Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Kitchen Tip Tuesday--Top 10 Tips


My top 10 tips for helping me "defeat" rising prices!!

1. Shop your house before you shop the store!! Make a grocery list and stick to it! This will help eliminate extra trips to the store!

2. Make weekly menus for every meal and snacks around the grocery sales. If you can figure out anything to cook from the sales---use cookbooks and find new dishes to try! Also realize that you might have leftovers to use up. Plan a 'smorgasbord' or make leftover makeovers!

3. Make a pantry/freezer list of EVERYTHING you buy and post it on your fridge so that when you run out or are getting low you can circle or highlight that item. I made up a form that has different categories (canned goods, frozen items, produce, etc) and then wrote down everything in those categories that I purchase. Basically made a Master Grocery List.

4. If you are not already, start making bread and baked good/sweet treats from scratch. I still purchase sandwich bread but I make bread for sides at meals and also all of our sweet treats/baked goods. I am working at recognizing other things I can make from scratch, like cream of whatever soup, gravies, etc.

5. Use coupons for items that you purchase consistently! Watch the sales and when those items are on sale use the coupon and save more!

6. Start following the sales, and make a price book of items that you buy regularly. You will find that stores have what are called "loss leaders" in the ads...basically an item is advertised for a major discounted price. I am sure that you have seen in the ads where the same items are sale week after week...well track the price of those items and you will see that one of the weeks that an item is on sale it will be discounted more than any other week it was on sale.

7. When you find an item at a low price stock up within reason on that item. For example, whole chickens were on sale at one of the stores that I shop at for 59 cents/lb. Instead of getting other cuts of chicken that week I got 3 whole chickens to use in my menus.

8. Buy store brand items rather than name brand. Do you have an Aldis or Save-A-Lot near you?? You might want to give them a try for your shopping needs.

9. Do a garden and can it! I wish that I still had room at my house to do this!! I have tried container gardens and I have not had good success with them. So I am going to be heading to my farmer's market or roadside stands to find my fresh fruits and veggies!

10. Buy items in bulk from Sam’s/Costco. I go to Sam's on a monthly basis and get only certain things (baking supplies, cheese, cereal, snacks, etc.) I can supply you with a more specific list if you would like!

So what are you doing to "defeat" rising prices?? Do you have any more tips to add??

For other tips, recipes, and resources, head over to Tammy's Recipes.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I do a lot of scratch baking myself. Brd never seems to last.
I buy from Sam's. What even helps lately is ordering online. They have the stuff ready for you in 24 hrs. & you go pick it up. They have the total online too. That way I don't over shop.
I have a garden.

Mrs. Bargain Hunting Wife said...

Not wasting a thing! We had some odds and ends in the fridge (fajita meat/veggies and chinese take-out). I made a batch of brown rice and mixed some with each thing (fajita and chinese) and portioned into lunch size amounts and froze. That will keep us from buying Lean Cuisine for a while!

Gill - That British Woman said...

I do most of the things you mentioned, except I neither shop at Costco or Sam's Club, its not worth my while, despite the fact we have free membership through dh's work. I find I can get better pricing by just shopping the sales.

Dianna said...

Yes! to shop your house. The grocery store I go to doesn't send out ads, so instead I try to plan around what I have sitting around so it doesn't spoil!

Mom2fur said...

Great tips! You know, cream soups are actually pretty easy to make. Have you tried yet? I recently made some 'from scratch' cream of broccoli soup 'cause I was craving it...and didn't want to pay $1.49 for a can of the stuff. I also have a recipe for easy cream of shrimp soup. If you're interested, give me a shout over at my blog.

Mom2fur said...

Hi, again! I use those cream of chicken soup (and mushroom soup) cans all the time, too! Just makes life a lot easier.

Kim @ Homesteader's Heart said...

Ok, I'm going to have to add you to my blogroll. We have too much in common except I was never a "teacher" lol and don't have 5 kids I have 3. But I've been married for 12 years lol. See you soon.
Blessings,
Kim

Anonymous said...

Great tips Sonshine!
You and I probably live very similar lives I bet...I would like more tips from you on 'getting it done' in the kitchen.

I seem to be in there for hours and hours a day and honestly, it can interfere with teaching time. If I bake in bulk--they gobble it up! I don't have alot of extra freezer space to work with so...? Would love to hear what helps you! And any advice of course!