My Fiscal Fast

[Rika]

This is a great thread and I am inspired.... thanks everyone...

[Amber4]

That is a great idea to do the jam jar of taco seasoning! I think I will try that to. we eat it ALOT. I have been stocked because I keep buying the old el Paso kits that come with seasoning (for the awsome coupons, and then you buy another box for the free cheese and it has another coupon...lol) But now no coupons for the moment I will have to try this!

Thanks also for the recipe!!

This thread is great!

(ok, no more coffee for me)

[alwaysdaddysgirl]

So tonight I will be shredding the chicken parmesan from last night and making tacos from one of the kits that had the free product coupon with it. I will save the seasoning for later. I still have some salad left and have some free cheese from the last taco kit that I bought on sale.

I have two potential kijiji pick-ups for tomorrow totalling $50. I also have my consultation for my free tattoo. I only have two days left but I don't feel like I have missed out on anything even though it was was Valentine's day and my Birthday this week. My husband REALLY needs a haircut but other than that it has been easy. Could probably go another week with the purchase of very little if anything. I will probably only buy meat if I can find it at a really good price, more of the ingredients for taco seasoning, and stuff to make bread (mmm....fresh bread and my slowcooker!)

I am very impressed with my slowcooker. I do have a large one. Not fancy just low and high settings but since I started using it this week I can't believe it has been sitting in my cupboard for 10 years (seriously- it was a wedding gift).

[Daisiefire]

Slow cookers are the best. I regularly make cheaper cuts of roast, stew, chili, and try different recipes for chicken breast and pork chops.

I am wanting to try the fast. But thinking it will happen once we are moved into our new place.

[Kelkens]

I don't like repeats of the same meat/dish in the same week..so what to make tonight as this week we already have had chicken legs, chill, homemade pizza and hamburgers.

So I made veg.bean burritos...they are quick and easy. Some day I will get to making my own refried beans as the canned stuff is pricey and rather high in salt.

It's really about a mind set..ie I am going to cook..I will figure something out rather than run out to get stuff for supper.

When you shop once a week and stay out of stores and malls it is a lot easier not to spend money.

[kissjo]

OOOH - I have a great recipe for refried beans (speaking of slow cookers)....these are SO good. It makes quite a few, but you can freeze half if you want
Ingredients

1 onion, peeled and halved
3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
5 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin, optional (I would recommend not omitting this!)
9 cups water

Directions
Place the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into a slow cooker. Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours, adding more water as needed. Note: if more than 1 cup of water has evaporated during cooking, then the temperature is too high.
Once the beans have cooked, strain them, and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved water as needed to attain desired consistency.

I have started this year to try to make 2 meals/month without any meat just to see if it makes a difference in our bills. I also am separating the meat that I buy into more ziplocks to freeze than I was before (ie: instead of freezing 3 chicken breasts in one pack, I'm now only freezing 2).

I am also trying to only buy things on sale and making my meals around that. some things, i've noticed, are never on sale, but thats because I'm already buying the store brand and even with the name brands on sale, the store brands are still cheaper.

Today, I made a trip to Bulk Barn, Wal Mart, and Sobeys and spent $70 total ($30 of that was meat that was on sale)...but - everything I bought was on sale, I saved $5 with coupons, and I bought alot of food (nothing prepapred, all fresh and no junk food). And on top of that, I walked to all the stores, therefore getting some exercise and preventing myself from buying too many items I didn't need.

We were thinking of going out for dinner tomorrow night, but decided against it since we have so much food we could be eating. We would've used a groupon that we have, but instead we are just going to eat at home. We are heading to the symphony tomorrow - tickets we bought a few months ago for a discounted price We will be walking to the LRT and taking public transport to and from therefore saving us money on driving (I have a monthly pass...my hubby will need to buy his pass though - still cheaper than gas and parking ).

And Sunday we are heading out for my FIL's birthday. We were thinking of going to an upscale restaurant, but I convinced my MIL to eat at home and we'll have a BBQ. I'm going to make a cake for the night and she is providing the food otherwise. No matter what, still a less expensive alternative and we'll probably have a better time.

[alwaysdaddysgirl]

I am doing the opposite with freezing. I am doing 5 instead of three so I can get 2 meals instead of 1. The chicken parmesan turned into tacos were good. My daughter loved them. In fact she asked for seconds. So we got two completely different meals from the same chicken. I will definitely also try your refried beans recipe. I don't eat the stuff but my husband does when we find it cheap which isn't often. It is beans for goodness sake how can you justify charging me almost $4 for the stuff.

My husband made breakfast today egg sandwiches. $2.99 each at Sobeys minus $1.00 coupon and a $5 gift card that some one gave him and our 50% of bread which is almost done. Have a couple of buns left.

I sold my daughters old skates, 3 pieces of jewelry and have interest in another piece. Almost sold a pair of her old dance slippers but the lady thought they were jazz not ballet. Darn!

I also got an interesting email from someone wanting to interview me on why I decided to quit selling Stella & Dot. I agreed. Why not help some other people who are on the fence not fork out all of the money it costs to start up and then end up with a pile of stuff that you are selling for peanuts?

My daughter is having a sleepover at grandma's house so we may go out for dinner tonight. I have a BP GC and a Groupon from Mongolie Grill and I will have the extra cash from my sales today.

I think tomorrow I will make a meal plan for next week and make up an ingredient list for bread, taco seasoning, and refried beans. I will also keep my eye out for clearance meat. It would be so much easier if I got flyers. I am so glad that I went overboard on the ziploc freezer bags in the fall!

[Kelkens]

Flyers are helpful but finding a good store that stocks deals is more helpful.

Last week we found a whole lot of marked down hamburger at South Common superwalmart. That store is a lot better stocked that our local one.

I shop at the St.Albert superstore as I like it the best. It is cleaner and it has marked down bread and meat . It always has some but some mornings are better than others. Today I got marked down chicken wings and hordeourves(sp). Both are a bit of an extravagance but I also try to make a few things as a special treat for the kids.

The other thing is when you shop...timing is everything. Early morning works for me as it is easier to get around the store plus it is not as crazy to do your own packing at SS then.

Mind you the marked down hamburger was being put out about 1 a.m. so sometimes it is hit and miss.

There are some stores that are not that good...superstore at whitemud and south common. I have never found that much there. It might be the time I go.

[alwaysdaddysgirl]

The one in the park is hit and miss. I only buy certain cuts of meat though. Very little pork, as only my husband and daughter eat it. Beef but only lean ground beef (reg ground beef makes my dogs sick like eating pork does). I will only buy chicken and turkey breasts and ground turkey and chicken. The dark meat upsets my stomach. So I have to be careful what I buy. I do eat a little different from my husband and daughter. I eat more natural and gluten-free food than them.

M&M food never comes in my house as something they put in it makes me sicker than a dog and same with Swiss Chalet. I have to be budget conscious but also watch what I am eating so I don't end up sick. You don't see too many coupons for whole food. It is mostly processed.

Now that we can't get free cleaning products anymore I will be going back to vinegar and water and leaving the real tough stuff for remaining cleaning products in my stash.

[kissjo]

Vinegar and water worked for our parents when cleaning, and trust me when I say our house was spotless. You can find recipes online for all sorts of cleaning products, including basic cleaners, toilet cleaners, laundry soap, dish soap, floor cleaners, window cleaners, stainless steel cleaner, you name it, its there. We are using up our stock of laundry detergent and softener, and then we are going to homemade. Not only is it better for the environment, it is also better for the clothes (since it is chemical free ).

We don't eat much processed either (if you count cereal & granola bars in this category, then we are guilty). It rarely comes in our house. We make all of our food from scratch. Alwaysdaddygirl is right....coupons tend to be for processed, high sugared food. Rarely can I find coupons for the healthier stuff we want. However, yesterday, sobeys had their eggs on for $1.99 for a dozen. I bought 2, then used my $1 off coupon for eggs. I'm going to make some quiche with that (yummy) with some marked down ground chicken, and some some B1G1 cheese from sobeys.

And we have never bought M&M meats before. My parents had a couple of times while I was still living at home, but I found their stuff to taste odd....like there was something on it that didn't belong.

[Kelkens]

I don't buy and m&m either..have not been in there for ages.

The kids don't like pork and I must stop buying it even if it is marked down.

Same here with the extra lean hamburger plus the better cuts of meat spoil one a bit. There is a huge difference between a prime rib roast and a blade roast. So when prime rib is marked down I buy it.

I agree about the coupons for healthy rarely does it cover good food.

[alwaysdaddysgirl]

So we ended up having leftover pizza. I always buy cheese pizza when it is on sale and we add left over food to it. We had a little bit of chicken, leftover ham on my husband's side, some feta, canned pineapple. We put whatever is in the fridge on the pizza, mushrooms, spinach, leftover meats and I always stock up on canned dole pineapple (I find dole to be the best tasting)

[Kelkens]

I stopped by St.Albert Superstore.

It was a bit crazy today as they were doing their stocking shelves and scrubbing floors. I get there just after 7 a.m. after dropping off our son at work.

There were some good cuts of meat/fish marked down. I got rainbow trout plus some lamp chops. There was also some low fat bread marked down.

The only problem is that they don't have a til open til 8 a.m. it is self check-out. But you can't do the reduced stuff yourself so a clerk has to help.

I am proud of myself as I used a gift card from another time reducing the charge to $21 plus with the bill from yesterday I got the chicken breasts(worth $29). So all total I got $54 worth of free groceries.

We are well stocked...hoping to stay away except for milk and fruit until at least early March...

Let the fast begin...

[alwaysdaddysgirl]

So even though I am done my fiscal fast I am still trying to live on less. Went to the grocery store and stuck to my list which was mostly bulk items and items I will use to make other common items such as the refried beans, taco seasoning, bread. I am also going to make up a pan of lasagne and freeze it in quarters.

I got a couple pieces of meat that were on clearance and compared prices on other meat that we usually buy. I qualified for the free lasagne from Superstore which is quartered in the freezer. It was the only processed food I bought besides some 50% off spinach and feta pasta. Even the spinach for my lasagne was 50% off. I am cooking it anyway so it starting to wilt doesn't matter to me.

[kissjo]

No one will know the spinach was wilting.....when my veggies are starting to go, I make a stir-fry or pasta sauce or chili....hubby has never noticed that the veggies were wilted, or part of it was starting to go soft or heaven forbid, starting to mould. If he knew, he probably wouldn't eat it, however, he's never noticed so I keep on doing it