Ways we stretch our groceries.

Eating at home helps our family in so many ways. We save money, our health is better than ever and we all get what we want. We have found fun recipes and snacks that we eat often but with the recent price of groceries we needed to cut back on the amount of groceries we were eating each week. We were spending about $1,000 a month in groceries alone. My old budget was $250.00 a week on groceries without household items. That $250.00 was easy to spend when we were eating almost all processed and pre-packaged foods.

Here are some ways we have been able to cut back our weekly cost and stretch out our groceries.

• Buy whatever meat is on sale, use some and freeze the rest.
  
• Split Roasts and whole Chickens
• Cook, dice and shred meats for meals, lunches, salads, etc.
  
• Add gravy
• Add vegetables
• Add rice or beans
• Add meats to sauces for pasta
• Make casseroles
• Make stir-fry
• Drink more water, make your own juices and teas. Buy powders and mix your own drinks
• Make your own sweets
• Buy larger quantities on dry goods like rice, beans, flour, etc.
• Purchase store brands when you can.

Things we no longer buy...

• Bottled drinks, except for apple juice.
• Fruit snacks have been replaced with sugar free jello
• Beef Jerky has been replaced with fresh cut lunch meats.
• Regular milk was replaced with soy milk which lasts a lot longer.
• We make a small pot of coffee or use a reusable pod instead of buying expensive single use coffee pods.
• We make our own pastries, cookies and sweets. Sometimes from the box and sometimes homemade. Either way, you save money here and we enjoy baking. I have a pantry shelf just for baking supplies.
• Boxed cereal, we buy the large bags for a dollar or so more than a box and it lasts us 3 to 4 weeks.

Now y'all know I am medium frugal, meaning I am not too extreme with certain things. But one thing I do think we can all do to help ourselves with inflation is to learn or explore cooking/baking skills and recipes. We already know eating at home saves money and is better for our health. I know we are all busy and cooking takes time, but I encourage everyone to get online and find meals that are easy to make and ones that make larger amounts, like casseroles, crock pot meals, pasta dishes, and sheet pan meals. Where there is a will, there is a way!

Please share how your family stretches groceries or any frugal meal recipes with us.