how do frum ppl save money on groceries?

chocolate moose

Mon, Jan 01 2007, 12:45 pm

Our yogurt didn't always turn out, and after buying a yogurt for starter and a big milk to make it with, I was losing money. I gave away my yogurt makers. BUT I buy a really large container of yogurt for the week so I can save there.

JRKmommy

Wed, Feb 07 2007, 3:51 pm

I do my grocery shopping in Toronto, so figure out what's applicable whereable you are:

1. I use relatively few specialty kosher products, which I often find to be either overpriced or MSG filled junk.

2. In my area, the store known for having the largest kosher selection is also the store with the highest prices. I avoid it unless I need something very specific.

3. The cheap store (No Frills) near me has plenty of kosher items, including a cholov yisroel dairy section and glatt kosher meat and chicken. However, you save money b/c they don't have a butcher or bakery on site.

4. If it has a hechsher, I use the store brand. For example, I discovered that my favorite store brand (President's Choice) has awesome juices, including grape juice, with a hechsher.

5. Canned goods, like diced tomatoes and chick peas, are cheap, available anywhere, healthy, and usually have a hechsher.

6. In winter, avoid the really expensive fruits and veggies. I stock up on cheaper items. Frozen veggies can be cheaper and tastier, because they don't have to travel so far. I use frozen strawberries instead of fresh, and put them in the blender to make smoothies.

7. Extra-firm tofu is less than $2 and provides the protein for a vegetarian meal like curry.

8. Simple cold cereals can be just as good and filling as the more expensive ones.

9. A bit of spice and some creative presentation (ie. I use a colorful pasta bowl and a bit of cilantro) can make really cheap vegetarian dishes seem impressive. Homemade chummus or bean dips look exotic, but are dirt cheap.

10. Canned pink salmon is just as healthy as fresh (or even more so, since it is wild instead of farmed), and works well in pasta or casseroles.

11. Eggs!

Basic cheap vegetarian "cauldron" cooking:

1. Take whatever veggies, fresh or frozen, you have on hand.
2. Brown a chopped onion and some garlic in a big pot.
3. Add spices: curry, spicy chili, or italian (garlic/basil/oregano)
4. Add the veggies
5. Add a can of diced tomatoes
6. Add chick peas and tofu for curry, or beans for chili, or fake meat for italian.
7. Simmer 10 min.
Serve over rice, pasta or couscous. Makes enough to feed a small army.

Mint Chocolate

Wed, Feb 07 2007, 4:02 pm

OMG--JRKMommy you like wrote my exact philospphy on dinner. Practically everynight that is what we eat. My kids love it. Other people are like "HOw do you get your kids to eat that stuff?" and I'm like...well they never had the option of not liking it!

I'm in the mood for curry tonight now;)

amother

Wed, Feb 07 2007, 4:33 pm

Does anyone know a place to get coupons online for groceries?

JRKmommy

Thu, Feb 08 2007, 11:01 am

Mint: LOL, I just wish I could get my kids to enjoy it! Dh and I love really spicy, exotic stuff, and our kids like stuff that is plain, plain, plain. For them, we keep it REALLY simple - eggs, french toast, pancakes (I sneak in whole wheat flour and oatmeal), endless bowls of cereal, apples, carrots, pasta. I came up with healthy latkes for my ultra-fussy 7 yr old - I use mashed potatoes, an egg, and then whiz some chick peas and steamed cauliflower through the food processor.

Mint Chocolate

Mon, Feb 12 2007, 12:25 am

a chick pea latke! priceless! that's whats for dinner tommorow:) im sure they'll love it!!!

Lovemylife

Thu, Feb 22 2007, 9:51 am

Before I go to the kosher store, (more expensive here than in NY) I go to Walmart and try to get everything I can.. then I fill in with meat, dairy, etc at the kosher store. I dont let myself go to the kosher store (closer and more conveniant) before I make a trip to walmart.

Also I do my shopping in bulk. I go once every two weeks and get everything I t hink I'll need even though I buy a lot of impulse purchases, I only do it twice a month. It encourages me to finish whats in my pantry for dinner or whatever instead of running out every d ay to buy that d ay's groceries

Meema2Kids

Thu, Feb 22 2007, 10:08 am

amother wrote:

Does anyone know a place to get coupons online for groceries?

www.coupons.com

General Mills also has a coupon site, do a search for it. If you do a search for any product really you will find what's on line (eg I wanted to get some LightLife product and found a coupon online to print).

southernbubby

Thu, Feb 22 2007, 10:53 am

I can tell you what frum people should do to save money on groceries. Me, as well as the other hostesses made the same mistake last night when we made sheva brochas for a local family. We all made WAY too much food! Luckily there is another family in sheva brochas so hopefully they can use some of the excess. Although we all have had plenty of experience hosting we repeatedly make too much.
The other thing is school snacks. I substitute and I am shocked at what some families send. That expensive nosh is bad for the kids. I appreciate those moms who find fruit on sale, make popcorn, or use dry cereal as a snack. Even a home baked cookie costs less than what I see coming in those back packs. Also, little kids usually will not eat a whole sandwich or finish a whole yogurt. Again, we can save if we avoid waste.

Meema2Kids

Thu, Feb 22 2007, 10:58 am

I agree about the snacks southernbubby! I always have homemade muffins, sweet breads, cookies, cakes, breakfast in the freezer to just pop into the lunches. I try to make what the kids like so even if they compare to the others who have pre-packaged nosh, they feel good about their lunches. And occasionally I do give something packaged, usually a juice box, so they don't feel deprived. LOL

amother

Thu, Feb 22 2007, 12:11 pm

southernbubby wrote:

While I understand the health benefits of healthy snacks, I have heard experts say that if you deprive your kids of the snacks they desire, they might just take them out of other's briefcases.
Also, I wonder how you'd feel about R' Brezak's advice to this parent about considering feelings of kids with much more costly expenses such as home renovations! Please see below.

Quote:

Dear Rabbi Brezak,

How should a parent cope with the pressures children cause when they compare their family’s standard of living with the neighbor’s?

For instance, when three or four neighbors make additions to their houses, because they needed the space and were able to afford it, my children wanted an addition too. We also need it. Almost all of my neighbors have decent cars. We don’t.

Even though we, as parents, can make do with what we have, our children can’t. They feel less then their friends and neighbors, who even though are not rich and spoiled, seem to have more than us.

This is a very contentious point in our house. It is at a point where my teenagers are angry at us and accuse us of not caring about what is important to them. "Why do we have to be the only ones" — either on the block or at school — "who have such an ugly house or car," etc. They are embarrassed to invite friends over or be seen in our car. They say their friends comment about it as well.

What are we to do?

Frustrated parents

Dear Mrs. and Mrs. ______,

The first step is to listen to your children with the intention of understanding them. Apply compassion and care while listening and try to truly put yourself in their place.

This shouldn’t be too difficult because you yourself are in agreement that the house needs an addition.

Sometimes doing this is enough. As with the high school class after the terrorist attack, the very fact that the children were able to air their feelings while being listened to and understood was sufficient.

In this case, I don’t think it will solve the problem, although it may alleviate much of the tension between you and your children.

The next step is to consider their feelings important, thus giving them the message that what is important to them is important to you. Again, this does not mean that you have to do as they want. But it does mean that how they feel is important to you. Although you yourself may be able to live with certain compromises, they suffer much embarrassment, mainly from peer pressure, so for them the burden is a much harder one to bear.

Once you truly understand them and feel for them, then it is time for the next step: a plan of action.

Here you are in a predicament, because even if you would like to expand your house, get a new car, and so on, your income does not allow for it. You should say something to your children like, "Your feelings are very important to me, and I would do something if I could."

This alone can make your children feel better, as long as you are sincere when you say it.

It may be worthwhile to make the improvements a top priority, so that your children will really see how important their feelings are to you. Therefore, if you get extra money it could be set aside for this.

Even if you make an improvement in only one area it is worthwhile, for you are showing your children that what is important to them is important to you. You will also enjoy a fringe benefit: your children will begin to reciprocate and make what is important to you, important to them.

In general, if children feel that parents consider their feelings important, they will feel much more appreciated by the parents and much less bitter.

southernbubby

Thu, Feb 22 2007, 12:25 pm

The topic is saving money on food. If enough parents want to save money on school snacks, maybe they could pull together as a class and come up with a plan for snack that would not make a child feel left out for eating healthy (and cheap) food.

chavamom

Thu, Feb 22 2007, 12:52 pm

I don't remember if I posted this, but we order food in a co-op from a kollel store in NYC.

shayna82

Thu, Feb 22 2007, 12:55 pm

southernbubby wrote:

I know it makes me sick when a teacher says specificlly, no junk food, dont send your kid with gushers, lollypops, sugary stuff... mondo juice bottles... and then my 3 year old comes home saying, so and so had licorise, and so and so's mommy puts juice boxes in his lunch... im ean, on one hand you dont want your kid to be left out, on the other hand, you dont want to give in to this, keeping up with the jones's upbringing. so I say, thats okay, he has that , and you have yummy muffins that we made together.

southernbubby

Thu, Feb 22 2007, 1:39 pm

Part of saving money on anything is in not giving in to peer pressure.

mumof1

Thu, Feb 22 2007, 2:33 pm

Quote:

im ean, on one hand you dont want your kid to be left out, on the other hand, you dont want to give in to this, keeping up with the jones's upbringing. so I say, thats okay, he has that , and you have yummy muffins that we made together.

when I was younger, my parents went through a time where money was tight. I was the queen of my class, I had the most beautiful and best of everything, including snacks. when my parents were tight my mom would make caramel popcorn with us, chocolate covered pretzels rolled in sprinkles, it was so good, and delicious!!
shayna82, your post made me cry, it reminded me of the time when I was younger and what my parents must have felt like.

gryp

Thu, Feb 22 2007, 3:03 pm

shayna, I know just what you're talking about. the school my son goes to asked that we send only healthy snacks, and it cant contain nuts, soy, or dairy because of allergies. and it has to be packaged so the teacher can check the label.
so I send a rice cake (not prepackaged Rolling Eyes

), small apple, or a small box of raisins. I come to pick him up, and I see the other kids with chips, juice boxes, and who knows what else. I noticed that almost every single other kid has juice boxes (that I would never buy because of the sugar), so I asked the teacher to tell me if he's the only one in the class without. basically he was, so I bought him a cute little water bottle to bring.
the other story is that the school gives cookies for snack which makes me upset. I'd rather he be eating the homemade sugar-free "healthy" cookies from home, than the hydrogenated oil-sugar-garbage that I would never feed him at home.

mirisimma

Thu, Feb 22 2007, 3:37 pm

I'm not finished reading all the replys... we also try to eat pretty healthy. I'm kinda obsessed with yummy home made healthy food. and I try to keep our bills down. cheap things that are healthy: carrots, get biggest bag they dont rot fast. peel alot at a time. banana. fruits in season are cheaper. plum tommatos are cheap and the red ones are better than "on the vine" tomatos. cuces. orenges. apples. BROWN RICE. oatmeal is cheap, but we dont eat it.

we buy frozen veggies once a year in bulk and freeze them bc they're expensive and some things are hard to check for bugs (cauliflower brocolli etc) same with meat. your chicken cutlets will be FRESH and CHEAP if you buy 50 lb at once. in general, a freezer is an investment, but youll save alot of money from buying and baking in bulk, so weve saved a ton of $ from it. and you can really keep it cold so your food will stay fresh.

nothing packaged or premade unless its OBSURD to make it home, like daily bread or yogurt. (ie no store bought cakes, cookies, string cheese etc. ) blocks of cheese, not tinsie packes, but we dont eat alot of that. rolls and one large challa unless we have guests. I know someone who makes challa in bulk at home, TWICE a year!

no soda juice etc, just water. water water.

everything else: bulk, sale or store brand. no cereal, I bake carrot cakes banana bread, apple cakes by the quadruple recipe for breakfast, and if thats not possible bc of time, eggs, bread, butter, jelly. you know... a little love makes everything taste better Smile

hope I helped, gonna go back and read the rest

mirisimma

Thu, Feb 22 2007, 3:39 pm

oo... I should have read more, looks liek the topic changed alot. just insert my response into page 1 embarrassed

TwinsMommy

Fri, Nov 09 2007, 1:06 pm

we have cvs here (don't know if you new yorkers have it)..... it's great for getting free stuff.

use a cvs $4 off $20 coupon plus extra care bucks from a previous purchase plus manufacturer's coupons. Pay pennies out of pocket.... buy things that generate more extra care bucks. Go back next week, lather, rinse, repeat.

When you're out of cash in the checkbook you always have extra care bucks to spend at cvs.

not so great for food, but I've got a lot of free toothpaste and otc medications and such. Having 10 month old twins, I've used a lot of ECBS to pay for diapers and formula too.