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I replaced the meat with chicken or other alternatives. I may buy steaks once a month, for example. We are not buying our typical cheeses and crackers. (It was our friday special to accompany the movies). And we're not eating out as much as usual. Ah! and no more sodas.
We still can't cut out the icecream!
same
I second the cheese and crackers thing as well. I was starting to get crazy with the different cheeses I was trying.
We really didn't cut back at all. I always cooked from scratch and never had processed foods in the house so it really hasn't been a big deal to us. I shop Super Walmart every 6 wks. for canned goods, rice and beans. Once a week in our "The Fresh Market" which is the same as Whole Foods and buy our organic produce, fruits, fish & meats. We use Sam's Club, which is 1/2 mi. from our home, as a reg. supermarket to purchase 1/2 & 1/2, eggs, butter, dets. as needed.
We made one change, instead of buying half gallons of ice cream, I buy the dixie cups, my dh is the ice cream addict so one cup a night is his treat., & his chol. has gone done quite a bit.
I staple all of my receipts to my appt. calendar and we average $100 a week for everything, and we eat very well, we have fresh fish & great meat dinners every night.
We really didn't cut back at all. I always cooked from scratch and never had processed foods in the house so it really hasn't been a big deal to us. I shop Super Walmart every 6 wks. for canned goods, rice and beans. Once a week in our "The Fresh Market" which is the same as Whole Foods and buy our organic produce, fruits, fish & meats. We use Sam's Club, which is 1/2 mi. from our home, as a reg. supermarket to purchase 1/2 & 1/2, eggs, butter, dets. as needed.
We made one change, instead of buying half gallons of ice cream, I buy the dixie cups, my dh is the ice cream addict so one cup a night is his treat., & his chol. has gone done quite a bit.
I staple all of my receipts to my appt. calendar and we average $100 a week for everything, and we eat very well, we have fresh fish & great meat dinners every night.
I always found Whole Foods to be ridiculously expensive. The local farmer's market is much, much better. Wow, you only spend $100 a week? How many people in your family?
Cut back on fast food, eating my own cooking instead. Blech! Eating less meat, and more grilled cheese sandwiches, pancakes, eggs...
I like fruit juice, but soda is relatively cheaper. Still, some weeks I've cut myself to two sodas a day (drinking them at work) and drink Kool-Aid instead--usually the generic version. Was already bringing sodas to work every day instead of buying them when I got there. I used to spend $15 to $20 a week to buy them out of the machine, or the register. Not now.
Also, I refuse to pay a buck for a small bag of chips or a candy bar.
Cut back on fast food, eating my own cooking instead. Blech! Eating less meat, and more grilled cheese sandwiches, pancakes, eggs...
I like fruit juice, but soda is relatively cheaper. Still, some weeks I've cut myself to two sodas a day (drinking them at work) and drink Kool-Aid instead--usually the generic version. Was already bringing sodas to work every day instead of buying them when I got there. I used to spend $15 to $20 a week to buy them out of the machine, or the register. Not now.
Also, I refuse to pay a buck for a small bag of chips or a candy bar.
Speaking on the eating less meat. I've been trying to eat vegetarian one day out of the week.
It seems that the more pre-prepared or processed the food, in some instances, the more it costs.
And the cheaper alternatives sometimes lack the nutrition of the natural original.
You can buy cheap healthy food. I have bought a bag of frozen broccoli for $1.00 at Walmart. Carrots and citrus fruits are also pretty affordable at least in my area.
I have cut out soda, chips, candy. These items are not necessary so I quit buying them. I make my own coffee instead of going to Starbucks. I also try to make at least on vegetarian meal a week. Meat seems to be getting less affordable.
I buy less meat for sure, and limit my oldest son to one large cup of milk at each meal (that kids could put me into bankrupcy with the amount of milk he can drink).
For the past few years, I've bought frozen veggies, and relied on the convience of cans as well. Not so this year. We planted a garden again this year, a huge one.
I'm also experimenting with a winter garden this year, and have been researching what I can plant. It is fun and I am excited to find more than I thought can be planted.
I've filled 2 freezers full of fresh veggies and made my own tomato relish and hot pepper sauce as well as veggie soup.
DH is thinking of a couple of hogs and while not raising a meat cow this year, at least buying and haveing one butchered for our meat. Locally grown and one should last us all year.
We've pretty much eaten home cooked meals from scratch all our lives, so the change is just giving up a bit of convience to prepare from fresh.
I even make my own jelly, have done so for years. I've also made a churn of pickles and a few batches of ice box pickles from the cucumbers we planted.
My goal is to get my shopping list down to very little food items to be bought. Just staples like flour, sugar, meal, milk and bread.
We get fresh eggs from neighbors so I don't have to buy at the store.
With the cost of cleaning supplies, I have pared down what I clean with as well, going back to basics.
Vegetables. The money is better spent on steak, lamb, KFC and Vodka.
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, & his chol. has gone done quite a bit.
