I don’t know about you, but I dread coming up with ideas for breakfast. There is no doubt I love partaking in the consumption of breakfast, but I have a hard time breaking away from the same items day in and day out.
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Anyone who has been to the grocery store knows how insanely expensive things have gotten. I can remember I have been paying $1.99 for a box of Belgium waffles. Those same waffles are now $2.99 on a good day. Now you may be thinking, “it’s only a dollar!” This is true, but it is also a 50% increase on the purchase price. Other items in my grocery store have gone up anywhere from 11%-35%. Of course, this is only a rough guesstimate going by what I used to spend on groceries per month to what I pay now.
My family is on a grocery budget. I try to stretch my dollar as FAR as I can. I use waffles as an example because my daughter loves a good waffle. The problem was that I was paying 50% more for a product that had also decreased in size. It had decreased in size significantly. I’m sure you have noticed this with other items you regularly purchase.
They call this Shrinkflation. I noticed this about 18 months ago. The prices were not changing but the size of the product was shrinking. However, now the product is still shrinking but the price is going up. Honestly, I think the powers that be that sell us our food are hoping we are stupid enough to just continue buying their products, and to some degree, we are, me included.
If you want to buy lunch meat on a budget, you buy the cheapest available. You purchase the cheapest lunch meat by the ounce. The thing is my family doesn’t like all types of lunch meat. If I bought the cheapest lunch meat, I would just end up throwing it away because no one ate it before it went bad. I’m sure some of you are thinking I could just go buy a turkey (the daughter loves turkey lunch meat), slice my own lunch meat, and freeze what I don’t use. This isn’t realistic for us. I have one kid and one husband. It doesn’t make sense for me
to buy a whole turkey, that is more expensive when it isn’t a holiday. I can buy lunch meat from the deli or prepackaged lunchmeat. The makers of the lunch meat know this.
What can we do as consumers to lower our monthly grocery bill? What are some ways to lower our grocery bill that make sense?
· One of the best investments I ever made was getting a waffle maker. Purchase your waffle mix in the box. I add some eggs, oil, and water plus the box of mix, and I get 24+ Belgium waffles. I just put on a sheet pan to freeze and bag them up! If I had bought the boxed waffles for $2.99, I would have spent $24.00 for those same number of waffles. This applies to pancakes too. If you don't have an electric skillet you should invest in one. It's very handy to have on that is easy to clean. You can utilize your skillet for making all sorts of breakfast items!
By making breakfast foods using these two essential appliances, you can save a ton of money by making them to freeze rather than purchase them premade and frozen.
· Buy your beef locally. I know it can be difficult to pay for entire ¼ cow at once when money is tight but the savings you will incur will blow your mind. I pay about $4/lb. for the beef with processing. This beef tastes far better than the store beef. It isn’t full of excess fat or pink slime (a meat by-product used as
a filler). I get my ground chuck, T-bone steaks, briskets, butt roast, sirloin steaks and English roasts ALL for $4/lb. The cut of the meat doesn’t change the price.
· Shop locally for your fruits and vegetables. Always support local when you can. There are a lot of Farmer’s markets where I come from. Just make sure they are legitimate. Some have been known to import their fresh veggies and sell them as locally grown. Look under the table and sometimes you can see they are store bought.
· Start using distilled white vinegar instead of buying expensive cleaners. I use dish soap, white vinegar, and hydrogen peroxide, to clean my showers. Works just as good, if not better, than store bought cleaner. I use distilled white vinegar instead of fabric softener. Your
WILL NOT smell like vinegar. When I use vinegar instead of fabric softener with my towels, I find they are more absorbent. They work like they did when they were new! See my money saving distilled white vinegar recipes below.
I found all these recipes on Pinterest. I did not come up with them on my own, but I do use them.
Weed Killer (sometimes takes some time to work)
Most of us are aware of the money savings websites and I have chosen not to talk about that today. These money saving ideas are tangible. We all know that we can download savings apps and clip coupons. Meal planning planners (you can find at theover40project on Etsy) help save money because they keep you on budget. Running to the store every day for dinner is costly.
Sometimes when you can buy in bulk that can save you tons of money. Check sales in your area and don’t impulse buy.
We all want to stretch our dollars. Probably more so than before. As our buying power decreases, we must think of innovative ways to save.
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