Anyone eating at home more these days? (Charlotte: coupons, credit)

[sophialee]

Well I LOVE to cook and my husband works late so we only go out to eat once a week on one of his days off. Sometimes both of those nights, but usually only one. I've always packed his lunch too which is a moneysaver.

I have a large collection of cookbooks and save recipes on all the big recipe websites too.

I'm kind of a food snob and don't use anything canned or frozen when it comes to veggies except for corn and peas and that's if it's an ingredient. I have a huge herb garden and that saves money too, and omg it's so much better.

I buy whatever is in season or on sale, if it isn't...well chances are unless it's something special it's just gonna have to wait cuz I know it'll go on sale eventually. I plan meals around what's on sale or what's in the freezer. We do have two full size fridges and a huge freezer in the garage, I couldn't do it w/ just one fridge/freezer

I have gotten so good at couponing (Triple coupons this week at HT, btw! Woot) and buying things when they are on sale and stocking up I've DRASTICALLY cut our grocery bill.

I used to spend about $600 (at least) a month at the grocery store, last month I spent $250 . And we are eating the same things, I just learned how to work the system and get lots of things for free which makes everything else cheaper.

My DH budgeted $400 a month for groceries and I'm always under now (insert smiley w/ halo here).

We usually use the extra money to splurge on nice restaurants.

[Tober138]

I love to cook, so I'm always up for doing it if we're both actually home. One of the things that happens when you both travel during the week for work is you're eating out all the time...so a home-cooked meal can feel like a luxury when you can actually sit down and enjoy one.

[Chromekitty]

Yes we are eating at home much more these days, for a couple of reasons.
The obvious one is to save money, which is working out well. I have moved my office
to home and that gives me more time to plan and cook. I usually cook extra of certain meals
so that we will have leftovers either for lunch or supper.

The second reason we are eating at home more is food safety. Not knowing (in some cases knowing) how it is handled, prepared and where it comes from takes away from the enjoyment. So we choose to eat at home.

[rothbear]

Yep, definately eating out a lot less. Because we are supporting 2 houses until our other one in PA sells, it has become a necessity. I am down here and DH is up there and it would be so easy to just go out since I'm not really one to love cooking, but I have found a new interest in trying things. I have subscribed to a lot of online recipe newsletters and am trying new things. Plus if I have too much I can just share it with my neighbors and they love it! I find that I maybe go out once every 2-3 weeks or so. And only then if I have a coupon or something.

I only wish that fruits and veggies were a bit less expensive. But I definately take advantage of sales and coupons. And like SophiaLee, I'm lovin' on those triple ones at HT this week!

[anifani821]

I am so enjoying the replies!!!

KARENEW: I read my favorite cookbooks like they are fine literature, too! LOL! I really enjoy cookbooks that have a lot of narrative in them. Then I want to see a very clean, uncluttered recipe, and feel I have truly been lucky if there are photos. :-)

SOPHIA: Like you, I have a freezer and cannot imagine how I would get along with it. I have had a freezer since 1983 - and keep it full. I grow herbs, too! But this year - two things went terribly wrong and I have yet to figure out why. My lavender seemed "blighted" and didn't thrive at all. And then it withered and died. I have grown lavender for decades and have never seen such a thing happen. And my basil. Same thing. It looked almost "burned." Very sad situation, as I love pesto! Coupons are terrific and shave off our bill. Do you have any online sites you use for finding coupons?

TOBER: Do you prefer a type of food - such as Italian? We keep things pretty simple - fish, chicken or an occasional steak with veggies, but I also like certain casseroles. My favorite cuisine is Italian, tho. I think I was Italian in a former life. Gotta have my expresso and a Cannoli (or two), lol.

Do you all ever eat desserts? We rarely have til recently. Not good for weight control but oh my - we are hooked on lemon tarts.

KITTY: I always wonder what is going on in the kitchen when I dine out. I walk around w/ a Clorox II bottle in my hand in my kitchen - I worry about bacteria in general and salmonella, in particular when working w/ eggs or chicken. So you are not the only one who thinks about this stuff.

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by rothbear

Yep, definately eating out a lot less. Because we are supporting 2 houses until our other one in PA sells, it has become a necessity. I am down here and DH is up there and it would be so easy to just go out since I'm not really one to love cooking, but I have found a new interest in trying things. I have subscribed to a lot of online recipe newsletters and am trying new things. Plus if I have too much I can just share it with my neighbors and they love it! I find that I maybe go out once every 2-3 weeks or so. And only then if I have a coupon or something.

I only wish that fruits and veggies were a bit less expensive. But I definately take advantage of sales and coupons. And like SophiaLee, I'm lovin' on those triple ones at HT this week!

Hi, Rothbear! Nice to see you posting! Do you ever divide what you make and immediately freeze part of it? I am wondering if that is a good strategy or if most people find that an extra step that isn't worth it. Several of my friends have said that they forget they put half that lasagna in the freezer and it ends up with freezer burns, lol!!!

I bet your neighbors do love it when you bring food. I don't think there is a thing someone can do for me that I appreciate more than something from the kitchen.

[cheesehead1]

We're trying to eat at home more, and succeeding, but I'm not sure we're cooking more. Leftovers, yes, but also more foraging, as we call it. I'm working more hours this year, and so I have less time and only a few days a week that I can even run to the store to get forgotten ingredients. I'm also notorious for forgetting something key to the recipe. Like sugar for cookies.
I do watch the occasional cooking show on Food Network or PBS and then gone to the website to get the recipes.
As far as scheduling, I make a list for the week according to what I'm making for the day, and buy it all at once.* This usually involves 2 or 3 stores, unfortunately, to stretch the dollar and get trickier items.

*(See earlier note about cook/shopper's forgetfulness.)

[karenew]

mmmm desserts! I was really surprised that there aren't bakeries/pastry shops here. We go to a bakery in SC off of 160 for cinammon buns and sweets. (hence the interest in taking the CPCC pie making class) Although if we had one, I would probably gain what weight I have managed to lose since moving here & cooking more.

(portofino in Ayersley -sp?- has yummy cannolis. I love lemon tarts!)

I agree with you on the photos, but then I get disappointed if mine doesn't look like the photos.

I keep meaning to ask HT and BiLo if they accept internet coupons, but I keep forgetting.

[sophialee]

Originally Posted by anifani821

SOPHIA: Like you, I have a freezer and cannot imagine how I would get along with it. I have had a freezer since 1983 - and keep it full. I grow herbs, too! But this year - two things went terribly wrong and I have yet to figure out why. My lavender seemed "blighted" and didn't thrive at all. And then it withered and died. I have grown lavender for decades and have never seen such a thing happen. And my basil. Same thing. It looked almost "burned." Very sad situation, as I love pesto! Coupons are terrific and shave off our bill. Do you have any online sites you use for finding coupons?

Ani my basil was not good this year either. I salvaged enough for about 10 frozen 1/2 cups..I usually have over 20. Lavender was ok, rosemary bush fantastic as always, sage just started flourishing last month, same w/ oregano, thyme this year was meh.

For printable coupons i mostly use coupons.com, smartsource, and redplum. If it's a coupon I know I'll use I print as many as I can and check back all the time to see if new coupons are listed.

Unioncountymommies has some hardcore couponers and they are always posting links to one time coupon deals that I use a lot. Hotcouponworld and SoutherSavers are great for matchups.

Also using competitor coupons is a great moneysaver, every place I go takes them. I get lots of 20 off 50, 10 off 50, etc coupons from HT or Lowes and you can use them at any of the other grocery stores in my experience. If I find out someone else got them and I didn't, I go up to Customer service and request them and they either give them to me or mail them to me. I did it just this week at HT for the 20 off 50 (for four weeks, so $80 worth of free groceries) and got them in the mail today.

Oh they'll take walgreens register rewards too, but YMMV.

[anifani821]

Originally Posted by cheesehead1

We're trying to eat at home more, and succeeding, but I'm not sure we're cooking more. Leftovers, yes, but also more foraging, as we call it. I'm working more hours this year, and so I have less time and only a few days a week that I can even run to the store to get forgotten ingredients. I'm also notorious for forgetting something key to the recipe. Like sugar for cookies.
I do watch the occasional cooking show on Food Network or PBS and then gone to the website to get the recipes.
As far as scheduling, I make a list for the week according to what I'm making for the day, and buy it all at once.* This usually involves 2 or 3 stores, unfortunately, to stretch the dollar and get trickier items.

*(See earlier note about cook/shopper's forgetfulness.)

Cheesehead, we end up at several stores, too - rounding up the lowest prices. Thank goodness, they are all close by except for ALDI (but I am not about to miss out on their stuff!!!).

Ideally, experts say we should cook a lot on the weekend and then freeze items and use it during the week. But realistically, I simply do not see how most folks can do this, especially if they have children at home. Life is just too fragmented and who can find 4 straight hours in the kitchen on a Sat or Sun? No way. When I had kids at home, if I made a big lasagna, no way it would make it to the freezer - they would have devoured it in less than 24 hours, lol. And to try to assemble several main dishes, uninterrupted, in the kitchen on the weekend . . . it just couldn't happen. Interruptions, chauffeur duty, etc.

It takes a lot of work to keep a family well fed!!!