from my mother, mother in law, and there are even websites you can buy/trade coupons from.
As you can probably tell this is pretty time consuming but for me it's worth it- 15-20 minutes of preparation before I go to the store and it saves me so much money, literally half off my bill
The other thing is - no impulse buys! I stick to my list! Except for milk, chicken, produce, etc.. I will almost never buy something that isn't both on sale and I have a coupon for it. I'll just wait till it goes on sale and then buy a bunch.
Last thing- anyone who is near a CVS - every month they have deals where you can get things for free. I have literally 50 bottles of shampoo in my house that I got for free.
Ok this is getting kind of lengthy but if anyone is truly interested in more information, please PM me, I have a lot more tips!
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613
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 11:09 am
| Sregion28 wrote: | Last thing- anyone who is near a CVS - every month they have deals where you can get things for free. I have literally 50 bottles of shampoo in my house that I got for free.
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same with Rite-aid and walgreens. I can't remember the last time I paid for a toothbrush or toothpaste.
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elkayed
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Mon, Dec 04 2006, 1:02 pm
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coupons!! I clip coupons and pair them up with whats on sale that week..so I can get double coupon in Shoprite plus the sales price. I have saved 50$ some weeks! I get a real kick out of how much I save each week. Also, I have a costco membership.
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