Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

What I Did With 30-Pounds of Hamburger

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I just took advantage of a fantastic deal on meat! Here’s what I did with 30-pounds of hamburger…

Meat prices have been rising, so I’ve really been watching out for good deals on meat. I’ve cut way back on beef and have instead been buying more chicken or pork because their prices per pound have been much less. ($0.98/pound for chicken legs at Costco and Sam’s?? Yes, please.)

So when I found ground beef on sale for $2.49/pound, I bought 30 pounds!

Why Did I Buy 30-Pounds of Hamburger?

Well, $2.49/pound is pretty much incredible for ground beef!

Gone are the days when I limit myself to buying only top-notch grass-fed beef. I do know that the quality of other meat is not as good and I have chosen not to overthink or worry over this. It is still meat and meat is real food. We have a lot of precious mouths to feed at our house (currently 11) so I’m choosing to be thankful for ANY source of meat that offers us nourishment.

One of our local grocery stores was featuring 10-pound tubes of meat at a high discount, and the best bang for my buck was their 80-20 meat. I bought 30 pounds for a total of $74.70 and felt like I’d hit the jackpot! (I also scored a great price on strawberries and bought four pounds – a favorite snack at our house.)

What I Did With 30-Pounds of Hamburger

I’ve never bought a huge tube of meat like this before, much less three of them. ;) So when I got home I decided to see how far I could get with prepping the meat into meals so that I didn’t have to freeze such huge tubes and then thaw them again before doing something with them.

Our infant was napping, so I prepped a container of strawberries for our littlest girls (ages 1, 2, and 3) to munch on. We told Alexa to “play Jesus Loves Me” and I got to work while the girls ate and listened to music. :)

First, I got out two of my largest pots. I put an entire 10-pound tube into one and an additional 8-ish pounds into another. It browned while I worked on making hamburger patties.

I ended up with 42 hamburger patties of various sizes, which is perfect because our adults and elementary-aged kids can eat regular-sized burgers and our littles can have munchkin-sized burgers. :) Oh look, I was drinking a green smoothie while I worked, ha. I realized that I was getting hungry and thankfully, I had some ready-made nourishment in the fridge. So I grabbed it and drank it directly out of the jar.

I had three layers of patties on one cookie sheet and put it into the freezer like this. After the patties froze, I transferred them to freezer bags to thaw and cook as needed during the next few weeks.

From time to time, I continued to stir the meat that was cooking on the stove. I also took time to pour off the grease into another pot because this much meat cooking at once created a good amount that needed to be removed.

I took the remaining ground beef, put it into a large bowl, and turned it into meatloaf. I pressed this mixture into two large pans (but forgot to take a picture because by this time, Keith was home from preschool and the girls had long since finished their snack so I had to stop quite a bit to care for their needs).

We stopped and ate lunch somewhere in there. Then while the kids played again (and our three-year-old peed on the floor in the girls’ room), I scooped some of the meat into a freezer bag to use as needed. I saw the pee-floor situation so she and I took time to clean it up. (Don’t worry I washed my hands and) then I stirred Sloppy Joe ingredients into the remainder of pot #1.

I divided it into four meal-sized portions and they went to the freezer.

I then seasoned the big 10-pound meat pot with taco seasoning. Once it cooled, I transferred it to gallon-sized freezer bags to use for a graduation party late in April. Elias and Kelsey (Justus’ wife) are both graduating from York University this month and we plan to have a party with a Potato/Nacho Bar. Having this meat ready (and finding it for such a great price!) is a huge relief!


With any leftover taco meat, or with the meat that I left plain and froze, we can make:

This makes me incredibly happy because I LOVE BEEF and I’ve been holding back because of the cost. And now I have to decide, should I go back before the sale ends to get more??? :)

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How to Beat Inflation at the Grocery Store

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I’m here to offer some encouragement today. While prices are going up, we can still beat inflation at the grocery store.

As you know, my grocery budget for our Big Family is large. We need to spend $1,200/month to feed all of us, and with prices on the rise, I’ve wondered if I could keep it that “low.”

Currently, we feed four adults and six kids – three meals every day. At $1200/month, the breakdown equals $4/day per person for all meals and snacks. I feel great about this! But I’ve been contemplating if I’d need to bump my budget up to keep up with rising prices.

I may need to, but for now, I’m challenging myself to see if I can focus on more low-cost meals to keep from having to spend more. This personal challenge led me to put this 30 Days of Dollar Dinners packet together, and I’m really encouraged. As it turns out, we really can keep food costs low, even now.

We can buy one big pork roast and make it stretch into 5 different meal!
Join our free 30 Days of Dollar Dinners series so I can show you how!

Let’s talk about meat and cheese.

As I’ve been shopping, I’ve found that meat and cheese tend to be grocery budget killers. So I’ve changed a few things about how I shop and cook.

I’m adding less than half the cheese I used to add to dishes, and they still taste just as good. And as it turns out, I’m able to still feed us a lot of meat – I’m simply choosing cheaper meat options:

  • We’re eating less beef overall, as I’ve found that it’s much pricier than chicken or pork.
  • We’re eating more chicken legs, chicken thighs, and pork roasts.
  • If I need it for a recipe, I’m using more ground turkey instead of ground beef.

No one is complaining. No one has even noticed, actually. Our meals have been delicious and some have cost us less than I was spending before inflation. True story!

NOTE: This decision I’ve made to cut meat costs has meant that I am compromising on buying all grass-fed, free-range meats. God is bigger and I’m choosing to trust him in this decision even though I know that more sustainable meats are better for our bodies. The meat I’m buying is still a healthy, real food choice, and I’m saving hundreds of dollars each month this way. :)

I’m also trying to make time to make more of our food from scratch again. This is still a bit of a challenge with so many littles to care for right now. But I’ve been able to bake more than I used to, so this is wonderful for breakfasts and snacks. (See this great list for 111 Baking Recipes.)

Our 4-year-old likes to help me bake while his three younger sisters are napping.

30 Days of Dollar Dinners

I hope you’ve already signed up to follow along with our 30 Days of Dollar Dinners series. I’ll be posting inexpensive meal ideas and recipes here during the next few weeks. Meanwhile, get all these free resources! We’ve come up with 30 dinners we can make for $1/person (sometimes less!) And we’ve put it all – along with a grocery list and other money-saving resources – into this free printable packet.

Are we stuck with chicken legs and meatless meals forever now?

Goodness no. We can still buy and eat whatever we want. But the 30 Days of Dollar Dinners recipes and ideas packet gives us thirty meal ideas that cost $1/person. We can use this as a forever reference any time we want to find ways to cut back at the grocery store. And we can be encouraged that there are 30 great meals we can make that won’t break the bank. It’s fun and encouraging to know this!

What ways have you found to cut back on spending at the grocery store?

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30 Days of Dollar Dinners freebies.

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How I’m Planning Christmas for Our 14 This Year

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I’m planning Christmas for our tribe and I thought it would be fun to process “out loud” while I work out details!

You know I love to go all out at Christmastime. But how I used to do Christmas when there were only six of us does not work now that there are 14 of us.

I’m looking for ways to have a lot of fun without spending as much money this year also. Here’s how I’m hoping to get away with spending very little out of pocket this year.

How I’ve been saving/earning “free” money for Christmas this year

  • I’ve spent time earning Swagbucks during the past few months and made my way up to $100 free dollars in gift cards! I decided to redeem them all to use at Sam’s, so now I have $100+ to use for gifts there!
  • I got a “check” from Costco as part of their cash-back program. I plan to redeem that for free gifts.
  • I’ve been saving the cashback that we earn from our Discover card and I can use that at Amazon for gifts.

Meanwhile, I’ve found some great deals here and there and have been buying and tucking away stocking stuffers for a few weeks.

How I’m Planning Christmas for Our 14 This Year

  1. I’m looking into games that our entire family can play (which is a challenge since our kids are ages 1-25!) This Saran Wrap Ball Game is perfect though.
  2. I’m putting together these Christ-Centered Christmas gifts for our entire family, which will be the main part of our Christmas day.
  3. I’m focusing on consumable gifts again so that we don’t pile more STUFF into our house. :) Here are ideas for consumable gifts (not just food!).
  4. We’ll plan a day after Christmas to enjoy with “just the grown-ups.” So much of our life is focused on the little ones, which is exactly as it needs to be. But two years ago we started a tradition of hiring sitters for all the littles for an entire afternoon and evening. We bigs all head to our church fellowship hall where we eat and play games for hours together. It is much needed and so much fun!

What about the FOOD?!

You might remember that our traditional Christmas dinner for the past several years has been Lasagna. I’m changing that this year because 1 out of 14 of us refuses to eat lasagna. NEVER do I ever cater to one person’s pickiness on a regular day. But this Christmas I’ve decided to. Why? Because our Christmas meal is supposed to be special, and if my daughter can’t possibly put lasagna into her mouth and it causes a fight at mealtime? No thanks. Not on Christmas. (This is my gift to me.)

So we’re having a Nacho Bar. Everyone can fix their bowl or plate the way they like and everyone wins. Plus, by the time we’re hungry enough to eat Christmas dinner after a big breakfast, it’ll probably be time to pull out games anyway. So we can munch on nachos and play games in the afternoon. It’s perfect!

What about that big breakfast? I’ll make an Easy Breakfast Casserole ahead of time and bake it while we dig into gifts that morning. I’ll serve it with fresh fruit and one or two of the following (I haven’t decided yet!):

Here are a lot of great Make-Ahead Christmas Breakfast Ideas to look through!

Christmas Make-Ahead Breakfast Ideas

Do you have fun Christmas traditions or some that you’re starting this year? I’d love to hear!

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Big Family Food: More Ways to Save on Groceries. Maybe?

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I think we’re all looking for more ways to save on groceries right now. I’m finding that we are flying through groceries faster than ever with our growing family. And it won’t slow down! Our littles will turn into bigs and then we will really be eating through the grocery store.

Even with grocery prices on the rise, I’ve been challenging myself to stay under our $1,200/month budget. I’m not sure that I can and I’ve found that I have to get a little bit creative to try and make it happen. Some specifics about how I shop right now:

  • With so many little ones, I don’t have time or ability to shop lots of deals at several different stores. I know I’m missing out on lots of savings (loss leader sales) because of this, but I can get creative in other ways, right?
  • I stick with once-a-month trips to Sam’s and Costco, plus a Walmart pickup order every week or so as needed. (I’m looking into adjusting this though because I’m finding I might need to go to the warehouses every two weeks so I can keep up.)
  • We get some groceries from Azure Standard every couple of months, plus a few from Amazon.
  • We get milk and eggs from local farmers and friends.

Who I’m Feeding for $1,200/Month

Daily:

  • 4 adults
  • 4 kids
  • 3 toddlers

Here are some of the littlest of our crew:

Frequently:

  • some of our adult kids who don’t live with us anymore (Elias comes home from the University to grab food; Justus and Kelsey are over a few times a week)
  • babysitters (a variety of help at our house almost daily)
  • my kids’ friend
  • college students (Sunday lunches and then some)
  • company

I used to take meals to people often as needed, but that’s not something I’m able to do right now. Eventually, I hope to get back to being able to do that!

I’m thankful to be able to feed so many people every day. I delight in it and sometimes don’t care how much it costs, simply because feeding, nourishing, and loving people is such a joy. But at the same time, I have to care about the cost, especially when feeding so many.

Recently, I’ve been trying to share some great ways I’ve found to save on food costs. Like these:

 

I’ve been working on more ways to save…

More Ways to Save on Groceries

1. Skip the pre-packaged snacks.

This might seem like a no-brainer, but during this season in my life, I found that I was falling back on buying cases of little packages of crackers or other snacks at Sam’s or Costco. After all, I truly do need grab-and-go snacks for our kids to eat during walks, at the soccer field, or in the car.

Instead, though, I’ve been purchasing boxes of snack-sized ziplock baggies and letting my 6 and 8-year-olds help me package up snacks for these purposes. This is saving us a lot of money plus helping us choose healthier snacks overall.

Also, because of some extra helpers I’ve had during the past few months, I’ve also been a little bit more able to make snacks from scratch again. It feels so good to make more homemade goodies again!

2. Pack a lunch instead of buying a school lunch.

This might seem silly because the school lunch is very reasonably priced. But I can easily pack our kids’ school lunch for much less than the $3.20 that they charge. (Here are lots of ideas.) Plus, my kids don’t make great school lunch choices (eat the cookie, skip the veggies). ;) So packing a nourishing lunch for them saves quite a bit and helps them be healthier too.

3. Make meat a side dish instead of a main dish.

Instead of planning my meals around meat, I’ve started planning my meals around my fruits and vegetables and other sides. We have been eating a plateful of rice or potatoes, steamed veggie, bowl of fruit, and a little meat. Some meals we don’t have meat at all if we eat beans for protein.

4. Eat more fruits and veggies.

This truly is a money saver!!!!! Meat is $3-$8 per pound while fresh produce is between $0.19-$4.00/pound – with a lot in between. I love that we can eat such nourishing foods at such low cost. I’ve learned to fill my cart and not hold back, knowing that fruits and vegetables are much needed and extremely reasonable in price.

5. Do a little math.

If you take the time to do a price breakdown of some of your favorite meals, you might find, like I have, that many homemade meals cost very little to make. This doesn’t save money, necessarily. It’s just encouraging!! It helps me know that I really am feeding my family well for a very low cost per person!

Here are some examples I’ve shared here:

6. Buy turkeys on sale at holiday time.

I was shocked when I realized that I could make ten meals with just one turkey! I used that bird to feed company, to make soup, to create easy lunches – all for such a low cost! If we can take advantage of holiday sales on turkeys, then thaw and bake them throughout the year, we can really save a lot on great meat.

7. Don’t waste produce.

Here are details about how I buy and use all of our produce before it goes bad. This is a huge money saver!

8. Drink more water.

Ok, but don’t take away my coffee!! (<— which I make at home for only $0.35!)

Many of you probably already do this, and I used to be better at sticking with only water at our house. But as our older boys got older, I found that having Body Armor, Izzes, Bubblys and a few other fun drinks on hand was nice for when their friends came over.

I still plan to get some cases of drinks from Costco and Sam’s here and there, but it will save my grocery budget if I buy them less frequently.

9. Don’t overthink it. 

We need to eat and we want to eat well. So sometimes I just have to ignore the rising price and know that I need to buy it anyway, especially when it’s a nourishing need for our family. There are many of us, we eat a lot of food, and that’s that. (Still, it’s good that I’m considering splurges that I might be able to cut out while not worrying about the necessities.)

10. Recognize the huge cost savings compared to eating out.

Even when we’re eating something that has been pre-packaged for convenience, we are still saving an incredible amount of money by eating at home compared to eating out. Here’s what works for us and how much we save by eating at home!

Share your best grocery saving tips!

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How I Saved $480 on my Grocery Budget in September

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You’ve heard this tip before, but I wanted to share it again because practicing it gave us significant savings last month! Here’s how I saved $480 on my grocery budget in September.

I have a very large grocery budget, so saving $480 was pretty significant. We feed 9 people three meals every day, 2 additional people at dinnertime most nights, and regularly have guests and friends eating with us. So we typically spend around $1,200/month on food.

How I Saved $480 on my Grocery Budget in September

Every once a in while, I feel the need to focus on eating what we have instead of continually stocking up. This is a little bit tricky, simply because part of the way we save money is to constantly have a nice variety of food on hand so I can “shop” my freezers and pantry when I make meals and snacks. Running out can potentially mean a super expensive shopping trip to make up for all the food we’ve used up.

On the other hand, I reached that point most of us get to in which I needed to use up the random items lurking in the back of the freezer and pantry. There were plenty of great meals that could be made with what we had on hand; I just had to get creative!

And so, after huge stock-up purchases at Sam’s last month and at Costco early in September, I decided to see how long I could go without grocery shopping.

What I had:

Rest assured, I took the worst pictures ever to show you my freezer and pantry stockpile. I hate being unorganized, and yet, so much of the time I live in a state of disorganization while focusing instead on caring for so many littles.

Cringe with me while you look through my (unorganized) full freezers, fridge, and pantry so you can see that I truly had a lot of food to work with while I challenged myself to avoid grocery shopping!

Ack, here’s what my fridge always looks like right after a Sam’s or Costco trip: we just stuff the food in wherever it fits until we can regroup. :)

The cases of canned and jarred food go on a shelf in the kitchen.

While at Costco early in the month, I’d picked up three boxes of fruit.

As you can see, we had loads of food to work with! But…

What I’d still need

There’s no way for me to buy enough milk, fruits, or vegetables to last an entire month. So I still allowed myself to buy dairy products and produce as needed through the end of the month.

Some disclaimers

  • Three of our foster children qualify for WIC benefits. So each month, we are blessed to pick up around $180 worth of groceries (cheese, milk, produce, cereal, beans, and bread) at no cost to us. This is a huge help!
  • When I refer anyone to Azure Standard, I receive a small credit to my account. I let the credit add up for several months, then I place an order for a few free groceries about three times each year.

With so many mouths to feed, these two perks are a huge help to us and we are thankful for the bonus groceries!

What we ate in September

Now for the fun pictures! Here are many examples of food we made and ate during our weeks of eating from our stockpile.

I’d had a ham roast in the freezer for over two years (see why I needed this challenge?!). I think I had avoided it because I didn’t know what to do with it.

Solution: Cook it. Eat it. Hmmm, why didn’t I think of that sooner?

I simply put it into the crock pot in the morning to cook on low all day. Later in the day I dumped on some barbecue sauce. It was brainless and turned out super tasty!

Here are the plates I fixed for the seven littlest that night: ham roast, green beans, cheesy noodles, and sliced fruit.

I had a bag of fish sticks in the back of a freezer, so I air-fried them along with sweet potato fries one evening. We had corn on the cob, strawberries, and these smoothies to complete the meal. (I got my huge 10-quart air-fryer at Sam’s. It’s perfect for us!

I made these snacks to keep on hand for all the littles – these are a lifesaver! Mudballs, Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars, and Snickerdoodle Bites

Here’s a plate I fixed one afternoon for two of our toddlers to eat at our small picnic table while they played outside.

One night before our 6-year-old’s soccer game, we ate an entire double-package of tortelloni with sauce, spinach dipped in ranch, and a bag of clementines. (I forgot to take a picture, so I grabbed this one from my files!)

One Sunday, I’d run out of time before church to prep anything for our lunch so I just dumped some Costco meatballs into the crock pot with barbecue sauce. When we came home, I warmed up corn and got out a big can of peaches and some fresh spinach to eat with ranch dressing. It was simple and all the kids loved it!

I had a 4-pack of beef smoked sausages from Sam’s. So I cooked two (but needed a third one, so cooked that while we were devouring the rest!) along with a bunch of quesadillas, peas, and sliced pears.

I marinated a big 3-pack of chicken legs, then smoked them early one afternoon. I put them into a crock pot to stay warm while we headed to Malachi’s tennis match. When we came home I steamed broccoli, warmed up leftover corn, and opened cans of mandarin oranges for us to eat before we headed to a little league soccer game for our 6-year-old.

I had three small packages of different meat in my freezer that had been sitting in the back simply because not one of the packages was enough to feed my family a full meal. I decided one day to thaw all three of the packages at the same time and smoke them to make a meal. So, one big pork chop, four chicken thighs, and five beef ribs made us a feast that night! I served the meat with smoothies, steamed broccoli, and tortilla chips with this dip.

A dear friend gave us a rotisserie chicken from Costco, so I used some of the meat to create an amazing Chicken Alfredo meal. Matt, Malachi, the littles, and I all ate it. A family friend joined us. Then later that night Elias came home with two college buddies and they finished it off. :) :) :)

On Fridays, we often like to celebrate the end of a school week with “French Fry Fridays” at dinnertime. I didn’t have any frozen fries but had a big bag of potatoes so I experimented by making homemade fries in the air fryer. They weren’t difficult to make but it did take forever to cook them in the fryer compared to cooking store-bought frozen fries. The taste though? INCREDIBLE.

I had a double pack of brats in the freezer so smoked them for dinner one night. Justus and Kelsey joined us, which was a treat! Then Elias showed up – so everyone was here except for Asa and Eva, who live in Lincoln. :)

I served the brats with steamed broccoli and cauliflower, steamed green beans, several boxes of mac and cheese, and a few sliced apples.

We have a lot of company coming mid-October and I wanted to get ahead on meal prep one morning when I had help around to watch the littlest kiddos. I decided that our October guests would get to eat whatever I had to work with on this day, during the last week of September. Lucky for them, I had all the fixings for Lasagna and Chili. So those are ready and in the freezer to thaw and serve to the company (14-22 per meal).

 

I had frozen cooked turkey in the back of the freezer plus two jars of homemade broth. So one morning when I knew I’d be gone all afternoon, I made a big pot of turkey and noodle soup to warm up and enjoy when we got home. (Made like this, except that I’d bought a huge bag of egg noodles at Sam’s and used those.)

Here’s a look at a lunch I served to our four littlest kids, plus Malachi, Matt, and myself. I didn’t think to take a picture until after half of our lunch was gone! But we did go through an entire loaf of bread, lots of meat and cheese, and half a watermelon. And that was without any extra guests or our elementary kids at home. Grilled cheese is a favorite!

I discovered some chicken in the back of the freezer that I didn’t realize was there (woot!) and had all the ingredients needed to make White Chicken Chili, so at the end of the month, I put that into the crockpot to slow cook all day. It was perfect as we headed into fall!

As we reached the end of the month, I was pleasantly surprised to see that we still had about a week’s worth of great meal options left. It did help that I’d allowed myself to continue to buy fruits, veggies, milk, and cheese as needed. Still, we’d saved $480 on our overall monthly budget so I feel that this was a huge win!

Have you ever challenged yourself to avoid the store and eat only what you have on hand for a few weeks? It’s actually pretty fun and a great way to save money!

 

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How to Save Money on Eating Out

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We save money on eating out simply by not eating out much. Boring, right?? To some, maybe. But we have fun with food in other ways, which gives us treats while saving a lot of money! Here are some fun ideas I wanted to share with you today!

A few weeks ago, I shared about how our family avoids eating out. We do this to save money, to avoid the hassle of taking a bunch of little kids into a restaurant (oy!!), and to keep ourselves from feeling crummy.

The irony

As I’m writing this post, I’m currently sitting just outside of Panera sipping something delicious, for which I paid $4.00. Earlier today, I ate a burger and fries at Culver’s. What do I have to say for myself?? :)

I have to say that I’m not against eating out at all! We just don’t do it very often, and when we do, it’s a big treat! Today – the day I’m writing this post – I am taking a day off, which I do about once every month if I can. I leave the kids behind with Daddy and big brothers and any other helpers we wrangle, and I go out of town to do a big grocery shopping and work day. These days are INCREDIBLE for my mental health as we care for so many high-need children in our home right now.

My day off always includes at least one meal out and usually a coffee treat. It’s a hot one today, so I am really enjoying my Charged Lemonade from Panera (while I write about avoiding Panera, hahaha). Anyway…

Why don’t we eat out much?

We’re the geeky people who can’t handle ordering an $8 plate of pancakes and eggs for breakfast at a restaurant because we are silently (ok, verbally) calculating the $0.90 we would have spent on that same plate of food had we made it at home.

Truly, we are a barrel of fun at a restaurant. :/

Awwww. Here we are back when we only had four kids.
This was our traditional back-to-school restaurant meal.
See? We are so much fun. Sometimes.

Today I will share some ways we eat fun food at home while saving a lot of money on restaurant prices!

How to Save Money on Eating Out

The short answer is this: We make restaurant-type food at home when we need a fast meal or when we want/need a night off from cooking or dishes.

Here’s a price breakdown to show you how much money we save when we buy convenience foods at the store compared to buying them made for us at a restaurant. (Obviously, you’ll save even more if you make these foods from scratch!)

Chicken Nuggets and Fries

I buy big bags of nuggets and fries at Costco. We cook them in our air fryer, slice some apples, and this makes a delicious fast food meal for $10.16 – total! For ten people (four adults, three kids, and three toddlers). This is huge savings and super fun for our family! We had a movie night on this particular “French Fry Friday.”

Burgers and Fries

Burgers cost a bit more to make, but even with high quality, pre-made patties that I pick up at Sam’s or Costco, our family can have a burger and fry night for a total of $15.34.

How much would burgers and fries cost our family at a restaurant? Our littlest kids would eat from our meals, so we’d probably buy four adult meals, and three kid meals. This would cost $47.03 at McDonand’s. And we’d have spilled ketchup everywhere. We’d rather spill our ketchup at home. ;)

Note: We do grab fast food while traveling sometimes! Usually we pick up a few boxes of 20-piece nuggets and a couple large fries for everyone to share. It’s a fun, crazy picnic!

Pizza

The best I can find for a take-out pizza right now is $10.99 for a one-topping.

Meanwhile, I can make a loaded pizza at home for $5.75. Or I can make frozen pizzas from Costco for $3.42 each. We need three large pizzas for our family, so we can either spend $33 total for take-out or $10.26 total for frozen. Take-out is fun, but so is frozen pizza! The kids love pizza nights!

Chicken Sandwiches

I don’t buy these very much, but when I do, we all love this!

I buy a bag of frozen chicken patties at our local grocery store – $4.48 for a bag of ten patties plus a package of buns for $1.29. This makes each sandwich cost $0.58. Currently, McChickens are $1.79. :)

Hotdogs

You know me, I always grab a hotdog while I’m shopping at Costco.

The dog/drink deal there is $1.50 which is awesome and it helps me survive my huge shopping trip, ha! If we ever took the family there (maybe someday when the littles are old enough to help!), I think this will be a perfect “meal out” to treat everyone to the hotdog and drink for just a buck fifty each!

Meanwhile, at home I make the awesome beef hotdogs from Sam’s, which cost $0.56 each.

Ice Cream

We don’t give our little ones much sugar yet, but not to worry, our big kids make up for it. And at the end of a long day after all the littles are finally tucked in, Matt and I sometimes have an ice cream date on the couch. :)

We’ve been getting the 48-ounce Wal-mart brand cartons, which is a Bryer’s knock off. These are made with slightly better ingredients than some brands, and they only cost $2.24/carton! What a fun date for just a few cents!

Those are some of our treats at home. What ways do you have treats at home to save money?

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Our $2.00/Plate Ham and Potato Meal – with Walmart Groceries

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I’ve been sharing fun meals we’ve been making recently with groceries from Costco. (Check them out here and here.) Since not everyone has a Costco membership, I decided to also share the cost breakdown of a meal I made using Wal-Mart groceries!

None of us really has time to break down the cost of our groceries to calculate the cost of each meal. But I have enjoyed doing the math for this series of inexpensive meals I’m sharing so that we can all see that while grocery prices are going up, we can STILL eat great meals at low cost!

This meal broke down to just $0.99/person!! —>

I challenge you to consider doing a little price break-down sometime with some of your family’s favorite meals. I bet you will be surprised at how inexpensive it is to eat great food at home with your family. :)

Our $2.00/Plate Ham and Potato Meal – with Wal-mart Groceries

I chose to do a price breakdown of a meal that doesn’t actually use the least expensive of ingredients: pre-made frozen hashbrowns, a package of diced ham, sour cream, and cheese. While some of the other meals I make costs less than this one, this Ham and Hashbrown Casserole shows a great example of how even a meal like this can still be made for only $2.00/person!

This meal includes:

Total to feed our 10 family members that night: $20.26

This averages $2.03/person with (4) adults eating more and (6) kids ages eight and under eating less. Our eight-year-old eats more than I do though, ha!

Nervous about spending money on fruits and vegetables? Do you skimp on these healthy foods in an effort to save money? Eeeek! Read this surprising post which shares how our family daily eats a lot of fresh, frozen, or canned fruits and veggies for a shockingly low amount per month.

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$5 Family Supper Club – Join Us!

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Now introducing: our $5 Family Supper Club!

Grocery prices are on the rise. But we don’t have to despair!

We did some research, we did the math, and we came up with 10 entire tasty meals you can make for your family that will only cost $5 (or maybe even less)*.

*prices as of May 2022

Join our $5 Family Supper Club!

This is for real – we’re going to tell you how you can feed a family of four for just $5! These meals aren’t fancy, but they are delicious and easy.

Have more than 4 people in your family? Me too, times a lot! ;) No worries! The more you stretch these meals, the more you’ll save! Simply adapt these plans and recipes to suit your family’s needs.

What about allergies?

Most of these meal plans and recipes are naturally gluten-free and dairy-free or can easily be adapted without increasing much in cost. I LOVE THIS!!!

Are you ready to join the club?

We want to save you some grocery money, and we want to bless you with a little pile of resources to make it fun and easy to save. So along with the meal plans and recipes, we’ll give you these too:

 

EVERYONE is affected by the increase in grocery costs right now. Please help us spread the word about these awesome free grocery-saving resources! Join us here:

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Does Costco Save the Most Money?

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Let’s do some math and determine: Does Costco Save the Most Money?

First, let’s talk about grocery budgets, using wisdom, and loving people.

Hi, I’m Laura and I used to care A LOT about saving every penny. I considered “saving money” to be a part of my job as a homemaker, so I clipped all the coupons, hit all the sales, and hoarded our stockpile. This was in part because we didn’t have much money and we needed to save all of our pennies just to make it. And it was in part because I didn’t understand my time and energy have value too.

I still love a good deal. I still love to save money when I can. I’ll even say yes to freebies, yes I will.

But after 26+ years of marriage, 23+ years of raising children, 15+ years of learning that the quality of our food matters,  7+ years of learning more about loving my neighbor, and 3+ years on a foster care and adoption journey:

I’m tired.

I’m also wiser, I hope. I’m learning more about what really matters, about generosity, and when it’s really worth taking the time to save a buck, you know?

I also have a really big family now. This means that in some ways, I need to be extra frugal to afford all of our family’s needs. But it also means that I have a lot more to do every day, and clipping coupons and looking through store ads doesn’t come close to making my to-do list.

No, these are not all of my children. I actually have two more not pictured. ;)
And also, several of these are our beloved college kids who we claim as our own and feed frequently.

How big is my grocery budget?

Well. I don’t mind sharing that it’s somewhere around $1,200/month. We have seven people still living at home and two college-age sons who come home frequently to eat. They bring their friends. On Sundays, we feed a large army of guests. We love this!

So we go through a pretty significant amount of food every month. And I’m no longer buying the cheapest food options because:

  • I don’t have time to nickel and dime everything
  • I prefer better quality food that sometimes costs more
  • Sometimes I buy convenience foods that cost more but help me stay sane through all the details that fill up my days as we live life as foster parents. (I’m not ashamed of the frozen pizzas I keep on hand. They keep me sane.)

What I’ve found is that it’s great to do a small amount of research to determine my best shopping options. Then I stick with a system, knowing that I’m doing the best I can and saving the most money possible during this season of life. And that’s where Costco comes in.

So, does Costco save the most money?

I only recently purchased a Costco membership. I make a trip there once each month if I can get away (the closest Costco is an hour from our house). Here’s what I’m learning:

  • Their clothing is awesome and very reasonably priced! (That has nothing to do with groceries, but it was worth mentioning.)
  • Their produce isn’t cheaper than what I can find at our local grocery store or Walmart. But it’s comparable in cost, and Costco offers better quality on produce. So I stock up while I’m there and shop Walmart produce on the off weeks.
  • Their healthy convenience foods are cheaper than what I was paying through Amazon Subscribe and Save. I used to order items like Go-Go Squeeze Fruit on the Go, 100% Fruit Cups, Nuts Packets, Meat Sticks, Annie’s Mac and Cheese, and the like through Amazon. I still do keep some of them on my subscribe-and-save plan. But most of these items are quite a bit cheaper at Costco. So I’m transitioning many items from Amazon to Costco so I can save money!
  • Their sauces and condiments are cheaper. They are also better quality than I can usually find at Walmart. So I now buy bulk ketchup, barbecue sauce, salsa, and other sauces we use at Costco.
  • Their frozen fruit and frozen vegetables are of fantastic quality for a lower price.
  • Their baking items are less expensive and I love buying them in bulk to save effort.
  • Their high-quality lunchmeats, bacon, and hotdogs are all less expensive than I’ve found elsewhere.
  • The above-mentioned frozen pizzas are super tasty and better quality than any other I’ve found. I buy a couple boxes each month and they help tremendously on extra busy days!

Beyond saving money, I’ve found that I love the Kirkland brand, and I love the varieties of food I find at Costco that I can’t find elsewhere in my town. I feel so spoiled when I bring home food from Costco!

I love buying in bulk, not just because it saves money, but because it saves me time. If I can buy a big box, a big bag, an entire case – that makes for less frequent purchasing needs and fewer grocery shopping trips. Sign me up!

I have found that since I only go to Costco once each month, I often need a second cart. This only works if I have a helper with me, and because of that, I do sometimes skip items at Costco that take up a lot of cart space and choose to have Amazon deliver them to my porch instead.

I’m still getting my rhythm now that I’m shopping Costco, Amazon, Walmart, and Azure Standard. But I have definitely found that Costco’s prices are overall cheaper for the wonderful quality they offer.

Here’s how my monthly grocery budget currently breaks down:

Costco $600
Walmart Pick-Up $250
Azure Standard $60
Amazon Subscribe and Save $100
Local Farm Meat, Eggs, and Milk $170

These are all rough numbers and each month varies. But that’s a general idea of where our grocery money goes each month. And here’s a general idea of who enjoys said groceries:

Where do you shop to save the most money?

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How We Save Year Round So We Can Enjoy a Big Christmas

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Earlier this week, I shared that I go ALL OUT at Christmas time and I don’t feel bad about it. Today I’d like to share some ways we save money all year round so that we can enjoy a big Christmas without guilt or challenge.

We definitely splurge here and there on fun treats throughout the year. But for the most part, most of the time we try to keep the special treats special. Here are some examples…

How We Save Year Round So We Can Enjoy a Big Christmas

1. We don’t frequently buy coffee from a coffee shop.

If we’re traveling or out for a fun event out of town, you bet we’ll enjoy a special drink from a coffee shop. But the hefty receipt reminds us why we don’t splurge on that treat regularly!

At home, we always have a pot of coffee ready to brew. We buy fun add-ins and enjoy delicious coffee in our own mug for a much cheaper price tag.

2. We rarely eat out.

Again, we reserve this for times of travel or for being out of town for an event. When we’re home, we’ll occasionally order pizza when there’s a great deal online or when I’ve had a full day from going to court or meetings for our foster kids. Otherwise, we mostly eat at home, which saves hundreds or thousands of dollars since our family is large.

3. We rarely go to movies.

Once a year or so, there’s a movie that Matt and/or the boys like to see in the theater. Otherwise, we wait for the movie to come out on Redbox. Lots of money saved, but still a lot of fun to be had!

4. We buy ice cream from the store instead of from a restaurant.

Ha, this is a silly one, and also a confession that we now frequently buy ice cream to keep in our freezer. :) What can I say? We have a lot of teenagers in our house. And a dad who likes ice cream.

All sugary confessions aside, here’s how we save money on this treat: We’ve found that we can go to DQ and spend $3.50 per person, or we can go to Walmart and spend $2.98 for our entire family. We don’t even just get the boring kinds. We get cookies and cream, chocolate chip cookie dough, peanut butter cup, chocolate mint, sea salt caramel. (Don’t look at the ingredient list…don’t look at the ingredient list…if you don’t know what’s in it, it can’t hurt you. Heh.)

So we’re getting the same deliciousness as a DQ Blizzard at a fraction of the price.

5. We don’t have cable TV.

We have zero channels, and we have Netflix. That’s it, and yes we miss watching sports sometimes but that’s what friends with cable are for. (We offer to bring food in exchange for watching the World Cup. It’s a win-win.)

I have no idea how much this saves us each year, but thousands I’m guessing. Hundreds at least.

6. I buy Christmas wrapping paper and decorations 50%-90% off after Christmas to prepare for the next year.

I took a friend with me last year to take advantage of the huge discounts. We’re still laughing about how much we got – and high-fiving about how much we saved!! It’s hard to pass up such inexpensive wrapping paper, right?

I always get lights to have on hand next year to replace broken ones, gift bags, tags, ornaments, paper plates and napkins, and whatever else I feel we can use. Oh my, and lots and lots of wrapping paper.

None of this is a judgment against those who regularly enjoy cable, coffeeshop coffee, ice cream outings, etc. This was just me sharing that we choose to enjoy treats at home more often than enjoying treats out.

And then when Christmas rolls around, we have extra money to splurge and enjoy extra special treats and outings. I don’t consider this a sacrifice – like we’re saving all year long so that we can have a big Christmas. This is simply our lifestyle, and it means that at Christmastime we kind of go nuts, because it’s fun and we feel that THIS is the time to go all out!

How about you? How do you save and when do you splurge!?

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