If your grocery budget is very small...

[ViolaMum]

Originally Posted by SalH

Also: I've just started a price book. And from this month I am are tying s bulk purchase budget. I will only be able to buy up in bulk if that fund has money in it. I know a number of the regular prices but certain things like dishwasher tablets etc and oats are tricky to remember.


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Several years ago my dh made up a shopping list that had four columns: Costco, Trader Joe's, our local grocery store, and a blank one. He had the same categories for each store- dairy, meat, veggies, household goods, etc. - mostly blank for specifics, though. We put a copy up on the fridge and initially it was so that we both could write in things we had run out of and whoever went shopping could pick things up. We kept track of what we bought where and started filling in the blanks for subsequent versions of the Master List so that all I had to do was circle things. That's about when I started going through flyers before filling out the List for the week. We'd split up the shopping based on what we needed and who was going to be near which store. That morphed into writing down prices on the Master List for various staples so that we could figure out a good or best price. If one of us happened along a better deal, we knew to stock up. It was also a good way to figure out the sales cycles for different stores.

These days I do a weekly grocery shopping run and DH goes to Costco on Fridays. I make a Trader Joe's trip every 6 weeks or so. Thanks to the Master List I've got a pretty good sense of what to buy where. We touch base about what we're buying, and if I know I need something from Costco, I usually just tell DH and let him get it on his weekly trip. He does the same if he wants something from the grocery store. We adhere to a pretty strict budget - DH keeps a spreadsheet and knows exactly what he's going to buy and how much he's going to spend before he leaves the house.

[SalH]

That sounds amazing! I've written a few prices down from my current receipts. I already know which items I get from Aldi (which isn't many) and wgivh from our local foodland and from Coles. Trouble is we have been looking at ethical shopping and this throws a spanner in the works.

How do you balance ethical shopping and food budget? I think I am going to have to do it by buying less / differently. Save money by going to markets for vegetables. And spending more by choosing a more ethical supermarket


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[ViolaMum]

Originally Posted by SalH

How do you balance ethical shopping and food budget? I think I am going to have to do it by buying less / differently. Save money by going to markets for vegetables. And spending more by choosing a more ethical supermarket


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I do what I can fit into the budget. We grow our own veggies in the summer and buy a side of beef from a local farm which usually lasts well over a year (18 months, maybe?). DH keeps bees in the backyard. We start there. Costco sells lots of organics for not much more than regular and I try to pay attention to where and how the stores source their products. I buy local before organic and stay away from processed foods, and in general do as much myself as possible. But I can't always afford better products. Sometime I stick with cheaper base items and buy better stuff in condiment amounts.

[bananacake]

I thought of this thread when we made egg roll in a bowl the other night.

http://www.bigtastetrimwaist.com/201...owl-s-e-or-fp/

It works with whatever types of meat. Chicken thighs are especially good.

I throw in whatever other veggies are on hand. Chopped carrots, frozen green beans, etc.

---------- Post added at 08:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:01 PM ----------

A lot of good ideas here: http://dontwastethecrumbs.com/

[JoyGal]

- Tuna noodle casserole (egg noodles, tuna, cream of mushroom soup, peas and carrots)
- Split pea soup with biscuits (I love a ham hock in there but hams not cheap, but pork bullion is good.)
- Twice baked potatoes
- Chili burgers (chili on buns)

[WaitPatientlyOnTheLord]

Originally Posted by bananacake

A lot of good ideas here: http://dontwastethecrumbs.com/

Well, hey now, that's a fun blog!

[Aerynne]

Originally Posted by JoyGal

- Tuna noodle casserole (egg noodles, tuna, cream of mushroom soup, peas and carrots)
- Split pea soup with biscuits (I love a ham hock in there but hams not cheap, but pork bullion is good.)
- Twice baked potatoes
- Chili burgers (chili on buns)

We love split pea soup! We make it with liquid smoke due to not eating meat, but that's another cheap option.