Guest Post by Megan from SaverQueen.com
Not too long ago, an
article was written in a national newspaper documenting the trend towards
so-called "cheap" convenience foods. I sighed, disappointed that shoppers naturally assume single-serving, prepackaged foods like macaroni and cheese are cheaper than
homemade alternatives.
Convenience foods can, in fact, be most costly, and they are almost
always less healthful than their homemade counterparts. But perhaps what bothered most about this trend is that
shoppers are "buying-in" to the belief that being frugal means sacrificing
taste and quality.
Eating well on a frugal budget is entirely possible. A lean grocery budget does not require
reliance on freeze-dried, tasteless food. In fact, home cooking can bring a whole new world of flavors.
There are many ways to add flavor to your food without a
lot of cost, but one of my favorite techniques is to use fresh herbs. Not only do fresh herbs add flavor,
they bring out the natural flavors in other foods too. And they have many health benefits, as
well.
After attempting to learn how to grow herbs using window-boxes
or terrariums, I have concluded, it just doesn’t work for me. Failing this, I now bite the bullet and
pay full price at the grocery store.
However, the key to making the herbs affordable, I have learned, is to make the
most of your purchase by properly prepping, storing, and preserving your
herbs. Here is how to do it:
1) Wash your herbs immediately after purchasing and dry in a
salad spinner. If you purchase herbs that are still attached at the roots, snip the roots off
and clean them as well. Then store
the roots in a sandwich bag or plastic container in the freezer–they can be
added to vegetable or chicken stock, yielding a lovely flavor.
2) Take the rest of the washed and dried herbs
and spread them out over a few sheets of paper towel. Roll the paper towel up with the herbs inside and place in a grocery bag and keep inside
your crisper. The herbs should
last for several weeks like this.
3) When your
herbs are nearing the end of their freshness, freeze or dry them. Many herbs can be frozen by placing the leaves in an ice cube tray and
filling it with water. When you are
ready to use them, simply defrost an ice cube and you have "fresh" herbs to use! To dry herbs, you can hang them in bunches. And don't throw away the stems–you can use parsley or cilantro stems when making chutneys
or sauces in the food processor.
With rising food costs, it is not necessary to sacrifice
taste or quality. Simply make the
most of what you have. Rather
than sacrifice the delightful flavor and health benefits of fresh herbs, I
recommend making your investment count by using every part of the herb
and reducing waste wherever possible. The result will be a tastier mealtime and a budget boost.
Megan (aka "Saver Queen") loves the fulfilling, frugal life. She’s shares her best recipes, tips to
save at the grocery store, and other money saving secrets at her blog, SaverQueen.com.
Allison left the following comment on my picture of this week's $30 shopping trip:
I've
enjoyed reading this blog the past month or so since I've discovered
it, and you've really helped me snag some good deals. And I think it's
neat when you come home from the store with a pile of groceries for
only a few dollars.
But every time I see the picture of your groceries, I wonder
something like, "What is she going to cook for dinner with easy mac,
salad dressing, and jello?"
Is this all the grocery shopping you do? Do you have a garden? Or
raise your own beef? How do you round out your bargain purchases to get
a meal on the table?
One of my biggest secrets for grocery saving success is that I practice the Buy Ahead Principle. What's that, you ask?
Well, basically, other than dairy products and produce, I aim to never pay full price for anything. Instead, I stock up when an item is on sale to tide me over until the next sale.
For instance, in this shopping trip picture, you'll see that I mainly stocked up on cereal. In fact, I bought 16 boxes of cereal–enough to last us for at least 6 weeks, likely longer. Did we only eat cereal that week? No way! We ate a few boxes of cereal that week and the rest of what we ate mostly came from items I'd stocked up on during previous sales.
You see, because I stock up on items when they are on sale at my target price (providing I can afford it in our budget), my grocery shopping trips will usually look quite strange and will certainly not be the basis for a balanced menu. But you can check out some of our menus here to see that we do eat a fairly balanced diet. Well, at least we're certainly not subsisting on Easy Mac and Jell-O every meal!
How is it that we can eat a fairly balanced diet when I buy such an odd assortment of groceries each week? It's because the bulk of our meals are based upon what we already have in our refrigerator, pantry, and freezer.
To give you an idea of how this works, here's a rundown of our menu this week:
Breakfasts: Cereal or Kashi waffles and fruit (The cereal was from our big stock-up mentioned above, the waffles were purchased two weeks ago at Target for $0.29/box, and the fruit is from what we purchased this week and leftovers from last week.)
Lunches: Sandwiches or leftovers and carrots or fruit (I had lots of bread in the freezer I'd gotten for $0.50/loaf from Aldi last month and the peanut butter was from our pantry. My mom also gave us some extra lunch meat she had leftover from a lunch they served so we've used that, too. The carrots and fruit were purchased this week or leftover from last week's purchases.)
Dinners: We're eating meals from our After-The-Baby Freezer Stash paired with homemade bread from the freezer and frozen veggies from the freezer. All of the items in our After-The-Baby Freezer Stash were purchased within our usual grocery budget over the course of a few weeks' time as I had a little extra wiggle room in the budget or items were on sale.
Snacks: Fruit, cheese, crackers, granola bars, yogurt (The fruit, cheese, crackers, and yogurt were all purchased this week. The granola bars were from the pantry.)
When I plan the menu for the week, I first check out what we already have on hand. This gives me the inspiration for the majority of the menu. I then consult the sales fliers and my coupon box to decide what items are on sale and in-budget that I want (or need) to stock up on. I also add in any specific ingredients I need to round out a recipe or meal I've planned from the freezer and pantry ingredients.
For many people who are used to buying only what groceries you'll use in the next week, the concept of buying ahead can be mind-boggling. However, I highly recommend you at least give it a try as it can save you a great deal of money. In fact, I would estimate that we routinely save at least $30-$50 each week by doing so.
If this is a new concept for you, don't go out and spend $500 tomorrow trying to build up a stockpile. Instead, just designate a small percentage of your grocery budget each week to buying extra of those heavily-discounted items which you know you will use sometime in the next few months.
Slowly
start to build up a stockpile of items you regularly use as you find
them discounted by 50% or more with a sale and coupon. Over time, your
stockpile will grow until you come to a point where you can begin to
pretty much only buy items which are at rock-bottom prices, in addition to produce and perishable items.
Just by adopting the Buy Ahead Principle, you will see a significant savings in your grocery bill. And you'll likely be shopping less and eating better than ever before!