If you are reading my column, you probably are trying to cut corners in any way you can. Do not despair. There are many people out there who have been in the same boat or are currently in the same boat as you now find yourself. Accumulative knowledge is a beautiful thing and with it you can be empowered to succeed no matter what your income. If you are among those of us who have become unemployed through no fault of our own and are now looking for ways to stretch the dollar you have come to the right place. I will for all practical purposes endeavor to fill your head with tried and true ways to cut corners. I will try my best to get at least three practical articles written every week that you can add to you collection of information. In fact you may want to print a copy and put it in a three ring binder or notebook for reference later. We will cover information on money saving tips for all aspects of running a household. I invite you the reader to share your little tid-bits as well. You can email me at maremagee@gmail.com if you want to contribute information that works for you. I don't know when or if it will get printed, but I will do my best to include as many of those tips as possible. The first section I will write about is food. Kids have to eat so let's get going!
Many people clip coupons. I don't. Well, I try not to. I think coupon clipping can be a waste of time and time is money. I think that most people don't save that much money and you don't get paid for the time it takes to read through them all and clip them all. Time is a precious commodity these days. People are so busy, who has time to clip coupons? Not me. Besides most stores have a card you use and get the coupon price without actually cutting the coupon. Also in case you didn't know, you can call the 1-800 number on the back of the product or go on line for many companies and request coupons, which they will send to you for the products you actually use and want. Another great idea is the Gold-C book (also known as the Entertainment Book). It is often sold as a fund raiser item for schools. It has coupons for restaurants, attractions, shopping etc. and it has the coupons already organized for you and you can just pull them out as necessary. In fact, Safeway has coupons in it that can be used along with any other coupon you have as long as your total is at least $50. Talk about savings. But leave your Gold-C book in your car so it will be handy when you need it. For those die hard coupon cutters, I wish you well. Don't get me wrong, there are times when coupon clipping comes in handy, but I think you can buy in bulk and save way more than any coupon can. April, an awesome friend of mine, swears by her Entertainment Book! She has treated me to lunch with her buy one get one coupon from McDonalds that came out of her book.
If you have access to a food warehouse then by all means use it. There are two big chains out there that come to mind. If you don't have a membership and don't have a business, don't despair. Ask around. You may know someone who has a membership that will let you be secondary card holder (which by the way is usually free). Or you may be able to go with someone who has a card and pay cash for your purchases. Keep in mind though that buying certain items in bulk will just end up costing you more than you need to spend. So before you go decide what you will buy, make a list, then do not stray. A good example is condiments. If you will not use three large bottles of ketchup in say six months then don't buy it at the food warehouse. On the other hand if you have a large family then by all means take advantage of all they have to offer. I found that buying mozzarella cheese in a five pound brick then taking it home and cutting in to five one pound chunks is cost effective. The same cheese sold at a chain grocery store ran about $4.00 per pound and it was almost 1/2 that by buying it in a brick. You can freeze it, but it changes in consistency a little bit if you do. I put mine in quart size freezer bags and use it for cooking. It will grate easily if allowed to semi-thaw. I use it for lasagna, enchiladas, casseroles, etc.
If you have a family I highly recommend a freezer. If you cannot afford one look on craigslist in the "free" section. I have seen them given away free. Maybe someone is moving or their children are gone and they no longer need it. Or you can post an ad for a free one under "wanted". All I know is that I could not have fed my children as well as I did without one. When my children were young I found one for fifty dollars at a garage sale. It was as big as a casket. We used to kid about being able to put a body in it. Kidding aside, with a freezer you can buy large roasts and cut them into stew meat, or into smaller roasts. You can buy turkeys when they go on sale and put three or four of them in the freezer. When you run across a great sale you can stock up and put it in the freezer. I used to buy ground turkey chubs by the tens whenever they went on sale. It can be used in almost any ground beef recipe and it is better for you. You can almost freeze anything. The other things I recommend for your kitchen are a pressure cooker (contact your local county extension office for the proper use of a pressure cooker if you buy a used one) and a food processor. If you can't afford to buy new, go to the goodwill or thrift store and see if you can find one you can afford. They will usually let you plug it in to make sure it works and have a thirty day return policy. But don't quote me, ask.
"But I work full time" you may say, "I don't have time to do all of this stuff". With a little planning you can cook your family great meals in a short period of time. For example, have you ever thought of dumping a five pound bag of potatoes into a pot of water and just boiling them skins and all till just done and then storing them in the refrigerator for recipes to be used during the week? Saves time. Also, cooking a large pot of rice with your dinner then making rice pudding out of the left overs for breakfast? Saves time. How about your turkey dinner? Leave the carcass in the roaster and put it on the stove top as soon as the last spoon of mashed potatoes are gobbled up. Add salt, celery, and onions, boil till the remainder of the meat falls off, let cool for a little while then carefully scoop out the bones and there you have turkey broth for any recipe you choose. Put it in plastic ware and store in the freezer for your next enchilada sauce recipe, or gravy for hot turkey sandwiches, in case there was extra meat you could cut and save. Or you could add some extra wide egg noodles for a yummy turkey soup. I season mine with my home made vegetable seasoning. I took the bottle of one of my favorite seasoning mix and wrote down all the ingredients. Then I went to my local health food store and bought all of the herbs in bulk. (Sold in small bags by the ounce). I then put them into my food processor in order listed using 2 Tbsp. for the first half then reducing the herbs to 1 Tbsp. then 1 tsp. when I got to the strong, pungent herbs. When I finished I had a quart of great tasting spice mix that could be used on almost any recipe. Even as a rub. The same herb mix costs over $3.00 for a small bottle. Granted my first endeavor cost more than that but I ended up with a quart size jar. I still have some left over to make more which I store in the pantry in a big jar.
Another tip you may find handy is to buy what is in season. They cost less and taste better. For example, we can grow strawberries here in Colorado in the spring and summer and they freeze really well. So if you can grow them terrific! But if not, you may be able to find them in season at the food warehouse and then freeze them yourself to be used later in the year. But make sure to freeze them individually on cookie sheets and then put them into freezer bags otherwise they may stick together and you won't be able to take out only what you can use.
Please check back in a few days. I have more information on food ideas, even free food, we will also cover more on time saving tips in the kitchen.
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