Budget Living; Making Ends Meet?

Shermie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
How do some of you who live on a fixed budget like me, make ends meet when it comes to managing your grocery expenditures, meals & holiday planning?

This doesn't just include the Big Three (Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Years), but also the summer holidays as well, such as Memorial Day & the Fourth of July.

How do people on a budget with a fixed income survive? I know, but I just thought that I'd try to find out how others do it.

Thanks. :piesmiley1::eating2:
 

Granny

New member
I find that Aldi has the best food prices around here. When items go on sale, if they can be frozen or stored for a while, I buy extra.

We have a big piggy bank where we throw loose change every day. We cash it in before a holiday, and even though it isn't, it feels like free money.
 

Adillo303

*****
Gold Site Supporter
I am not on a fixed income yet, but, as a self employed person in a bad economy, I am well familiar with feast and famine.

Sales and freezers figure in significantly.
 

luvs

'lil Chef
Gold Site Supporter
i agree w/ andy on freezers- i'll buy food-items on whims, & via a shopping list that i may or may not use. i'll get many fresh items (cheeses, salads) if they'll be ingested soon. as fer milk, i get organic horizons. that need not be stored in a fridge, & i buy pouches of curries often, as they take 2 minutes to make & have plentiful kCals, as well.
i would prefer to spend $1.79 on a teensy carton of milk & $8.99 on a curried item that i'll actually ingest, rather than buy a gallon of milk, & make scads of food i'll not ingest before it's old & has to be put into my garbage can, anyhow. found that that is far less of a cost expenditure than is buying & making excess food items.
 

Cooksie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
I have never paid attention to the price of Kitchen Basics Cooking Stock because I just love it and know I'm going to buy it anyway. I know I should make my own stock, but I like the convenience of the ready-made.

Last night when I made a bit pot of ground beef and vegetable soup, I used Better Than Bouillon to make the soup base. It tastes almost as good as the KB Cooking Stock.

This morning I figured the prices for the two products. One jar of BTB makes 9.5 quarts of broth and costs around $3.60. One quart of KB stock costs around $3.00. Cost difference is astounding.

Here's the catch (these are just estimates):

1 cup of regular BTB = 680mg sodium
1 cup of reduced sodium BTB = 500mg sodium

1 cup of regular KBCS = 440mg sodium
1 cup of unsalted KBSC = 130mg sodium

So for those who are not sodium-watchers, the BTB tastes pretty good and is a heck of a lot cheaper.

I bought the regular BTB, didn't even know there was a reduced sodium version. I'm going to look for the reduced sodium version and maybe give it a try.

...............

The other thing I do that saves me a few bucks is to buy the sprial ham pieces. They're just the pieces from the spiral hams that have been cut off to make the ham fit on the slicer. They're great for seasoning greens and peas, to put in an omelet, or even make a sandwich. Some of the slices are pretty big.

I want to say one pkg is about $4 but don't remember for sure.
 

ChowderMan

Pizza Chef
Super Site Supporter
"I know I should make my own stock,"

that's really a debatable issue. went into 'my own' up to my neck bones - there are some really practical 'things' to be solved.

you can't make a batch of beef stock with a few / one beef bone
you can make a batch of chicken stock with one carcass
you can't make a batch of vegetable stock from a meal's trimmings

bottom line, "some planning required"
takes time; the raw materials need to be stored/frozen/thawed
I don't pressure can, so my only option is "freeze"
what do you put the stock in to freeze?
how long does it take to thaw it vs open a can/box/cube

I bought a package of 10 fluid ounce plastic cups. my intent was to make some "gadget" that could hold the cups in the freezer such that I could freeze 8 ounces of liquid in a ten ounce cup, after it froze, remove from cup and store in bags in the freezer, thence available in 8 fl ounce=one cup 'batches' on demand.

then I filled up the freezer with garden tomatoes, beans, peas, corn. oops.
 

Shermie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
I don't make a big 'ole pot of stock like I used to, but just small enough for the meal that I'm using it for. ;)
 

luvs

'lil Chef
Gold Site Supporter
i'll freeze components gradually, then make a stock, when i have patience to skim my stock & sieve/cheesecloth a batch, & have space fer storing said stock.
other daze, i'll use boxes of aseptically-pkg'd. stocks. they lack that element 1 so luv-- they over-skim that stuff, & it's not got that, that i look for in my stocks.

as fer that OP-- sherm, i'm not rich, nor poor. i buy stuff i know i'll use, watch fer sales, uses my shopper's discount card, & keep in mind when they'll boost stock (as in, holiday-esque items, seasonally-- how -$ items'll be; wait fer sales once a holiday has passed & they then have great sales on items that they overstock, & hafta get sold soon. watch, too, fer items that seem to be less popular-- they tend to push 'em from those shelves @ great prices. look fer seasonal items near their season's end. namely produce. they'll be lookin' to get rid of that so as to stock new seasonal items.

& invest in a food saver, or zip baggies. i keep so many items via that. freezer or fridge.

& when u've got extras, make soup, i say~
 

bigjim

Mess Cook
Super Site Supporter
"I know I should make my own stock,"

that's really a debatable issue. went into 'my own' up to my neck bones - there are some really practical 'things' to be solved.

you can't make a batch of beef stock with a few / one beef bone
you can make a batch of chicken stock with one carcass
you can't make a batch of vegetable stock from a meal's trimmings

bottom line, "some planning required"
takes time; the raw materials need to be stored/frozen/thawed
I don't pressure can, so my only option is "freeze"
what do you put the stock in to freeze?
how long does it take to thaw it vs open a can/box/cube

I bought a package of 10 fluid ounce plastic cups. my intent was to make some "gadget" that could hold the cups in the freezer such that I could freeze 8 ounces of liquid in a ten ounce cup, after it froze, remove from cup and store in bags in the freezer, thence available in 8 fl ounce=one cup 'batches' on demand.

then I filled up the freezer with garden tomatoes, beans, peas, corn. oops.

You can, however, buy whole chickens or bone in roasts in large quantities when on sale, bone them out, freeze the components, and make stock from the bones. It's a win win.

I reduce stocks from 2 or 3 gallons to 1 or 2 trays of ice cubes, then freeze.
 
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