Penny-wise. I like that adjective a lot better than frugal, penny-pinching or the gawd awful “cheap”. Penny-wise has a smart ring to it. And I fancy myself a smart penny-wise parent. Like everyone else in America my family and I have tightened our belts and made strident efforts to cut back where we can. This is especially important when it comes to feeding a family, mine includes two teenagers…and their friends. In the heyday, at the turn of the century (around 2000), we’d have the neighborhood over and feed them the finest kid food available; fruit roll ups, juice boxes, lunchables, you mom’s know what I’m talking about. Half drunk bottles of water and slightly touched sandwiches would be tossed with reckless abandon. Today is a completely different story. We have to be considerate of our planet and our pocketbooks.
Tracking your family’s feeding patterns is the biggest key to saving money. For the next 4 weeks track the major food groups. How quickly do you go through a gallon of milk? Do you toss half of it out after the expiration date, or are you running back to the store at midnight when there’s a must have cookies and milk emergency. What about cereals, cheeses, and lunch meat. Do you run through pasta like your feeding an Italian army? How about fruit and veggies? How long can you make them last and which ones seem to go first? And as much as we would all like our children to try new things, is it really worth buying the expensive swiss chard when they are just as happy with broccoli. Right now is not the time to experiment with iffy foods when thrifty is our number one prerogative.
By using this tracking method my girls and I have found a new path to creating cost conscious, earth friendly, and healthy meals. We made it a fun for everyone adventure. First we went to the store and bought all the foods we love and knew for sure we would eat. We brought it all home, laid it out on the counter and created a grid of everything we purchased to hang on the fridge. Every time we ate one of our purchases we marked it down. It is really amazing to see what it is you eat and don’t eat and when. It was good for our diets too… but that’s a different story. We definitely found consistent eating patterns in our house.
For the stuff we go through like there’s no tomorrow, our favorite haunts to shop are big box stores like Costco and Sam’s Club. The stuff that ended up half eaten or not eaten are small order grocery trips and the every once in a while weird and wild food choices is a stroll down the aisles of Trader Joes.
Buying in bulk is planet and penny wise. For us that means a huge tub of cream cheese, or large cottage cheese container and water bottles by the case. We drink lots of water, its much more affordable and healthier than sodas. We also buy cereal, crackers and juice in bulk. We go through these items in less than a month so it makes sense to hefty buy.
Weekly grocery purchases can be hit and miss. First, I know this sounds crazy, but do not shop on an empty stomach. You can’t help but overbuy. Eyes are always hungrier than bellies. Second, have a list and stick to it. If you get the newspaper go through the ads. You will see what the weekly specials are and if it’s something you like or buy regularly, put the store and food item on your list. So, lets say you know you want fruit in the house. If cherries are on sale, buy those instead of a regular purchase like apples not both. One or the other won’t be eaten before it spoils. That is a waste and switching things up makes eating more fun. Again, I don’t mean to try crazy Asian pears instead of Bartlett pears, because if you don’t like it – it gets tossed. There are great online resources to draw from too. I signed up for my favorite grocery store online alert, that way I know the specials and receive coupons for just the products I like. Redplum.com is a gold mine for pennywise coupon clippers.
Speaking of coupons. Be wary. Coupons are meant to draw you in to sample new products. This oftentimes leads to miscellaneous purchasing and products that sit and sit and sit in your pantry. Use the coupons that make sense. For example many coupons require buying two or three of the same item. Three cereal boxes at a time is okay as long as you open them one at a time or if you are planning a massive slumber party. Buy only what you know you will use. In other words a “buy three” coupon is not a good choice if you only use one of the three in a timely manner and the other two go stale. It’s smarter to not use the coupon and buy only one of what you need.
Our family is three females and in tracking our patterns I found that we don’t consume massive quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables at once, so I buy my perishables at the grocery store. As I’m sure you have learned by now the healthy route around the store is the perimeter. Start with the produce section. Buy only what you think your family will eat in the 3 to 5 day shelf life of the produce. I have wasted tons of money buying all kinds of fruit that looks yummy but with too many choices we can’t get through it all and then the yummy turns to yucky and not so pennywise. The same goes for deli products. Only buy the milk, cheese, lunchmeats and bread that you can consume. Even if you pay a few cents more for a smaller package it will save you in the long run when you don’t have to throw half of it away.
Another great tip is freezing. I am a huge freezer fan. But be aware there are certain food products you can freeze, only for a limited time and others that will turn into humongous freezer failures…my biggest pennywise faux pas, buying the giant tub of Costco cream cheese and freezing half. That’s a no no. You can’t freeze cheese. I learned this the hard way. But you can freeze fish, chicken and meats if you freeze package it properly. If I buy a large quantity of these items, I only put in the fridge what I think I’m going to prepare in the next day or two. Then I portion out the remainder and put them in separate freezer bags. If you have the time and feeling industrious, prepare all the meat and then store the meals in separate containers to reheat later. That way you can whip up a salad nuke your leftovers and in 2 minutes you’ve got dinner.
Other freezable items are bread and pastries, but understand that there is this funky thing called freezer burn. It makes your food taste awful and there is no rescue plan for that. Three to four months is as much as anyone should ever have anything stored in the freezer. Keep that in mind when you are bulk buying.
Finally, the fun stuff like greasy, salty, crunchy, chocolate, icy. None of it is super healthy but it is delish and the best buy to these fun treats is Trader Joes. You don’t have to buy a lot, the variety they carry is interesting and you can purchase it in small quantities and eat it within a few days.
Pennywise does not have to be pound foolish
Remember …Your Grass is Green
This is interesting, post more often!