This WOE on a budget.. How do you do it?

[kpoll19]

Re: This WOE on a budget.. How do you do it?

you can go on ebay or at www.couponforum.com and search for winetags ~ Winetags are coupons that usually come off a bottle of wine for $1-$2 off produce, meat, seafood, all kinds of stuff we can eat. You can "buy" them in advance for a huge savings later. Just check to make sure they can be used in your state w/o wine purchase. I get coupons all the time for "Atkins" items such as sausage, bacon, beef, chicken and seafood.

[Pinky Mallone]

Re: This WOE on a budget.. How do you do it?

We are a 1 income family of 4. We have to watch what we spend and it seems the kid's always need some thing! lol What has helped in our house is that I have introducing my kids (ages 4 & 3 and my DH) to my WOE. They now grab string cheese, nuts, veggies & dip or soybeans to munch on for snacks. Sugary treats are limited to occassionally. We don't buy 2 sets of groceries but instead find foods we can all enjoy. In the first month of this WOE I was buying the family their food and then buying my foods. That was expensive & a littel crazy to organize. LOL Having us all eating the same things is much more enjoyable for us all and their are no tempting foods in the house for me to cave in to.

[changing]

Re: This WOE on a budget.. How do you do it?

I think for me that the biggest money saving practice that I use is keeping my price book. For those of you unfamiliar with a price book, they're really quite simple. You take a notebook (or a word processing doc on your computer--though the notebook is nice and portable) and make entries for the foods you buy most. Then every week, you look at the grocery stores in your area and your record the following: date, grocery store, price, unit, unit price (like with shredded cheeses, I calculate cents per ounce). At the beginning, it's good to make lots of entries and as time goes on, you don't need to make as many because you get a really firm feel for how much different foods should cost. My mother laughs at me because I refuse to buy canned tuna for more than 50 cents a can (and when I do, I buy a lot), but with my price book I have a decent sense of where and when it's likely to go on sale again. I subscribe to sales email newsletters to 2 stores in my area (a local mom-and-pop that sends me email alerts when their sales change, and the chain Shaw's/Albertsons), and usually drive by the 3rd every day on the way to school (often stop to pick up a flyer).


And I agree, mom-and-pop and loss leaders can be the best! At my mom-and-pop's deli, they sell meat ends (those blocks of meat at the end of a lunch meat roll) for $1/pound! And they let you choose what you want. So I can say, I'd like roast beef ends, please! They wrap it up, it's $1/lb and I can slice it up to have on salads. Keep looking! The deals are out there... grocery stores have more food than they can sell before it goes bad. There's hope for getting fresh foods on the cheap.

[jimenitayo]

Re: This WOE on a budget.. How do you do it?

I have a great 99-cent store in my area, and if you can ignore the sugary stuff, sometimes they have the most amazing prices on produce.
I can often find nice juicy orang and yellow bell peppers for 3x$1!!
when i do, i go insane, buy about 50 of them and make stuffed peppers. they keep forever in the freezer

oh, and I got my freezer for free from someone who passed it on through freecycle.com (it's like a group for hand-me downs). oh, and I've seen a whooooooole bunhc of people offering their excercise equipment for free.
of course, it depends on what city you live in.... the bigger the better

[kkat55]

Re: This WOE on a budget.. How do you do it?

A great thread to bump up.

[Roshen]

Re: This WOE on a budget.. How do you do it?

so true! I'm on budget and I'm trying to make it to the end of the month...
I'm keeping a "price book" as well, I write down all the prices and the different stores where I bought food, with the date and details.

[lisaj]

Re: This WOE on a budget.. How do you do it?

Anyone shop at Aldi's? I lived by one for awhile without knowing what it was. I use them first for everything. I actually bought ground meat from giant eagle and was so disappointed with the quality compared to aldi's. Its really helped me save alot.
www.aldifoods.com you can see what they have and where they are. They are expanding our store and I'm excited to have a "super aldi". They have a line of "fit and active products" that are very nice. One of the products new in the line that i hesitated to try was the turkey filet mignon, it was the bomb.

[Elizellen]

Re: This WOE on a budget.. How do you do it?

I never knew they have Aldi in USA!!

We have both Aldi and Lidl here in UK, which are terrifically priced 'budget' shops with great value fresh and frozen food choices as well as many other items.

I do most of my weekly shopping in Lidl (www.lidl.co.uk) - in fact I bought a food slicer there this evening when I went there!

[jsj0305]

Re: This WOE on a budget.. How do you do it?

Just wanted to bump this very helpful thread!!!

With today's economy, I think it's safe to say we could ALL use a few tips =] LOL

[missdkendall]

Re: This WOE on a budget.. How do you do it?

I like Sweet Bay. They always have good prices on meat. I try to buy my veggies from the produce stand. They are way cheaper that the store.

[shininstr984]

Re: This WOE on a budget.. How do you do it?

I am in the same boat...we actually get food assistance, so it definately helps a bit...but by week 3 and 4 of the month, we are down to next to nothing....so I eat a lot of eggs, salad and tuna by then...or I convince him to go out to eat somewhere cheap to last us....I feel bad that all of the food I have to get is pretty expensive (cheese & meats)..

[quotidianlight]

Re: This WOE on a budget.. How do you do it?

I actually am in the same boat as well and ran out of veggies for a couple days. On those days I make sure I eat lots of meat and will make a chai tea out of regular spice tea and a half cup of heavy cream and eat some almonds. My carb count will go down but I maintain until the next paycheck. I've gotten better at stretching the groceries out through monthly trips to cosco and getting frozen veggies at trader joes as well as hitting farmers markets (I eat organic too so that makes it worse) but often that last week is a killer. For me the priciest part of this WOE is the veggies.

[sheddingflab]

Re: This WOE on a budget.. How do you do it?

I'm on a tight budget as well. It doesn't help that my kids are extremely picky. It would really help if they would eat normal food and I could prepare meals for the entire family and just no starches for me. I am really trying to influence them to eat healthier but we live with their paternal grandparents and their grandmother is constantly buying sugary cereals and snacks for them to eat no matter how much I ask her not to...she doesn't take me seriously and all the kids want is junk...Right now I'm doing ok managing to get by but we go through dry spells where we can barely afford the essentials nevermind food for my WOE. I live in fear of running out of money to sustain this WOE. I really wish I liked tuna fish because it is always on sale cheap and I would stock up on it...but I hate it and I hate the smell so there's no way lol. When I can I am going to invest in a big freezer so I can stock up on meats and frozen veggies when there are good sales! I work in a grocery store and I notice that at the end of the day the meat manager puts discount coupons on the meats that are close to their sell by dates. So if you shop closer to the stores closing time you might find more meat discounts! Usually the meats look and smell just fine...just either cook them the next day or freeze them

[amwin12]

Re: This WOE on a budget.. How do you do it?

I try to stock up on things when they are on sale, like today Superfresh is having a salw on cream cheese $1 so I will probably get about 4, whenever their meat is on sale I stock up as well.

The snackfood is very limited in my house which helps cut down on cost as well.
I also ususally go online and look at the weekly sales paper for 2 stores I shop at and compare different items to see what I am going to get from which.

If I can get something for $2.00 from one instead of paying $4.75 at the other I am a happy camper!

[jsj0305]

Re: This WOE on a budget.. How do you do it?

It's so great to get tips form people in similiar situations....I too live w/ my husbands mother and the sweets.....like one day my son was throwing up, and she buys him sour candy straws to make him feel better?!?! LOL. That's okay, I hid them from my son until both him and her went to bed and I chucked them. I dont by that kind of thing for my kids, let alone when he's sick! lol

I know we definately qualify for food stamps, just so damn far to drive and with the price of gas....and to make matters worse, I have no printer so I cant even print it and mail it. Can't win for trying. LOL.

I have found though that the foods for the WOE arent as much as I would spend of junk. I could easly drop 20 bucks in walmart just for a movie night with crap to stuff my face with! ugh. Thats also when we had money. lol I suppose I should be happy that I'm on induction while the money's tight..... I just hope I dont lose too fast b/c I surely dont have the $$ for new clothes! LOL