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I'm fairly flexible with food, never ate expensive at home or anywhere else. Too many lean years as a bachelor with some priceless survival skills learned. These have come in very handy the last few months as the basics have shot up so badly.
Saturday I took a niece along with me for some grocery shopping. I'm trying to teach her how to handle her budget as she gets older. My first lesson was buy the cheapest stuff and doctor it up as you need to. Forget the $3.50 jar of Ragu, grab three cans of Hunts for a buck apiece. Kraft macaroni & cheese in the shape of Shrek is no bargain at $1.50. Go for the store brand at .48 cents, close your eyes and make believe. You don't need Nathan's coneys for four bucks, the dollar dogs taste good enough when you bury them with your fave fixings.
Another thing I try to teach her is to find one store where you can get almost everything on your list. Sometimes you may have to pay more for an item or two but you'll save over the long haul. For instance, one local butcher shop has excellent store made sausage at usually a very good price. Instead of going there, we paid slightly more for a regional brand where we were already at. Why? From the main store to the butcher shop was an extra twenty miles. I might have paid two dollars more on our sausage purchase but didn't need to use the gas to get to the other shop.
Shop wisely, don't be picky and learn how to slap together some basic and tasty meals. Plan ahead. You can shave quite a bit off the monthly food bill. And for goodness sake, hold the line with the kids. They don't need lunchables, they don't need video game hero cereal and they don't need name brand soda. They will get over it. And if they slap back with "well, you don't need that morning coffee from S-bucks when you have a coffee maker here and a travel mug", take it like an adult and tell them they're absolutely right.
You just taught that girl how to eat herself into a early grave.
Location: Georgia, on the Florida line, right above Tallahassee
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sundance67
Well said. I shop the same way, & save a lot of $$$. I actually don't like going to restaurants because I know I can make it better & cheaper at home. My kids actually prefer home cooked meals, too, so I think they've realized how much money their friends waste on fast food, etc.
As far as food prices going up, unless you're independently wealthy, you've had to notice how insanely high everything's costing these days. I read somewhere that inflation has risen at almost record rates & it's being felt everywhere.
Define "insanely high." Does it take a wheelbarrow full of dollars to buy a loaf of bread? Or a newspaper?
...the exchange rate between the dollar and the Mark was one trillion Marks to one dollar, and a wheelbarrow full of money would not even buy a newspaper...
I didn't mean to "hit". I just meant the food you suggested was not the most healthy, but given high costs for quality goods, what can you really do?!
Perhaps the foods mentioned weren't the best examples. How about this, and I've used them as an example with her, carrots. The ready cut bagged kind or fresh that you need to peel and chop? The fresh you need to peel, usually cheaper. Carrots are carrots are carrots. Why pay for someone else to do your chopping?
Other veggies like cauliflower, peas and such might be better purchased frozen as far as price goes. In our area a fresh head of cauliflower can hit close to four dollars in the off season while a frozen bag would be perhaps 99 cents on sale. Not quite as tasty but they'll do the job.
The goal is simply to get her to compare and save on price while trying not to sacrifice basic needs.
Perhaps the foods mentioned weren't the best examples. How about this, and I've used them as an example with her, carrots. The ready cut bagged kind or fresh that you need to peel and chop? The fresh you need to peel, usually cheaper. Carrots are carrots are carrots. Why pay for someone else to do your chopping?
Other veggies like cauliflower, peas and such might be better purchased frozen as far as price goes. In our area a fresh head of cauliflower can hit close to four dollars in the off season while a frozen bag would be perhaps 99 cents on sale. Not quite as tasty but they'll do the job.
The goal is simply to get her to compare and save on price while trying not to sacrifice basic needs.
Some people prefer to pay for the convenience of pre-peeled, sliced, etc. They will have to decide for themselves if the price increase is worth the time they save.
Some people prefer to pay for the convenience of pre-peeled, sliced, etc. They will have to decide for themselves if the price increase is worth the time they save.
These people shouldn't cry about prices then. If they want more convenience, they will have to pay for that.
Some people prefer to pay for the convenience of pre-peeled, sliced, etc. They will have to decide for themselves if the price increase is worth the time they save.
Of course, yes.
I like to calculate it this way. I'll use rough figures since I don't have them right in front of me.
Let's say a prepared bag of something costs me two dollars and a fresh selection of the same costs me one dollar. It takes me five minutes to wash, peel and cut them myself. I've just paid myself a dollar for that five minutes of work. Now say I buy a dozen different things like this over the course of a week. It takes me an hour to prepare them myself but now I've been awarded an extra $12 for my troubles. Over the course of 52 weeks that gives me roughly an extra $624.
Your mileage may vary.
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