Author Topic: Rein in the grocery spend 2017  (Read 109834 times)

boarder42

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #150 on: February 21, 2017, 07:55:48 AM »
and this month will be a high month.  1 day sale at the local grocery store yesterday.  bought 60lbs of pork butts for 98c a lb.  hadnt seen that price in a long time.  smoker will be fired up sooner than later.  plus they had some packaged foods we like marked way down.  our favorite pizzas were 2.48 each etc

Laura33

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #151 on: February 21, 2017, 09:09:06 AM »
and this month will be a high month.  1 day sale at the local grocery store yesterday.  bought 60lbs of pork butts for 98c a lb.  hadnt seen that price in a long time.  smoker will be fired up sooner than later.  plus they had some packaged foods we like marked way down.  our favorite pizzas were 2.48 each etc

That is freaking awesome!  Well done. 

Part of my current thinking is to eat some of the miscellaneous leftovers out of the freezer so I have room the next time there is a big sale on useful stuff.  But since I have a bad habit of not labeling stuff in Tupperware, it can make for an interesting dinner.  :-)

DTaggart

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #152 on: February 21, 2017, 12:42:59 PM »
Had a fairly big shopping trip this weekend, so I'm up to about $225 out of a goal of $250 for the month. I think I'll be able to make it as I should hopefully just need produce and maybe milk and yogurt next weekend.

This weekend was pricey because we stocked up on some good deals and replenished a few of the more expensive things we were out of. Pork chops (bone-in) were super cheap at .97/lb so I bought a large package (10 chops for under $8). And I was out of string cheese (a staple snack for me), so I bought the ginormous 48 pack for $7.50 since its cheaper per-unit then the smaller packs. I also bought a 5 lbs bag of shredded mozzarella for ~$12. Honey is never cheap and I was out, so that was another $6-$7. Eggs were on sale for .99/dozen so we got 6 dozen - I'll be making a large batch of breakfast burritos for the freezer. And then hubby had come with me, and he saw that Powerade was on sale (.69 ea) and wanted to buy a bunch. Usually he buys himself drinks with his personal spending allowance but when its on sale I'll go ahead and buy a few with the grocery funds for him. It goes on sale cheaper (.49 ea) periodically but he's accustomed to the $1.49 or so he normally pays at 7-11, so he didn't quite get my lack of excitement at the price :) In any event, he was happy to get it and I can still meet our budget so it all works out.

So in summary, we bought tons of stuff and most of it will last well into next month, so I just need to be diligent next weekend and I should be on target.

rachellynn99

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #153 on: February 23, 2017, 10:57:41 AM »
February was/is pretty bad...
I basically just through out my grocery budget. A new Sam's club opened and I've been going there too frequently.I know, that's  a terrible excuse, but I was weak...
So---- March is coming and I'm ready. I've been organizing my freezers and pantry, I'm making a food plan and I am optimistic!

boarder42

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #154 on: February 23, 2017, 11:44:21 AM »
February was/is pretty bad...
I basically just through out my grocery budget. A new Sam's club opened and I've been going there too frequently.I know, that's  a terrible excuse, but I was weak...
So---- March is coming and I'm ready. I've been organizing my freezers and pantry, I'm making a food plan and I am optimistic!

this isnt a month to month game.  see how i just spent 70 bucks on pork butts.  blew the budget up this month but we wont need to buy these in the future

gaja

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #155 on: February 25, 2017, 11:48:20 AM »
Got 5 pounds of minced meat for 2.5 USD/pound (normal price here is closer to 6). The freezer now holds 6 lasagna dinners and 20 servings (5 dinners) of bolognese.

tyrannostache

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #156 on: February 25, 2017, 07:57:46 PM »
OK, this one I am 100% in on.

We are brand new to the forum and JUST starting to budget more thoughtfully, taking baby steps toward getting our spending on track. Our grocery/household items spending for January was waaay out of whack, somewhere around $1000 for a family of 3 (2 adults, 1 kid). I blame a combination of thoughtless Costco trips, poor meal planning, lunch out, a long weekend out of town, wasteful use of leftovers, throwing a dinner party, and me being in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy. Regardless, seeing that huge number was like a punch in the gut.

So we are starting by doing better planning, eating down the pantry and freezer, and generally being more mindful. So far, we have done pretty well in February. The goal for this month was to bring all food spending down to $600, and we'll come in just a hair under. Still, I'm sure we can do better. For March, it's ON. Goal: $450


DTaggart

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #157 on: February 26, 2017, 09:19:24 AM »
OK, this one I am 100% in on.

We are brand new to the forum and JUST starting to budget more thoughtfully, taking baby steps toward getting our spending on track. Our grocery/household items spending for January was waaay out of whack, somewhere around $1000 for a family of 3 (2 adults, 1 kid). I blame a combination of thoughtless Costco trips, poor meal planning, lunch out, a long weekend out of town, wasteful use of leftovers, throwing a dinner party, and me being in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy. Regardless, seeing that huge number was like a punch in the gut.

So we are starting by doing better planning, eating down the pantry and freezer, and generally being more mindful. So far, we have done pretty well in February. The goal for this month was to bring all food spending down to $600, and we'll come in just a hair under. Still, I'm sure we can do better. For March, it's ON. Goal: $450

Welcome aboard tyrannostache! Sounds like you're off to a great start. It's amazing how much money we can save just by paying attention!

Drole

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #158 on: February 26, 2017, 10:02:52 AM »
I've definitely let too much slide in the food/groceries/eat out categories so I set a new budget and am failing horribly so far.  My excuse for now is that we just moved and so we are having to start fresh and buy a lot more than normal.  There is no pantry or freezer to empty, etc. 

But visiting with old friends and watching the spendy-spend.....well, I guess that's why I found this group. 

DTaggart

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #159 on: February 26, 2017, 12:36:09 PM »
OK, I just did my last shop for February and the totals are in... *drumroll*... $246.37! (Goal was $250).

I only had about $25 to spend today, so I just got enough produce for the week, a jug of OJ for breakfast smoothies, 5 bags of frozen vegetables on sale, a loaf of bread (had an e-coupon), and a single yogurt and a chocolate egg that were both free with e-coupons. That was everything I really needed and I still had some money to spare, so I went ahead and stocked hubby up on Powerade because it was on sale cheap if you bought 10. I don't normally like to buy that kind of crap but it makes him happy and I had room in the budget so why not?

Hotstreak

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #160 on: February 26, 2017, 03:27:49 PM »
I'm on board this year.  I've been regularly spending $500/mo at the grocery store (including all household supplies), which is an awful lot for a single person.  I then go and spend an additional chunk of money a couple times a year to stock up on bulk beef, fish, or CSA, which drives my average up to $550 or so.


I am working to reduce to $400/mo for the year.  I'm drinking less alcohol at home, eating less meat, and shopping vegetables based on sales instead of other preferences.  I'm not signing up for CSA this year because it's not that great of a deal, & getting a box of random stuff every other week messes with my intent to shop deliberately.  Since this includes soap, cleaner, etc., I'm looking out for deals on any of those items which I expect to run out of in the next 6 months.


January - Very high at $750 including $300 Costco stocking up on vitamins for the year and some household supplies (closer to $500 without those extra items).
February - Done shopping for the month, $352 spent.
March - My goal is $300.

boarder42

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #161 on: February 26, 2017, 03:32:45 PM »
620 thru 2 months. And a freezer stocked with cheap meats. Though corned beef points are on sale at Aldi Wednesday and pastrami burnt ends are screaming my name

PJ

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #162 on: February 26, 2017, 08:42:15 PM »
I am working to reduce to $400/mo for the year.  I'm drinking less alcohol at home, eating less meat, and shopping vegetables based on sales instead of other preferences.  I'm not signing up for CSA this year because it's not that great of a deal, & getting a box of random stuff every other week messes with my intent to shop deliberately.  Since this includes soap, cleaner, etc., I'm looking out for deals on any of those items which I expect to run out of in the next 6 months.

You may be able to save a fair amount on those household items if you just, you know, clean less.  At least, that's my excuse for my minimalist cleaning routine!  ;-)

Seriously though, I do the vast majority of what little cleaning I do using a regular household cleaner like Mr. Clean or Pinesol etc, in a spray bottle and heavily diluted.  I'm not brand loyal and I buy whatever's cheapest, on sale, and/or that I have a coupon for.  I keep one spray bottle under the bathroom sink and one under the kitchen sink, and I use the same cleaner, again heavily diluted, when I mop.  I also use much less than the recommended amount of laundry detergent, less dish detergent than my parents ever did, etc.  For hand soap, if someone gifts me those foamy pump hand soaps, I'll use a little bit then start diluting it, and when it's finally gone, I usually refill it with some heavily diluted bath and body wash (usually cheap and/or bought on sale). 

I figure that whether you're cleaning your house or your body or your clothes, that friction and water do the majority of the work, and just a little soap added to the mix goes a long way.

Well Respected Man

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #163 on: February 26, 2017, 09:23:43 PM »
In for this challenge. Last year was $1030/month for 4.67 people average for groceries, including household items and maybe a few gifts or miscellaneous things from Costco. So far this year, we're at $684/month plus a prepaid CSA of $350 for 20 weeks in the summer. We're expecting to average 4.4 people for the year, or maybe a little less, because we are traveling for about a month in the summer (will donate those CSA weeks to the food bank). I'll set a goal of $775/month, which is about 20% less per person than last year.

We are also doing better on eating out, but that will drop by the wayside during vacation. We will probably do some dinners in Airbnbs/vrbos, and most breakfasts, but there will be plenty of nomming going on.

We are doing somewhat better on alcohol, and again, that will be paused during our vacation.

Hotstreak

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #164 on: February 27, 2017, 09:23:49 AM »
I am working to reduce to $400/mo for the year.  I'm drinking less alcohol at home, eating less meat, and shopping vegetables based on sales instead of other preferences.  I'm not signing up for CSA this year because it's not that great of a deal, & getting a box of random stuff every other week messes with my intent to shop deliberately.  Since this includes soap, cleaner, etc., I'm looking out for deals on any of those items which I expect to run out of in the next 6 months.

You may be able to save a fair amount on those household items if you just, you know, clean less.  At least, that's my excuse for my minimalist cleaning routine!  ;-)

Seriously though, I do the vast majority of what little cleaning I do using a regular household cleaner like Mr. Clean or Pinesol etc, in a spray bottle and heavily diluted.  I'm not brand loyal and I buy whatever's cheapest, on sale, and/or that I have a coupon for.  I keep one spray bottle under the bathroom sink and one under the kitchen sink, and I use the same cleaner, again heavily diluted, when I mop.  I also use much less than the recommended amount of laundry detergent, less dish detergent than my parents ever did, etc.  For hand soap, if someone gifts me those foamy pump hand soaps, I'll use a little bit then start diluting it, and when it's finally gone, I usually refill it with some heavily diluted bath and body wash (usually cheap and/or bought on sale). 

I figure that whether you're cleaning your house or your body or your clothes, that friction and water do the majority of the work, and just a little soap added to the mix goes a long way.

Yes very true :).  I don't use a lot of sprays or anything, but I do go through a fair amount of handsoap, laundry detergent, paper towels, etc.  These "extras" also include things like replacement HVAC air filters, toothbrushes, razors, etc. etc.  Basically anything that is bought at the grocery store.  I think most people's "Grocery" category includes all these things, but some people split it out.

Laura33

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #165 on: February 27, 2017, 11:25:17 AM »
Well, definitely disappointed this month -- ended up at $630 on groceries/takeout/"on the go" meals, and right at about $700 if you count non-food staples.  I really thought I'd do better than that.  The monthly $600 target was within reach but missed because (i) I forgot to return the dairy bottles (will get credit this week), (ii) I stocked up at Aldi's on some cheap things for the pantry, (iii) I ran out of cat litter and bought some more staples to get up to the free shipping level, (iv) we ate lunch out Sat. at the arts fair ($32 at jacked-up fair prices), and (v) DH went unsupervised to Safeway. All of that put this last week at $169 for food and $191 all together -- extra frustrating, because I'm not even *home* this week and so didn't even buy much real food. 

But this has been a pretty horrifying illustration of how much we must have been spending before now without even thinking about it -- we must have cut groceries/takeout in half at least. The sad thing is that this ridiculously spendy budget "felt" tight, because I wasn't buying the treats I usually get for DH and the kids, I only made one quick trip to Wegman's for specific staples Aldi's didn't have, and we had all of 2.5 takeout/eat-while-out-and-about meals (@$60 total).  So it has felt like a big behavioral change, which is why I am disappointed not to hit what I thought was a super-easy target.  Oh well, there's always next month (which, at least, doesn't have the Superbowl in it, so there's that).

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #166 on: February 27, 2017, 11:52:30 AM »
My total for the month was $497.02 - happy to be under $500.00 (no eating out either) but I know I can do better next month! January was under $200.00.. Aiming for the middle in March - $300.00.

Drole

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #167 on: February 27, 2017, 12:14:08 PM »
(v) DH went unsupervised to Safeway.

I live this too.

FireHiker

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #168 on: February 27, 2017, 12:36:55 PM »
Well, I am disappointed to say that we are over my monthly target, sitting at $1268. We just got back late Friday from a ski trip, and we did pretty well but did get a few more meals out than intended. On the upside, we took the same trip last year, and our February food spending last year was $1800 for our family of 5. Outrageous!! I'm pretty happy to have a greater than $500 savings over the same month last year, but it's not quite what I was hoping. Oh well. We are gone this Thursday-Sunday to Vegas for my oldest son's participation in the USA Rugby Sevens amateur tournament (come on scholarship with this rugby thing...), so I'll try again to improve our road food...we did do MUCH better by bringing snacks in the car and didn't buy a single thing at a gas station or travel stop, so I am considering that to be a huge improvement for us.

PJ

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #169 on: February 27, 2017, 01:30:19 PM »
I am working to reduce to $400/mo for the year.  I'm drinking less alcohol at home, eating less meat, and shopping vegetables based on sales instead of other preferences.  I'm not signing up for CSA this year because it's not that great of a deal, & getting a box of random stuff every other week messes with my intent to shop deliberately.  Since this includes soap, cleaner, etc., I'm looking out for deals on any of those items which I expect to run out of in the next 6 months.

You may be able to save a fair amount on those household items if you just, you know, clean less.  At least, that's my excuse for my minimalist cleaning routine!  ;-)

Seriously though, I do the vast majority of what little cleaning I do using a regular household cleaner like Mr. Clean or Pinesol etc, in a spray bottle and heavily diluted.  I'm not brand loyal and I buy whatever's cheapest, on sale, and/or that I have a coupon for.  I keep one spray bottle under the bathroom sink and one under the kitchen sink, and I use the same cleaner, again heavily diluted, when I mop.  I also use much less than the recommended amount of laundry detergent, less dish detergent than my parents ever did, etc.  For hand soap, if someone gifts me those foamy pump hand soaps, I'll use a little bit then start diluting it, and when it's finally gone, I usually refill it with some heavily diluted bath and body wash (usually cheap and/or bought on sale). 

I figure that whether you're cleaning your house or your body or your clothes, that friction and water do the majority of the work, and just a little soap added to the mix goes a long way.

Yes very true :).  I don't use a lot of sprays or anything, but I do go through a fair amount of handsoap, laundry detergent, paper towels, etc.  These "extras" also include things like replacement HVAC air filters, toothbrushes, razors, etc. etc.  Basically anything that is bought at the grocery store.  I think most people's "Grocery" category includes all these things, but some people split it out. 

Why not experiment with using a little bit less of things like laundry detergent, and watering down your handsoap, switching to rags (I use old clothing that is past the point of donation - rips and stains and so on) for some or all of your cleaning jobs, etc?  You can even water down things like shampoo slightly, if you feel that family members are using more than they need to.  I do keep paper towel around, but only use it for cleaning up solid and particularly disgusting gunk (cat messes and things like that).  Even then I occasionally use a rag, and just throw it out - since I'm not spending money on the rags, and always have lots, I just choose something that's less useful or absorbent so that I don't mind getting rid of it.  But all wiping of toilets, sinks, floors, dusting, etc is otherwise dealt with by something that's washable.  I bought a six pack of paper towel so long ago that I don't remember when it was - a year, maybe?  There are still 2 rolls left.

Anyway, no criticism intended, just a few suggestions from what I do.  I don't have enough context to criticize your overall grocery budget, but I also include those things in my grocery shopping costs, and I would describe my spending on HABA and household as a negligible part of that budget.  And all joking aside, that can't be entirely attributed to the frequency of my cleaning! 

(Now, if we wanted to talk about spending on pets, then I would end up black and blue from all the face punches!)

Well, I am disappointed to say that we are over my monthly target, sitting at $1268. We just got back late Friday from a ski trip, and we did pretty well but did get a few more meals out than intended. On the upside, we took the same trip last year, and our February food spending last year was $1800 for our family of 5. Outrageous!! I'm pretty happy to have a greater than $500 savings over the same month last year, but it's not quite what I was hoping. Oh well. We are gone this Thursday-Sunday to Vegas for my oldest son's participation in the USA Rugby Sevens amateur tournament (come on scholarship with this rugby thing...), so I'll try again to improve our road food...we did do MUCH better by bringing snacks in the car and didn't buy a single thing at a gas station or travel stop, so I am considering that to be a huge improvement for us. 

That does sound like an achievement to be proud of, jillinsandiego.  You obviously have figured out the gas station/travel stop stuff.

Was there any pattern to the rest of your spending on the trip?  Things in particular you need to watch out for?  Not bringing enough water to drink during the day, or succumbing to the lure of pop because that's what other people are drinking - if so would bringing some pop or juice as a treat help?  Or is it not bringing a big enough lunch, or varied enough lunch, to entice people away from day time snacks?  Or is it long fun busy days, and then succumbing to eating out for dinner.  If so, would having a prepared meal in waiting for you in the motel/hotel fridge help?  Or not planning where you'll eat in advance, so you end up wherever is close, rather than what's budget friendly?  Or it is a social thing - other families/friends wanting to go out to eat? 

I think travel food budgets are something that will take some time and practice to get optimized!

Well, definitely disappointed this month -- ended up at $630 on groceries/takeout/"on the go" meals, and right at about $700 if you count non-food staples.  I really thought I'd do better than that.  The monthly $600 target was within reach but missed because (i) I forgot to return the dairy bottles (will get credit this week), (ii) I stocked up at Aldi's on some cheap things for the pantry, (iii) I ran out of cat litter and bought some more staples to get up to the free shipping level, (iv) we ate lunch out Sat. at the arts fair ($32 at jacked-up fair prices), and (v) DH went unsupervised to Safeway. All of that put this last week at $169 for food and $191 all together -- extra frustrating, because I'm not even *home* this week and so didn't even buy much real food. 

But this has been a pretty horrifying illustration of how much we must have been spending before now without even thinking about it -- we must have cut groceries/takeout in half at least. The sad thing is that this ridiculously spendy budget "felt" tight, because I wasn't buying the treats I usually get for DH and the kids, I only made one quick trip to Wegman's for specific staples Aldi's didn't have, and we had all of 2.5 takeout/eat-while-out-and-about meals (@$60 total).  So it has felt like a big behavioral change, which is why I am disappointed not to hit what I thought was a super-easy target.  Oh well, there's always next month (which, at least, doesn't have the Superbowl in it, so there's that).

This is also something that takes a while to get optimized!  Look at all the factors you have in that one post.  Who shops, and where?  Entertaining (Superbowl).  Organization (returning bottles).  Inventory control (running out of cat litter).  Social (eating out at fair).  Mindfulness (how you managed groceries/eating out in the past).  Family appeasement (enough "treats" that no one feels deprived.  That's not A big behavioural change, it's a bunch of them, all at once.  There are bound to be some failures along the way.  You're still figuring out what's possible/doable!  You'll find the happy medium, soon enough!

DTaggart

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #170 on: February 27, 2017, 03:21:04 PM »
(v) DH went unsupervised to Safeway.

I live this too.

+1 This is the surest way for my budget to get blown! He's made a lot of improvement over the years, but I have to be very, VERY, explicit in my instructions if I send him to the store. I still try to avoid it if at all possible.

Laura33

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #171 on: February 27, 2017, 08:24:25 PM »
PJ - just wanted to say thanks for your last post.  It's funny how I still think of myself as the "me" of 20+ years ago, who had all this dialed in -- sure, I've gotten lazy, but, come on, all I have to do is pay a little attention and we'll be right back in fighting trim.  HAH!  Hubris in action!  Because all of that spendy stuff is now its own habit, and now I have three other humans with their own expectations to consider, too (DH was actually annoyed I went to Aldi's instead of Wegman's this week, because I think he wanted fancy cheeses and prosciutto, and I swear DD is going through eating-out withdrawal).  I mean, I knew I was going to be taking on more actual work with the consistent menu planning and cooking, and I knew I was giving up the groceries-as-entertainment of Wegman's, but there is just so much emotion and habit and retraining and people-management on top of that!  So thank you for your words of encouragement -- I tend to get down on myself for failing to achieve instantaneous perfection.  ;-)  But, you know, it took us 20+ years to create these habits, so I really shouldn't be surprised that it took more than 28 days to break them.

PJ

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #172 on: February 27, 2017, 10:55:52 PM »
Is it flylady who says "It didn't get this way overnight, it isn't going to get fixed overnight"?

Trust me, Laura33, I have my own perfectionist tendencies.  I try to go all or nothing all the time, and get burnt out, and backslide.  This applies to money, housekeeping, diet, exercise, etc.  I've *started* to learn that I can go fast by going slow.  Less missteps that way!

Anyway, glad it was helpful.  If I'm honest, the most "helpful" posts I make directed to other people are also ones that speak to me as well!

FireHiker

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #173 on: February 28, 2017, 10:04:14 AM »
Thank you PJ both for your encouragement and your suggestions! For this particular trip, the biggest issue was lunch on ski days. We had planned to go back to the condo for lunch, but we ended up grabbing food at the ski lodge instead of taking the time to get over to the condo and back. We kept it to $20 each day on the two days that there were 3 of us (one being a teenage boy) because we supplemented with snacks, but if we had skied over to the condo and back, we had enough food there (which we did bring home so it has mostly been eaten by now). The first day conditions were too windy for me to take the blue runs back to the condo, but I could have done it the second day. The third day we had the little kids with us, and they couldn't do that run either, so we skied to the pizza place and spent over $40 for all 5 of us. Ouch. Lunches on ski days were definitely the biggest culprit. We did eat every breakfast and dinner at the condo though, so I consider that to be pretty good compared to last year! I think we'll either try to plan our lodging better for ski in/ski out at lunch, or plan the quick lunch in our budget next time.

Usually on road trips we bring a picnic and eat at a park, but the weather was not conducive to that this time, so we stopped to eat twice each way. 500 miles with three kids is a LONG day! We have definitely dialed in the snacks/drinks though by bringing them with us, which has not always been the case. I feel pretty good about the massive savings over last year even if we went over just a bit.

PJ

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #174 on: February 28, 2017, 10:07:12 AM »
Hey jillinsandiego, sounds like you've got a plan for next year's ski trip!  Skiing seems like a sport that can be spendy enough on its own, so if you can dial it back even a little through careful planning, then good for you!

boarder42

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #175 on: February 28, 2017, 11:09:33 AM »
YTD grocery spend 510

Add in the half a cow at 120

our spend is at 630 for the year or 315 a month on avg. 

restaruant spend is at 238 on the year or 120 a month.  so overall our rest + grocery spend is now lower than our grocery alone was last year.  but we've cut alcohol considerably. 

this is for 2 adults that eat high protien low carb diets.

FireHiker

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #176 on: February 28, 2017, 11:15:49 AM »
Hey jillinsandiego, sounds like you've got a plan for next year's ski trip!  Skiing seems like a sport that can be spendy enough on its own, so if you can dial it back even a little through careful planning, then good for you!

PJ, that's for sure! We opted for Brian Head as opposed to Mammoth, which would have cost 2.5 times as much (between lift tickets, rentals, and lodging), so we are definitely considering all options to spend wisely. It's something we enjoy, but we want to make it as frugal as possible. My daughter's goodwill snow boots from last year ($5.99 as opposed to $40+ new) still fit, and we have great hand-me down snow clothing from a friend for the kids, so that helps too. Like anything else, it can be as spendy an activity as you're willing to make it, or there are ways to save here and there.

Back to food, I packed a lunch today, my husband is going home at lunch to eat leftovers, and we have other leftovers/scrounging for dinner tonight. We leave Thursday for 3 nights in Vegas, but we won't be feeding the teenager at least since his food is included in the rugby tournament fee. Shooting for $1200 in March, but will be happy if I can get it back under $1100 like we did in January.

afuera

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #177 on: February 28, 2017, 01:30:56 PM »
Total grocery spend for the month= $421.91

Ugh! Considering I had a goal of $250, this number looks real bad at face value. Since I actually kept track of every single thing we bought this month as well as the cost/unit I'm able to see that we actually stocked up on a lot and hopefully, the following months totals will be much lower.
We stocked up on:
Chicken Breast- 33lbs @ $0.97/lb= $33 (ate ~5 lbs so far).
Quinoa- 15 lbs @ $1.73/lb = $26 (ate none so far, this will last months!).
Frozen Fruit - 6 lbs @ $1.8/lb = $11 (about 2 month supply).
Olive Oil - 70 oz @0.17/oz = $12 (usually lasts 3+ months)
Ziploc, Gallon & Quart = $23 (we won't have to buy plastic bags for well over a year, used mostly for freezing raw meat).
Nexium for Hubs - 42 count = $24 (1.5 months)

Also, $98.74 of our spending was just on fancy pants backyard crawfish boils (23 lbs plus the seasoning, potatoes, corn, and butter) which would have cost 3X more at a restaurant.*  Considering all of that I am not feeling too bad about our total and I learned a lot about the pricing of our staples at certain stores near us (One store had a "great sale" but it turns out Aldi's regular price was half of the sale price...).  We are starting to learn more recipes and trying to plan meals around sale items i.e. Brussel sprouts and pears were on super sale one week so we stocked up and made this: https://www.budgetbytes.com/2016/11/warm-brussels-sprouts-and-pear-salad/ which was delicious!!  I even made my own hummus for this first time this month also and I am never going back to expensive pre-made hummus again!
Overall, I' m looking forward to next month and eating down the pantry/freezer a bit.

*My husband made me a spreadsheet showing the projected lbs of crawfish he planned on eating this year, how much per lb he would save on crawfish by buying raw and cooking it himself and how much per oz he would save on beer by drinking at home instead of at a restaurant.  His break-even point after buying a $50 stainless pot was mid-march...

Ebrat

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #178 on: February 28, 2017, 07:46:03 PM »
My final total for the month is $340. January was $635 (ouch), so we're just under $500/mo average. Helped by the fact that I couldn't make it to Costco today. But I feel like we're starting to get into a groove, replacing spendier stuff with cheaper stuff and things like that.

My current goal is $500/mo, but I'm hoping we can get closer to $400/mo with some practice. Still not amazing for only 2 people, but I'd be okay with that level of spending I think.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #179 on: March 01, 2017, 01:20:53 AM »
My challenge for today is that I need to deliver a package at the expensive store that has a post office. And I need to do shopping. Very tempting to use that shop instead of the cheaper one. What I can do is look around for the articles that the cheaper store doesn't have and see whether the more expensive shop has them. And then driving the small stretch to the other shop.
Or even better idea: Parc at one of the shops and walk to the other! Then I get some exercise and don't have to start the car for driving a tiny bit. That is probably the best plan. :-)

Guava

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #180 on: March 01, 2017, 06:31:28 AM »
Final grocery spend in February was $219. I am not reaching my goal but still lower than last year.

Shelley

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #181 on: March 01, 2017, 08:44:25 PM »
I'm new, and want to join in! Our groceries have been averaging $303 Australian a week for the last 6 months. I want to cut that in half. I've spent the last three days organizing meal plans for two weeks that we can alternate, and for food only that comes in at $111 approx per week. So I have $39 left for cleaning, toiletries and pet food.

We won't start that till the cupboard is a bit more empty though. For now I've allowed $75 a week for , bread and milk. Everything else is coming out of the cupboard. Last week was $79 because of bacon being on special so I bought extra.

PJ

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #182 on: March 01, 2017, 10:49:55 PM »
Welcome shellyvdp! 

If I remember right, you posted recently somewhere else (Welcome?  Case Studies?)  Glad to have you join us in Gauntlets too!  I haven't checked the "Eat All the Food in Your House" thread yet, but if you want to join us there as you try to eat down the stockpile a bit, you can get extra special help to use up the weird and random ingredients you may have stashed away!


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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #183 on: March 02, 2017, 12:23:05 PM »
My family's total for Feb was $718, overshooting my goal of $600 for the month.  With restaurants, our total for food was $791. However, I feel pretty good about it, considering that this included a purchase of forty boxes of pasta at $0.69/lb (best sale I've seen around here in a long time), fifteen cans of crushed/diced tomatoes at $0.88/28 oz,  a 5 day ski trip, our turn providing snacks for youth group, our turn to host coffee hour at church, the fridge breaking down several times, and a pizza party with 15 children and parents. 

I'm fairly confident I can do $150/week, or better, for March. We have been much more conscientious about eating or freezing leftovers. Finally, I have the new thermostat for our fridge and will fix it this weekend!

Shelley

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #184 on: March 02, 2017, 04:08:40 PM »
Welcome shellyvdp! 

If I remember right, you posted recently somewhere else (Welcome?  Case Studies?)  Glad to have you join us in Gauntlets too!  I haven't checked the "Eat All the Food in Your House" thread yet, but if you want to join us there as you try to eat down the stockpile a bit, you can get extra special help to use up the weird and random ingredients you may have stashed away!

Thanks PJ, I'll definitely have to go find that thread. Last nights dinner was delicious, 1 1/2 cups red lentils, 1 chicken breast, can tomatoes and a sachet of smoky BBQ taco seasoning. Add water and chuck in the slow cooker. It was amazing!!!

tyrannostache

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #185 on: March 03, 2017, 11:04:25 AM »
shelleyvdp, that sounds tasty!

We are brand new to the forum and JUST starting to budget more thoughtfully, taking baby steps toward getting our spending on track. Our grocery/household items spending for January was waaay out of whack, somewhere around $1000 for a family of 3 (2 adults, 1 kid). I blame a combination of thoughtless Costco trips, poor meal planning, lunch out, a long weekend out of town, wasteful use of leftovers, throwing a dinner party, and me being in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy. Regardless, seeing that huge number was like a punch in the gut.

So we are starting by doing better planning, eating down the pantry and freezer, and generally being more mindful. So far, we have done pretty well in February. The goal for this month was to bring all food spending down to $600, and we'll come in just a hair under. Still, I'm sure we can do better. For March, it's ON. Goal: $450


Results are in for February, and we did pretty well compared to January! About $520 total for groceries and $70 for restaurants, including a long-overdue date night. I only ate lunch out twice--previously, that was more like 2-3 times per week. We also reduced our food waste considerably. The fridge looks a little more bare, but that's a good thing. It means we don't have leftovers hanging around getting lost and moldy.

My goal for March is to bring groceries to $450 and pack a lunch to work every day. I'm planning to switch back to dry beans and do more lentil dishes. We still have some cupboard excess to work through, but it's getting better.

Epor

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #186 on: March 03, 2017, 11:05:18 AM »
Hello everybody. I'm quite new here - I have a few questions (and apologies if this is not the correct thread)

Breadmaker/Bread - I own one and would like to use it more.
   Any recipes for sprouted flour bread?
   I also would like to make pizza dough in it, I just need some help from someone that actually uses it.
   Yeast: which one to buy? Aldi has some pre-packaged envelope ones, but i'm not sure if that is enough for a 2lb loaf, or even if is the correct yeast to use.
   Is it true I can only have a good loaf if I use breadflour?

Crockpots - I own a gigantic one - gift from my mil. When I use it we get lots of leftovers that my husband rarely touches. It gets boring after a few meals. Do you think I should get a smaller crockpot? I'm afraid if I do not fill "up to the line" the big one will crack or something.

Kids - I have a 10yo boy and a 7yo girl. I pack their lunches daily (except if they are having pizza at school - then they want hot lunch :)). Usual lunch is sandwich with salami+colby cheese, cheese string and some fruit (clementines/cuties are a favorite). Any other ideas would be appreciated.

Thank you



PJ

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #187 on: March 03, 2017, 01:09:38 PM »
Hi Eporedia, and welcome to the forums!

Ask away!  I'm sure I speak for us all when I say that any cooking/shopping related questions are welcome.

I doubt that making smaller meals in the crockpot would be a problem, but I have a small one and use it rarely, so will leave that for others to address.

Where I can probably be of more help is with the breadmaker.  I don't have a recipe for sprouted flour bread, but I did go through a phase where I made all my own bread, pretty much.  I've slacked off the last couple years, but have been thinking about trying to start doing it again. 

So, I've not made pizza dough, but I've used a bunch of other recipes for bread or bread type products that you start in the bread machine and finish in the oven.  Including (once!) bagels.  Which were good, but a fair amount of work.  They had to be shaped, rise, boiled, flipped in the boiling water, but not left too long, then taken out, brushed with egg, sprinkled with stuff, and finally, baked.  Yummy.  But time consuming.  I assume pizza dough would be much easier.  If you have specific questions about a recipe, let us know - I'm sure someone will be able to help you figure it out. 

Also, re: yeast.  I've had good luck with Fleischmann's, and never found a significant difference between their regular yeast and their bread making yeast.  I'm sure any other brand of yeast would be fine.  But I would suggest that if you're planning to use your bread machine regularly, that you consider buying yeast in jars rather than envelopes.  I found that more cost effective.  According to one website: 

Typically, one envelope of dry yeast contains 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast. This package is also equal to one 0.6-ounce cake of fresh yeast. One envelope of yeast is usually enough for a loaf of bread made with 4 cups of flour.

Bread flour is fine, plain white flour is fine, whole wheat flour is good.  Rye, buckwheat, soy and other flours all can also be used, at least in part.  Plus things like oatmeal, and corn meal.  For health and variety and taste, I would absolutely encourage you to work with a variety of flours and meals.  I tended to make everything at least partly whole wheat, and preferred the recipes I found in bread machine cookbooks to the ones that came with the machine.  It's been a while, but I still have the cookbooks, so let me know what kind of stuff your family likes, and I can dig out the books to give you a couple of recipes that I've tried and enjoyed.  Might motivate me to make something too, eh?

Also, if you've used your bread machine in the past, I'm sure you've realized that it produces bigger slices of bread.  So you may end up eating a little bit more bread.  Or you can use one thick slice of bread, cut in half, to make a sandwich with.

Guava

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #188 on: March 03, 2017, 01:39:14 PM »
I have been using this pizza dough recipe. I don't have a bread maker but it is very easy to make by hand. I use envelope yeast, don't remember the brand.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/pizza-dough-recipe

Drole

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #189 on: March 03, 2017, 01:55:30 PM »

Crockpots - I own a gigantic one - gift from my mil. When I use it we get lots of leftovers that my husband rarely touches. It gets boring after a few meals.

Freeze into lunch ready containers so you don't have to eat it all back to back.

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #190 on: March 03, 2017, 02:56:51 PM »
So my February numbers are in and we spent $239.71.  This was mostly on stock up meat sale prices, milk and bread.  Under my $250/ goal and much less than January ($601). I should only have to buy veggies, fruit and milk for awhile so I am hoping for around $150 for the month of March.   Now, before I start patting myself on the back we also spent $101 on dining/take out pizza.

The big budget buster in February was our "date night".  Once a year we go out to a fine dining restaurant to celebrate our anniversary.  So while the tab was quite steep ($285), we do budget for it all year and it is literally the ONE night a year we go out as a couple. We know this isn't very Moustachian but we would rather go out one night a year for a 5 star meal then Applebee's or something similar, once a month.  I know I may get face punched for the cost of it but we look forward to this night and celebrating our anniversary all year long.

Shelley

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #191 on: March 03, 2017, 09:03:20 PM »
Pizza dough recipe - I've used this one for years, I don't bother with the cornmeal or the seasoning. Makes three large pizzas if you roll thin, and it puffs up nicely. I put the oven on the hottest it can go.

http://www.food.com/recipe/my-best-ever-breadmaker-pizza-dough-50101

Shelley

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #192 on: March 03, 2017, 09:05:27 PM »
My average shop has been $303 a week pre-mmm. The last two weeks we've been clearing the cupboard, last week was $79 as bacon was on special, the plan is to keep it under $75 a week while we are doing the pantry clear out. Today's shop was $74.90, hooray!

PJ

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #193 on: March 03, 2017, 10:56:08 PM »
Hey, Eporedia,

I posted this in another thread, but I'll say it again here for your sake.  I am totally stripping my grocery budget to the bone this month, to hit a certain milestone on paying down my CC debt.  So I will be making some bread machine bread, for sure.  We can be partners in it! 

Again, do let me know if you want any tried and true recipes, and if so, what kind of stuff you have on hand and what kind of stuff your family likes.  I've got several bread machine cookbooks and have tried a bunch of recipes in them, and have often even made notes so I will remember which Oatmeal Bread is the best, or which Molasses Bread I like.  Mmm.  Molasses Bread!  :-)

shelleyvdp, great job on hitting your target this week.  Wow, squeaked in under the wire, eh?  Keep up the good work!

Benny3, I don't remember if I've read any of your "story" before, so apologies for not having the background info on your story.  I was just thinking that no one is likely to face punch you for one special dinner out for your anniversary.  (The extra $100 in dining and fast food, maybe, but not the anniversary dinner!)  Anyway, sounds like you are also making great forward progress.  That's a big month over month drop! 

Poundwise

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #194 on: March 04, 2017, 06:16:53 AM »
If you have a Dutch Oven, the following bread recipe is really easy. It does not require kneading, just easy stirring with a spoon.  Furthermore, it uses only 1/4 tsp yeast for a good-sized loaf! The main requirement is planning... it rises overnight on the counter.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread

Linea_Norway

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #195 on: March 04, 2017, 08:07:36 AM »
I found one very old tea bag with Enlish Breakfast tea. The tea tasted normal and I used up old food.

DTaggart

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #196 on: March 04, 2017, 04:48:55 PM »
First shop of the month is done, I hit two stores and spend a whopping $103 between the two. This is kind of a regular pattern with me - stock up on all the things at the start of the month, then I do smaller trips during the rest of the month, just grabbing the things that are on particularly good sales, produce, and the few things I'm out of. It works out well enough even though it sometimes makes me a bit uneasy to have spent a disproportionately high portion of my monthly budget right off the bat.

Anyway, I stocked up on ground turkey (9lbs @$2/lb), frozen stir fry vegetables @.80 a bag (on sale and e-coupon), lunch meat, cheese, bread, green tea (3 boxes of 20 for 1.49 ea!), produce, yogurt... I stocked up on granola bars since we like to have the fancy organic pre-packaged ones to take when we go hiking. They had some Kashi bars we like a lot, I was about to buy the large boxes of 10 for 3.99 each, then I saw they had boxes of 6 for 1.99 each... duh! Got the smaller ones. And some other fancy nut bars were 4.99 for a box of 12, I got 2 boxes - took a risk since we haven't had that kind before but they looked good, ate one when I got home and they are fantastic, yay :) I also bought a package of cheap chicken breast (1.49/lb) even though my freezer is already full of chicken breast, but I wanted to cook some up this weekend so I can portion it out and have it ready for salads for my work lunches, so instead of taking several portions that I had already nicely packaged into single meal increments out of the freezer to thaw, it was easier to just buy a fresh package at the store and throw it straight into the oven when I got home.

RE: Breadmaker and pizza dough - Before my breadmaker died I regularly used it to make pizza dough and it worked like a champ, just throw your ingredients in, and set it to the dough setting. Just remember it takes a couple of hours so you have to plan ahead. The recipe I use makes enough for two thin crusts, so I would always separate the dough when it was done, make 1 pizza that night, and freeze the other dough ball for next week's pizza night. I just thawed the frozen dough in the fridge overnight, then let it sit out to warm up for a little bit before making the second pizza (although I often forgot that last step and just rolled it out while it was still cold, it just took a few more minutes to roll it out).

As for yeast, you can use those packets but it is WAY more expensive that way. I'm not sure where you live, but if you can find a store that has a bulk bin section that carries yeast it is way cheaper that way. I don't have a store that carries bulk yeast near me, but my parents do (WinCo), so when I visit them once a year or so, I will buy a ton of yeast and once I get home I just store it in the fridge.

Here's the Pizza Dough Recipe I use: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/46595/amazing-whole-wheat-pizza-crust/

Well Respected Man

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #197 on: March 04, 2017, 07:59:25 PM »
shelleyvdp  - was your previous $300/week grocery spend including lots of household items, or prepared meals, or was it more restaurant spending? How man people? Congrats on chopping that by 75%!

I saw pork shoulder for $0.77/lb. today, and didn't pull the trigger, because:

a) it wasn't on the list
b) I'm not buying meat until our meat stores are depleted, because we're eating more vegan meals these days
c) it's still on sale until Thursday

Should I go back and buy one? I think I have room in the freezer for the whole thing, and definitely for portioned leftovers. In the past, I've done 3-4 meals in the same week from the same shoulder, but I think that will no longer work. But I think slow cooking it, or half of it, then freezing portions would work.

We have two fridges, and I'm considering making a run at consolidating to one. DW may resist, so we'll see. I won't broach the subject until our meat stores are depleted and freezers are cleaned out. Both fridges are looking pretty empty these days, so I guess I'm doing something right.

LindseyC

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #198 on: March 05, 2017, 09:02:38 AM »
I had a great shop yesterday and today.

Yesterday I bought my SO two special glass bottle pops he really enjoys. They were on sale for .88 cents, they usually are close to $2. At the same time there was an in store "game" and I won a loofah and a bag of candy. Not a healthy shop, but not bad for less than $2.

Today at the grocery store I price matched some bags of cat food, got some healthy foods all on sale, and some cheese. The total cost was $31.98. I used $30 in free points. Received back $1.20 in points so my whole shop cost me .78 cents. :) I also managed to score some really excellent coupons they had just put up around the store (not something they normally do) so I now have a little collection of coupons to work into my frugal shops and they are great coupons for items I would normally purchase.

Ebrat

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Re: Rein in the grocery spend 2017
« Reply #199 on: March 05, 2017, 10:29:51 AM »
Third time's a charm! I finally successfully made this bread: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/tuscan-style-bread-with-herbs-recipe

So yummy! And half the price of the half-priced clearance loaves I usually buy at the grocery store :) Next step is to start buying the big bags of flour from Costco instead of the little bags that cost over twice as much per pound. I wanted to make sure I got the hang of it and would do it enough to not end up wasting a bunch of a big bag.

How do people store large amounts of flour? Should I get a bucket with a lid or something? I was thinking about rolling the bag up tightly and putting it in a plastic storage bin in the basement. Would that work?