Hellobee

I’m back with a few more tips for how to save on groceries. I’m knee-deep in our 300 dollar a month challenge. I’m down to zero (ok, we’re a little in the red)! But we’re eating great! Here’s how we’re working our limited budget.

DO: Eat one protein per meal…or none at all

One insightful tip I read is to eat only one protein per meal.  This means no ham and cheese sandwich, only one or the other.  This makes perfect sense for us; meat and cheese are both fatty items and we really don’t need to eat large quantities of either on a day-to-day basis. Around the time I heard this tip, Mark Bittman’s new book VB6 came out. The book details the benefits of a flexitarian diet: vegan before dinner, with dairy and meat at night. I decided to go for a vegetarian before six approach. Most days I’m eating homemade hummus on bread.  Sometimes with a smear of cream cheese, avocado, or a sprinkle of feta.  It isn’t vegan, but it is better than eating processed meats and cheese at lunch!

A Veggie Before Six lunch: tostada with mashed white beans, cheddar, homemade salsa, avocado

DO: Forage

Seriously! I know, it sounds crazy but it is possible! Around here there are plenty of places to pick wild blueberries, plums, and blackberries. You just gotta know where to look and make sure to check back every few days for more growth!

Neighborhood Blackberries

DO: Dedicate one day a week to snack and lunch prep

I don’t meal plan for dinner.  I love to cook and it is fun for me to think of dinners on the fly.  But sometimes it can be a struggle for me to think of healthy and quick sandwich and lunch ideas. I used to default to something expensive and unhealthy (like a cereal bar), but recently I’ve been dedicating Monday mornings to make lunch and snack food for the week.  I’ve been making some combination of the following:

— 1 load of bread in the breadmaker (I finally found a recipe I love! So far I’ve been able to substitute for half whole wheat flour with no change in texture).
— These protein-packed version of a traditional no-bake/preacher cookie. (They remind me of our childhood!) I sometimes substitute raw steel-cut oatmeal for a portion of the old fashioned, and I add dried cherries. I also substitute honey or maple syrup for the agave).
— 1 loaf quick bread.  My favorite for summertime is America’s Test Kitchen’s zucchini bread, but the recipe is only available behind paywall!
— 1 pot of dried beans for hummus or homemade frozen burritos.  For the hummus, I simply slow-cook the chickpeas, then blend with onions, red pepper, and whichever spices I prefer.  I can get two tubs of hummus for one half a bag of dried beans! For burritos, I cook an entire bag of black beans, mix with brown rice, veggies, and cheese, then enclose in a tortilla, wrap in foil, and freeze. I can get at least 15 burritos with about 4 dollars of ingredients!

DO: Start a Garden

Our tomatoes and peppers

Thyme in a repurposed coffee tin

The pics above are of our garden. We grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and herbs (I’d love to grow squash and zucchini but my husband doesn’t care for either!). They are being grown organically! We got our plants from a local farm. It cost us about seventy dollars to set up; fortunately we had a giftcard to offset the costs.  Still, the garden is something we’ll get to use for years forward.  We built our beds from cedar wood, but in the past I’ve used cinder blocks. Cinder blocks are usually easy to find for free, and then all you need is soil and plants! When these plants are done for the year, we’ll start growing winter veggies like kale, spinach, and cabbage.

DO: Buy a Deep Freezer

Here’s an example of how to spend in order to save.  A few weeks ago, my parents gifted me a deep freezer! I love it.  Already I’m filling it up with stuff I’ve found on sale. In addition to the cost of the freezer, though, we will also spend an additional thirty dollars a year on energy to power it. Still, after two or three years I believe it will pay itself off easily.  If buying a deep freezer isn’t possible for you, consider sharing one with another family.  Or check out craigslist for used ones! I have also read that it is smart to save used milk jugs, fill with water, and put them in the empty spaces in the freezer. This helps to ensure the freezer is using energy efficiently, which means savings for you in the long run.

DO: Avoid Buying Paper Products

This is a small tip, but worthwhile. We’ve stopped using paper towels almost entirely! We bought a ten pack of cheap white dishtowels a year ago and have slowly been phasing out our paper towels. We still have some rolls around, but I don’t keep them on the counter so that I’m not tempted to use them.  We use these for napkins also, but one of the splurges I am hoping to make soon is on some pretty cloth napkins to use.  We are also starting a collection of reusable party goods: plates, cups, etc. I hope to talk more about that in our first birthday planning post!

DO: Make Your Cleaning Supplies

Mrs. Bee wrote a great post about this. I have switched to using vinegar water for most everyday spills, and I use bleach sparingly as is necessary. I plan to use the rest of the cleaners we have, then no more expensive and dangerous chemicals in our house!

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So how are we doing on our budget? I’ll be honest, we busted it by 13 dollars! I’m bummed! But I think we’ll get to our deadline without having to spend any more money. Here’s what busted the budget for me:

DON’T: Let your eyes get bigger than your stomach.

On my first grocery store trip after our huge pantry challenge month, I bought way more produce and dairy products than I needed! As a result, I was hard-pressed to use all the items I bought.  Next time I will buy only a few fresh items, then get more as needed. And I’ll stock up on frozen items that are easy to store.

DON’T: Spend More to Stock Up

Similarly, on a recent trip to the discount store I bought a giant bag of cranberries, a giant bag of sugar in the raw, and a massive tub of olive oil. Good for my budget overall, but not good for this month! I also bought enough beans and other items to make two weeks’ worth of lunches. I haven’t even started eating them yet! Part of my overall strategy is to buy food when it is on sale, regardless of whether or not I need it immediately, and to make food in bulk when that is cheaper than making items one at a time. I think, though, that I can average about 300 dollars a month over three months of buying. Still, did I really need a giant bag of sugar when I have tons at home, even if it was on sale? I need to avoid getting sucked in too! I’m not allowed to buy sugar until 2014!

Have any tips to share with me?  What are your grocery pitfalls?