What do you do to save $$$ on grocery/shopping bills? (Londonderry: for sale, home)

[NH2008]

Netflix is actually a dvd rental service - so no news. You sign up for however many movies you want to have at a time and keep an online list of what movies you want to see. They mail them to you in that order - 3 movies at a time is about $16/month. You keep the movies as long as you want and drop them in the mail in the supplied prepaid envelope when you're done, then they send you the next movie on your list. No late fees, no hassle, no going out in the rain to the movie store! They get virtually everything available on dvd although there is often a wait for really popular new releases.

We have young kids so we were never able to watch live tv anyway - we had to pay for Tivo and watch when they were in bed. Now my husband goes to sports bars to watch sporting events, we watch all our tv shows on dvd (which is actually more fun since you can watch the whole season at once without commercials), and my son watches movies I've read about in advance and that don't have commercials. Works for us and we waste a lot less time watching reruns and stuff we don't really care about. We get news online - it's instantaneous.

Netflix Online Movie Rentals - Rent DVDs, Classic Films to DVD New Releases

[countrylv22]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR POST SKICHICK!!

GREAT POST & INFO!!!


And you are RIGHT, BULK is NOT always better!!

Just as like when you get a coupon for something, and you compare with

another brand that might be on sale, and you are better off, than using the

coupon with the other one So, you really have to be AWARE

of the PRICES everywhere, and always make a LIST LISTS help you SAVE

money, and NOT over spend

THANK YOU everyone for these AMAZING posts,

input & info!!! GREAT STUFF!!!

Take care,

Have a GREAT DAY & SMILE TODAY!!

Countrylv22

Originally Posted by SkiChick

Some store brands will work for us but like D2D, I spice up it up a bit. Just last night our Wegman's brand pasta sauce was on sale ... saved .50 per jar so we bought 6 and saved $3. We don't think the flavor is the best so I toss in spices and ground up venison for hubby. Hubby hunts, so the only meat in the freezer is venison. And I'm a vegetarian, so where we save in other groceries, I spend on specialty foods such as the vegiballs that I throw in my sauce. Cooking is truly a chore because of me and my one daughter who has taken the veggie side of life. .15 and .20 coupons don't really make it worth the time to look for and cut out so I just take advantage of the store sales. Funny, while out shopping last night, hubby was going to buy m&m's for his physics class and went directly to the bulk section thinking it would be cheaper than the bags of them. After scouting out both options we actually found that the small and medium sized bags were the cheapest way to go by a long shot!!! Don't understand that. Guess they must get a lot of people who don't compare but just assume bulk is the cheapest way. You really need to be aware of those catches! We buy the biggest packages possible in laundry detergent, olive oil, basically anything that stores well in the cupboards and only if it's cheaper than the smaller packages. I bake a lot ... homemade pizza is a huge $$$ saver plus I make every ones pizza just the way they like it ... makes happy kids. A lot of the food I buy is organic, inc. the milk (very expensive), so I can't wait to be tilling my own soil once again to grow my own veggies. Between baking, the garden, and hubby's harvested venison, during the summer, grocery bills lower dramatically. And like Countrylv mentioned, using a list helps to buy only what is needed.

[GypsySoul22]

This isn't about food but about entertainment.
Even though the libraries here are not very good compared to in NY, we try to get dvds and so on from them rather than pay to rent them.

If you have a good library USE it. They sometimes have decent and recent movies. Why spend $ when your taxes pay for the library's freebies?

Many have great kid's programs (crafts/storytimes) for free!

I also might, however, get Netflix in the future. I think they provide a great choice of entertainment. People who live in places like VT and NH where we get a lot of cold, long nights and horrible weather can use a service like this to keep up our spirits.

[countrylv22]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR POST!!


GREAT IDEA "GYPSY" Reps for you!!!

When I was a child, my parents would take us to the Library and it was

always so much fun And if you can get free rentals on DVD'S

That is a great way to SAVE money!!! COOL!!!

THANK YOU EVERYONE for these great posts & ideas!!

Take care,

Have a great weekend!

Countrylv22

Originally Posted by GypsySoul22

This isn't about food but about entertainment.
Even though the libraries here are not very good compared to in NY, we try to get dvds and so on from them rather than pay to rent them.

If you have a good library USE it. They sometimes have decent and recent movies. Why spend $ when your taxes pay for the library's freebies?

Many have great kid's programs (crafts/storytimes) for free!

I also might, however, get Netflix in the future. I think they provide a great choice of entertainment. People who live in places like VT and NH where we get a lot of cold, long nights and horrible weather can use a service like this to keep up our spirits.

[ded2bred]

There are lots of tricks to saving money and still getting quality stuff...
Find a Farmers market nearest you. Produce is usually cheaper and much better quality.
For the person baking bread, If you want to make your own..King Arthur Flour sells yeast, flour and baking supplies in bulk and they sell online.
I go to the Freihoffer bakery outlet. They offer a frequent shoppers card (free).They have quality bread ,rolls etc. at less than half or cheaper than the grocery stores.This is in Concord. Check in the refrigerated section there. Orange juice and half and half are significantly cheaper than any of the grocery stores.
Most of the grocery stores cut meat each day, when the meat needs to be used immediately or frozen, it is reduced for "Quick Sale". Early in the morning is best to look. The stickers are usually big and noticable. I have found that WalMart Great value brands are consistently decent. I buy my instant brown rice there, as well as milk and canned goods. I am not much of a coupon clipper and will not get a Shaw's card because Shaw's sells your name and information to advertisers and telemarketers in exchange for your discount. Not worth the hassle.
I do shop sales on quality deli meats and produce at Hannafords. I don't like the fruit and produce at all at WalMart, but the bakery/deli is decent and paper products, beauty products, and vitamins are almost always cheaper. I do make a circuit. Point A to point B to point C and so forth. Gas being what it is, I don't just run into town unless I have several things to get. I spend one day cooking and freeze what I won't use right away. Covenience foods are so expensive and so full of added crap, that I don't buy them at all anymore. There are several good cookbooks that have 3 ingredients...or 5 ingredients...you get the idea. I look in the bargain book aisle at Borders.

There are deals to be had if you can be just a little bit flexible.

[BF66389]

The biggest way I save money on groceries is looking at price per unit of weight. I also buy generic if the ingredients/nutrition are ok (this can be tough with pre-packaged meets, some of the "store" brand can be very high in fat/salt).

One thing I did living in NJ and now do again living in NH is try to buy the "local" product- even if its slightly more. I've noticed that with spoilable items- I often will have less waste and end up saving in the long term.

We also save a lot by getting frozen vegetables for certain items- easier to get correct portions for 2 and less waste.

[MA_brnNrsd]

You all make good points. I have been trying to get my finace to buy in bulk but he is against it for some odd reason. We have a few different stores by us, my finace only wants to use Wal-Mart or Kroger. There are some good deals in each, just gotta look for them. I am kinda in the opposite boat as Dare, I grew up on name brands since I can remember, my finace however never had name brands in his life. I think that I got spoiled by it and now I am not too keen on the generics but since we moved in together I have been slowly broadening my views, but there are still some things I will not buy generics of. I try to make "extra" of dinners but it just sits in the fridge. When you say you freeze your spaghetti, do you freeze just the sauce or the spaghetti too? I never heard of freezing the spaghetti. I am going to have to look around for farmers markets.

[DareToDream]

Originally Posted by MA_brnNrsd

You all make good points. I have been trying to get my finace to buy in bulk but he is against it for some odd reason. We have a few different stores by us, my finace only wants to use Wal-Mart or Kroger. There are some good deals in each, just gotta look for them. I am kinda in the opposite boat as Dare, I grew up on name brands since I can remember, my finace however never had name brands in his life. I think that I got spoiled by it and now I am not too keen on the generics but since we moved in together I have been slowly broadening my views, but there are still some things I will not buy generics of. I try to make "extra" of dinners but it just sits in the fridge. When you say you freeze your spaghetti, do you freeze just the sauce or the spaghetti too? I never heard of freezing the spaghetti. I am going to have to look around for farmers markets.

Hi MA-brnNrsd - We just freeze the sauce we make, but I have frozen baked ziti and lasagne, so I guess technically you could freeze spaghetti.....why don't you try it and let us know how you make out!

Since we got our breadmaker, we've had nothing but homemade bread and according to our calculations, figuring in the cost of ingredients, and the electricity used we're still ahead of the game than if we were buying it in the stores...and it tastes better, too

[Valerie C]

I don't bother freezing the pasta, as it keeps so well dry without the aid of a freezer. That frees up so much more freezer space IMO. I don't freeze my tomato sauce in containers, I use quart-size freezer bags and leave some head space at the top. I lay the bags on top of each other in a baking tray, so they freeze flat, then line them up next to each other.

Every time we have chicken, shellfish or fish, I boil those bones (or shells) to make broth. Even if it's just a small 4 pound chicken that I tossed onto the rotisserie (my FAVORITE kitchen tool!) I can get a couple cups of broth out of it. Same deal--cool, put into a ziplock freezer bag, seal it up, put in the baking tray and into the freezer. That way I've always got broth to make a soup if my veggies are getting past prime. They might not be pretty for salad, but they'll be perfect for soup

Let's face it, at the end of the garden season, there is rarely time to make a homemade sauce. So I pick the tomatoes, and put them directly into the freezer. Whole. They become harder than bricks. Once it's gotten cold enough outside to turn on the heat, you might be ready to make a tomato sauce. Don't thaw the tomatoes. Get some water boiling on the stove,and dunk a frozen tomato into the water for 10-20 seconds, then remove. The skin will slide off easily, but the inside of the tomato is frozen so no mess. Toss all those skinned tomatoes into the pan and let them simmer themselves into a yummy sauce

I also look at the unit price of EVERYTHING that we buy. Even if we like certain brands (peanut butter for example) each size is a different price per ounce. And the bigger jar isn't always the best price--sometimes bulk IS NOT better!

Some things I'll buy store brands (some pasta, some cereals, some breads, etc) Not soup, not peanut butter, not condiments. Well, maybe relish

I buy 99% of my spices from ethnic grocery stores and not the supermarket. I buy it by the bag, and it is sooo much less! Sorry McCormack...

I NEVER buy ground beef at the store. I look for the cheapest cut of boneless beef (usually a chuck pot roast 1.99 a pound) and have them grind it for me. I package it up in 1 pound ziplock bags and freeze most of it. The best thing is that I can then cook RARE or Med-rare burgers instead of cooking it all the way through. Yes, I'm probably taking a chance BUT I feel that since they're grinding it right there at the store, way less chance of contamination. Am I fooling myself? Maybe... I'll let you know if I ever get sick from it...

[countrylv22]

ONCE AGAIN, THANKS A BUNCH FOR STARTING

THIS THREAD! I LOVE IT!!

As GAS prices go up, there is LESS money left to spend on food :0(

so that is why my post is relevant, he he he :0) LOL!

With GAS prices the way they are would it look weird if we started

using horses you know like the AMISH do ?? LOL!

And I am not kidding around, would it be illegal to go around in a horse &

carriage in NH?? I would love that!! Romantic Grocery Shopping LOL!

No, but really, would it be legal to do that??

You know what really bugs me, is that I always wanted a truck of some type,

like a grand cherokee (I know its really not a truck ) with everything in it.

Since I have always been "SENSIBLE" when buying cars, I was going to get

what I wanted once in NH (with the excuse of the snow, and outdoor

actitivites & all). One of my relatives got the grand cherokee, and I kinda

gave them a bit of grief LOL! Because they really did NOT need it in the

place they were living, but in NH I would NEED it of course LOL! Now, I

think I am considering the Horse deal Does it sound crazy?

What do you all you think??

By the way, do people bike ride all year round in NH?? Or just in Spring &

Summer?

Thanks a bunch for your input!

Take care,

Have a GREAT day!

And may you find LOW GAS prices at the pump

(As they keep going higher & higher )

Countrylv22