Groceries

Jessy was recently out of work for 8 months, and it was to the point where I was feeding 3 adults on $100-$150 a month. Not an easy task. And Jessy does not like beans, which I would normally have made a central point of a tight budget, do to cheapness and high nutrition. Also the boys both freak if there is not enough meat in a meal. Personally I can go veggie for an extended period of time and not blink twice about it. Anyway, I thought I'd just write down some points that I followed to help me feed a family on the cheap, in case anybody cares. I'm sure nobody will do this stuff unless forced to, cuz some of it is a pain in the butt, but there ya go. And as a side note, I'm not a coupon user. They're usually for brand name products that I can still get cheaper from Kroger brand, and I forget to take them to the store with me after I spend the time cutting them out anyway. Also we don't get the newspaper, so there's not much for me to clip! Here's what I did do:

Buy store brand. (with a few exceptions due to really big quality difference)

Do not buy convenience foods. Nothing prepared for you. Except I do get instant potatoes, $1 a bag, it's worth it to me. You can almost always make from scratch cheaper than you can buy it prepared...except bread and spaghetti sauce.

Learn to read labels. Make sure you're getting the most product for the least amount. You have to look at the unit price on the sales tag, or maybe do a lil' math.

Learn to read nutrition facts. You want things high in vitamins & minerals, and also fiber. The higher the fiber content the more the food is gonna stick with you & you won't be hungry again in 10 minutes. Good: oats, potatoes, whole wheat, veggies Bad: snack cakes, potato chips, many cold cereals, most breads, cheese. Fruit is good, but usually comes with a high price, and it has high natural sugar content (sugar speeds through your system and makes you hungry faster).

Lessen your meat portions. You can make your meat go further by cutting it into bits and putting it in something, like stew, soup, fried rice w/ veggies, casseroles (watch out for casseroles with high fat condensed soups though, they are not very good for you and often involve lots of cheese too), pot pies with homemade pie crust, etc.

Only buy meat when it is on sale. It's usually cheaper to buy in bulk and re-package to freeze at home. Chose your meat types and cuts depending on sales, you can think of something to do with it.

There may be more, but Arron just put a comedy central special on with a girl I like, so I am distracted. And since probably nobody cares about my shopping anyway... yeah. See you all lata!