Being Frugal

I haven't posted anything concerning frugality in awhile. That is rather remiss of me, considering the title of this blog.

One of the easiest ways to be frugal is concerning food. Some people show signs of shock when I say that, but it is true. I work very hard in finding ways to reduce the food budget and also the stretch what I do have as far as possible.

First....cook more from scratch. That is the easiest thing to do to reduce your bill. I buy VERY few "convenience" foods. If and when I do purchase them, it is when they are on sale, with a coupon. Every so often, I will be able to get my hands on .50 off one box of Totinos pizza rolls (which I personally think taste like cardboard, but my DsS16 likes them)....now at least once a month one of my local stores sales them during one of their 10 for $10 sales. So, a .50 coupon doubles to $1...thus I pay only tax for the box of pizza rolls. I still have 4 boxes in the freezer from last time. :-) I have gotten several items like that in the past.

I strive to keep my freezers (we have an upright one and the one with the fridge) full of "best price" meats. Then I plan my meals around what I have in the freezer and what is either in my pantry or a "loss-leader" at the stores that week. {loss-leader= items that a store sells at a loss to get you to come in and hopefully buy other items that are not on sale}

A price book also comes in handy. This is a little notebook that I use to keep track of prices in my favorite stores. This way, I can know for sure whether a sale is truly a "sale". I have found that one stores idea of a sale is NOT my idea of one! LOL

I also shop for alot of my food items at Aldi's. A private chain that sells mainly their own private label. They are a "no-frills" kinda place that suits me fine.

This summer I also hope to can, freeze and de-hydrate as many vegetables as I can. This way, I will be able to reduce my food budget even more. (Last year was not a good garden year, but we hope to learn from some of our mistakes.)

These are just a few of my thoughts and practices concerning saving on our food budget. I will post some more ideas in the future.