Never before have I recognized the need to find money-saving grocery methods as I do now. My boys have always been big eaters. But now that 2-almost-3-out of 4 of them are teenagers? There is no sentence to follow that question. It’s just. The food. They eat. I’m so. Wow.
It’s a pleasure to watch them eat actually. Big appetites are fun for a food lovin’ Mama like me. But I have to find as many ways as possible to make our grocery dollars stretch. Just last week, I decided to buy some thick deli-sliced ham for a quick lunch. It was on sale, so I bought several inches of it, hoping I could stretch it with a bunch of side dishes, and therefore save about a half pound to go with eggs for breakfast the next day. Y’all. I fried every last bit of that ham, fried some leftover baked potatoes, opened a can of baked beans, pulled out half a pineapple, pulled out a pint of pickles, pulled some tortilla chips to go with leftover Cream Cheese Salsa Dip and leftover Spicy Avocado Dip, pulled a bowl of raw broccoli with homemade ranch dip – and nothing was left at the end of the meal. Then they said, “Can we have the rest of those peanut butter cookies?”
This is why their legs keep growing and their shoes are too small before they even get them broken in. (Praise God with me! Two of our boys found brand new pairs of very nice quality running shoes at our church clothing exchange last week for FREE. Hallelujah! Put the money we would have spent on shoes toward more eggs and meat.)
You know how I share that I buy in bulk all the time? A friend of mine came over to take a look at my food purchasing and storage system. She saw all of the containers of pasta. She saw all the jars of home-canned produce. She saw all the 50-pound bags of wheat, oats, and rice. She saw my all my cocoa powder, bottles of ketchup, jars of mayo, and cans of tuna. She saw my three freezers (THREE!) full of meat and frozen fruits and veggies. She saw it all. Her question:
“So, would this food last you for about a year do you think?” Oh dear, no (said I, with a giggle). What you see here will be gone in three months.
Well anyway, money saving tips on food are necessary – for all of us, wouldn’t you agree?
Each Monday for the next few weeks, I plan to share a way to save money while eating healthy food. Healthy food is so important so that we can all thrive physically and emotionally! These posts won’t be about skimping on nutrition, but rather attaining nutrition without breaking the bank.
Of course, I’ll continue to share all the great online deals I find at anytime throughout the week. But I continue learning new tricks to keep my healthy food grocery budget reasonable. I can’t wait to share!
Will you help out as we start this series? Leave a comment letting us know:
