Frugal February Chatter

[lecale]

.

[macw1960]

I buy my milk at SDM as it always seems to be the cheapest and you get SDM points too.

[Caseythegoalie]

Hey there!

thanks for your comments.
i drive a small SUV which is great on highway and not so good in city.i work twelve hour shifts so I drive only seven days per two weeks its all the running around in between that's eating up the gas and I'm trying to cut back on that

Hello fellow Brantfordian!
We're a family of 3 with 1 in pullups (she's potty training now) and we average $100 a week, so I'd say with 2 more kids plus the pets, you're doing pretty well. The milk kills us too, especially homo for DD. Try stocking up when there's a good deal, expirations dates I find are a few weeks. Can you freeze milk? I remember looking into it before and I think you can, you just have to shake it or something...maybe someone else can help
Of course, by 'in-season' fruit and veggies, and watch those sales! Brant Food Center normally has some good prices, not the best looking store, but great produce lol

My DH is Brantford to Burlington for work, and it's about $90 for two weeks. What kind of car do you drive? We have a Civic, which is really good on gas.

[PurpleBunny89]

No, you definitely don't need to have a fancy bread machine! I got mine years ago for free on kijiji. Its sticker on the back says it was made in 1996. It still works fabulously! I don't use it often because a loaf of bread will go bad/mouldy in 24-48 hours. I need to get a proper slicer/cutter thingie to make regular sized slices and not big gigantic chunks.

[PurpleBunny89]

Sorry, one more thing - I freeze milk as well. We re-use water bottles for it so that we don't have the ripped bag incidences that often happen after the bag of milk is frozen. Then I just pull out a bottle and let it half thaw in the sink then the other half thaw in the fridge. We rarely drink milk so this works best for us. But long story short you can definitely freeze milk

[hollyquaiscer]

I haven't been to a store since Sunday morning and no intention of going until next week, for some milk. I do however have to go fill up my water jugs. .15 per jug and I have 6 jugs, so I will be spending another .90 this week maybe I can find that much in the couch

[hollyquaiscer]

I bake bread all the time, and have for over 40 years. I don't use a breadmaker, no knead () to! I find the calculations off a lot too, but I guess if you are just starting out, that's what it would cost you. I purchase my bread flour in bulk (50 pound bags) and same goes for my yeast. If you are just dabbling in a few loaves than I can see how it would cost a lot more, but for me, it costs about .60 a loaf, and for me, I know there is nothing in the bread, no chemicals or preservatives, and I make about 5 to 10 loaves at a time. I make pretzel buns, bagels, cheese buns and the like. It's just a lot cheaper for me. Besides, my family complains if they have to purchase a loaf at the store, everyone tells me mine tastes way better (I guess the are just used to it having grown up on it).

[dreamcatcher1962]

No, you definitely don't need to have a fancy bread machine! I got mine years ago for free on kijiji. Its sticker on the back says it was made in 1996. It still works fabulously! I don't use it often because a loaf of bread will go bad/mouldy in 24-48 hours. I need to get a proper slicer/cutter thingie to make regular sized slices and not big gigantic chunks.

If you have an electric knife, try using that to cut your bread.
I tried it because I am terrible at cutting the bread straight with a regular bread knife but had much better luck with the electric knife.

[dreamcatcher1962]

I bake bread all the time, and have for over 40 years. I don't use a breadmaker, no knead () to! I find the calculations off a lot too, but I guess if you are just starting out, that's what it would cost you. I purchase my bread flour in bulk (50 pound bags) and same goes for my yeast. If you are just dabbling in a few loaves than I can see how it would cost a lot more, but for me, it costs about .60 a loaf, and for me, I know there is nothing in the bread, no chemicals or preservatives, and I make about 5 to 10 loaves at a time. I make pretzel buns, bagels, cheese buns and the like. It's just a lot cheaper for me. Besides, my family complains if they have to purchase a loaf at the store, everyone tells me mine tastes way better (I guess the are just used to it having grown up on it).

Holly would you consider sharing your recipe and any tips you may have for making bagels.
I tried making them once and they were a complete flop. Would love to try them again if I had a tried and true recipe.
Thanks

[Caseythegoalie]

Holly would you consider sharing your recipe and any tips you may have for making bagels.
I tried making them once and they were a complete flop. Would love to try them again if I had a tried and true recipe.
Thanks

Me too! I would love to hear

[jasperandchar]

couch $ and laundry $ is fantastic, like hidden gems.

I haven't been to a store since Sunday morning and no intention of going until next week, for some milk. I do however have to go fill up my water jugs. .15 per jug and I have 6 jugs, so I will be spending another .90 this week maybe I can find that much in the couch

[hollyquaiscer]

Sounds like I found out who all the breadmakers are thank you for your input!

In the end I did buy some yeast and I am going to try making some batter breads. If I tried to replace dh's white bread with homemade...well I think the ducks at the park would be well fed with all my attempts. He's just too picky. But if I come up with some cheap way to replace rolls...

It's ironic that the "artisan" loaves are probably the cheapest to make based on ingredients (and oh how I love a fresh artisan loaf!!!)

Matty's Mom, polenta was a revelation to me. Cheap, fast, and oh so tasty...I know what I'm making the next time there's sauce.

No, you definitely don't need to have a fancy bread machine! I got mine years ago for free on kijiji. Its sticker on the back says it was made in 1996. It still works fabulously! I don't use it often because a loaf of bread will go bad/mouldy in 24-48 hours. I need to get a proper slicer/cutter thingie to make regular sized slices and not big gigantic chunks.

I don't use a bread machine. Several years ago I got one for Christmas from a dd. I thought, hmm. I'll give this a try. I hated the taste! It has a yeasty taste, probably because more yeast is used than for my recipe, and I don't care for the shape of the loaf either. I find the kneading of the bread sort of therapeutic for me (I know, I'm strange ) I guess with a lot of you guy's working you would prefer to keep your weekend free for family stuff, because it does take time to make bread. But OMG...the house smells so good. A good large ceramic bowl, a nice clothe to cover the bowl and a clean, clear counter space is really all that required. As you make bread, buns and such, you become more confident and you will amaze yourself with all the great products you will come up with. Don't be afraid to give it a try. I'be been baking bread for over 40 years, if anyone has a question, I'd be more than happy to answer it for you, just send me a pm or post it here.

[gourmetsue]

I bake bread all the time, and have for over 40 years. I don't use a breadmaker, no knead () to! I find the calculations off a lot too, but I guess if you are just starting out, that's what it would cost you. I purchase my bread flour in bulk (50 pound bags) and same goes for my yeast. If you are just dabbling in a few loaves than I can see how it would cost a lot more, but for me, it costs about .60 a loaf, and for me, I know there is nothing in the bread, no chemicals or preservatives, and I make about 5 to 10 loaves at a time. I make pretzel buns, bagels, cheese buns and the like. It's just a lot cheaper for me. Besides, my family complains if they have to purchase a loaf at the store, everyone tells me mine tastes way better (I guess the are just used to it having grown up on it).

Holly, are you pretzel rolls and bagels GF? I have made regular bagels for years but making GF buns has me stymied!

[LuvToUseCoupons]

Hi All,
Just wanted to share that I wasn't doing Frugal February (just wasn't prepared enough).
However it did give me a great idea for a goal/challenge for lent.
So starting today (Ash Wednesday) and until Easter (the next 40 days) my goal is to see how frugal I can be in spending as little money as possible.
Thanks for the idea.
And great job to all of you guys who are doing Frugal February.
Wish me luck.

[jasperandchar]

I have a question on s frugal subject.

Does WM has a 2 week return policy on anything and everyting in the store. For example if I purchased Advil Nightime today and they are on sale starting Friday, will they reimburse me the difference?