How much do you spend on groceries?

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Originally Posted by Valerey

Is it hard to grow lettuce? (thinking leaf or romaine) :confused:
I live in Northern ONtario

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Romaine can be grown from the store bought heads you buy... i know it sounds crazy but it works. You cut off the leaves a couple inches from the base and put it in a dish with a inch of water in the bottom for a week and then you plant it leaving only the new leaves exposed. the outside leaves go yucky but that is just part of the process.

The same works for green onions, celery, and leeks.

Some people purchase pretty bowls from dollarama to grow these things in. This can be done on the cheap. I am moving in a month or 2 then I will be starting these indoors myself... along with some ginger root and garlic and perhaps some shallots.

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Originally Posted by cheekysaver

Romaine can be grown from the store bought heads you buy... i know it sounds crazy but it works. You cut off the leaves a couple inches from the base and put it in a dish with a inch of water in the bottom for a week and then you plant it leaving only the new leaves exposed. the outside leaves go yucky but that is just part of the process.

The same works for green onions, celery, and leeks.

Some people purchase pretty bowls from dollarama to grow these things in. This can be done on the cheap. I am moving in a month or 2 then I will be starting these indoors myself... along with some ginger root and garlic and perhaps some shallots.

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Was going to mention Celery but also regular onions as well. I kill anything tho because I forget to water everything. Plus we don't have enough room for a few pots of veg, add to that 5 cats in the house and I just don't think so :(

December- food,paper,cleaning, personal care,dog and cat food and supplies-$387.00
4 people-cat and dog on special diets

I don't even know my weekly average for 2012, its around $150, I would say, we have 3 kids ages 6 and under, so a lot of baby/kids stuff. I'm trying so hard this week to cut down on my grocery bills, so far it's about $60, and my husband is complaining already about me not buying anything. And I'm seeing the big decrease in my stockpile already.

I just came across a blog on slowcookers and receipes which I found on Pinterest.
It looks really interesting and I am in the process of trying one of the receipes.
The lady who writes the blog, used her slow cooker (crockpot) everyday for a year.
If anyone is interested, here is the link:
http://crockpot365.blogspot.ca/

Almost a year ago, I really got into couponing and started my little stockpile. I asked DH if I spent less on food each week (we budgeted $150/week), what he would like me to spend the extra money on. I was thinking he would say, pay extra on mortgage, or satellite bill, etc, but he said "Just buy more food".

I thought, not much of a way to save money, but actually it is. We have a fairly large stockpile now, a freezer full of fish, frozen fruit and veg, and razors and body wash galore ;) all bought at the lowest prices imaginable (if not free). I still spend an average of $150 (maybe slightly less), but have gotten so wise with what I spend our money on now.

The good part is that if we ever have weeks where money is tight, or there's extra bills to pay, I know we are ok to not do groceries, other than milk or eggs.

This week has been crazy with groceries, however I have gotten tons of fish (highliner on sale at SDM less the $1 coupons), Vector cereal (less $2 coupons), and I plan to get a lot of chicken at FB before Thursday (we tend to only buy the boneless, skinless, as they have much less fat). I may spend over $200 by the time this week is over, but it is on things that we use everyday, and there's no way in heck they would ever reach their expiry. Besides the fact that the items at SDM had the 18,500 points attached (x several shops!) which will bring me free food next month.

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Originally Posted by Valerey

Almost a year ago, I really got into couponing and started my little stockpile. I asked DH if I spent less on food each week (we budgeted $150/week), what he would like me to spend the extra money on. I was thinking he would say, pay extra on mortgage, or satellite bill, etc, but he said "Just buy more food".

I thought, not much of a way to save money, but actually it is. We have a fairly large stockpile now, a freezer full of fish, frozen fruit and veg, and razors and body wash galore ;) all bought at the lowest prices imaginable (if not free). I still spend an average of $150 (maybe slightly less), but have gotten so wise with what I spend our money on now.

The good part is that if we ever have weeks where money is tight, or there's extra bills to pay, I know we are ok to not do groceries, other than milk or eggs.

This week has been crazy with groceries, however I have gotten tons of fish (highliner on sale at SDM less the $1 coupons), Vector cereal (less $2 coupons), and I plan to get a lot of chicken at FB before Thursday (we tend to only buy the boneless, skinless, as they have much less fat). I may spend over $200 by the time this week is over, but it is on things that we use everyday, and there's no way in heck they would ever reach their expiry. Besides the fact that the items at SDM had the 18,500 points attached (x several shops!) which will bring me free food next month.

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Good for you.
It feels good to have plenty on hand, doesn't it ;)

I hope you don't mind me making a suggestion, it will save you more money if you don't mind spending a little extra time in the kitchen.
Try buying chicken when the whole chickens are on sale and then de-bone and skin them yourself.
We've bought as many as 10 chickens at a time and between dh & I both working together, it might take about a hour to de-bone/skin & bag the chickens.

Once that is done, I will either freeze the bones to deal with later or put them in a Soup pot and simmer (don't boil) them until the remaining meat is cooked. Then take that left over meat off the bones and use the broth for Soup Stock.

I was amazed, the last time we did this , I got 1 1/2 lbs of cooked meat off the bones alone. (from about 10 chicken carcasses)
You can use that meat in sandwiches, soup casseroles etc.

Just a suggestion :)

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Originally Posted by dreamcatcher1962

Good for you.
It feels good to have plenty on hand, doesn't it ;)

I hope you don't mind me making a suggestion, it will save you more money if you don't mind spending a little extra time in the kitchen.
Try buying chicken when the whole chickens are on sale and then de-bone and skin them yourself.
We've bought as many as 10 chickens at a time and between dh & I both working together, it might take about a hour to de-bone/skin & bag the chickens.

Once that is done, I will either freeze the bones to deal with later or put them in a Soup pot and simmer (don't boil) them until the remaining meat is cooked. Then take that left over meat off the bones and use the broth for Soup Stock.

I was amazed, the last time we did this , I got 1 1/2 lbs of cooked meat off the bones alone. (from about 10 chicken carcasses)
You can use that meat in sandwiches, soup casseroles etc.

Just a suggestion :)

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I'd love to do this as I do have the time but not only am I pretty clueless on how to debone and de-skin a chicken I find the whole process extreamly disgusting. I'd rather take a tit out, wash it and pull the odd bits of white fatty parts off and then toss it in a pan. I'm sure I'm not the only one though hahahaha.

I don't touch steak either, thats gross. I strategically cut the container so I can plop it out into the pan and then deal with it from there with tongs. Ground beef is same thing.

All this being said I like meat. I guess I'm weird.

But in other terms I shred our own cheese in batches and freeze a gigantic container full. Then when I want some I pull it out, bang it on the counter, grab a handfull or two or three or four of frozen shredded cheese and pop the container back in the freezer.

I also make our own salads which is really saying something because we used to spend so much money on those Metro pre-made salads.

And as well we cut our own fruit instead of buying ready ensembled platters.

Its actually quite a coincidence that the more I save on groceries and variable expenses the lower our income goes. It becomes more and more challenging and I feel I am always in battle with trying to compete where we actually come out on top at the end of the month.

What price do you get the whole chickens at? And where?
I would never buy boneless, skinless at regular price, so I stock up when it's a really good deal, but I've always shyed away from the whole chickens because even if the price is lower, the weight is including the bones, etc.?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dreamcatcher1962

Good for you.
It feels good to have plenty on hand, doesn't it ;)

I hope you don't mind me making a suggestion, it will save you more money if you don't mind spending a little extra time in the kitchen.
Try buying chicken when the whole chickens are on sale and then de-bone and skin them yourself.
We've bought as many as 10 chickens at a time and between dh & I both working together, it might take about a hour to de-bone/skin & bag the chickens.

Once that is done, I will either freeze the bones to deal with later or put them in a Soup pot and simmer (don't boil) them until the remaining meat is cooked. Then take that left over meat off the bones and use the broth for Soup Stock.

I was amazed, the last time we did this , I got 1 1/2 lbs of cooked meat off the bones alone. (from about 10 chicken carcasses)
You can use that meat in sandwiches, soup casseroles etc.

Just a suggestion :)

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Originally Posted by lecale

bones + skin = 50% of the weight of whole chicken...the meat you get is about 60% white (breast) and 40% dark

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hmm see then this wouldn't be a good deal for us because we don't really like dark meat and we also don't like drumsticks. I think its caveman like (laugh at me if you will DH did) and I can't remember what DH said about them besides the fact that he doesn't like them either.

We're both boob people :)

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Originally Posted by Valerey

What price do you get the whole chickens at? And where?
I would never buy boneless, skinless at regular price, so I stock up when it's a really good deal, but I've always shyed away from the whole chickens because even if the price is lower, the weight is including the bones, etc.?

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I think they were around $1.67 /lb @ NF.
It's usually when they are sold in the packs of 2.

I am the same when it comes to touching meat. I have to admit I am getting better. I had/have OCD hand washing to the point I have in the past washed the skin off my hands washing them so many times a day. If I could not wash them it would look like I was trying to rub the skin off because I got anxiety over not washing them. Slowly over time I have gotten better wash them a lot less and have started doing things than used to make me freak out. I can now touch certain types of meat but Chicken is still out.

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Originally Posted by PurpleBunny89

I'd love to do this as I do have the time but not only am I pretty clueless on how to debone and de-skin a chicken I find the whole process extreamly disgusting. I'd rather take a tit out, wash it and pull the odd bits of white fatty parts off and then toss it in a pan. I'm sure I'm not the only one though hahahaha.

I don't touch steak either, thats gross. I strategically cut the container so I can plop it out into the pan and then deal with it from there with tongs. Ground beef is same thing.

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Originally Posted by SassyAshley

I am the same when it comes to touching meat. I have to admit I am getting better. I had/have OCD hand washing to the point I have in the past washed the skin off my hands washing them so many times a day. If I could not wash them it would look like I was trying to rub the skin off because I got anxiety over not washing them. Slowly over time I have gotten better wash them a lot less and have started doing things than used to make me freak out. I can now touch certain types of meat but Chicken is still out.

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I'm a bit obsessive too with the hand washing but it sounds like I'm not nearly as bad as you. I still have insanely dry hands despite always putting lotion on.

I'll come do your chicken (as long as its skinless boneless LOL) if you come do my other meats ;)

I have a special pair of rubber gloves I designate to handle meat. My sister grew up on a farm and tells me to be thankful I don't have to pluck the feathers bare-handed and cook it from it's living state.

Yep, pretty thankful.... Otherwise, I think I'd be a total vegan.