Home Economics

[fortworthgal]

I commend you gals for being able to shop at normal grocery stores. :eusa_clap

After living a while in the land of co-ops, and farmers markets, the concept of a Safeway, Kroger, Vons, Ralphs, Win-Dixie...etc, baffels me.

Everything is so over packaged, and overpried, I just walk out with nothing!

I cant deal with coupons, as I am always going to the grocery after they expire.

I also buy a lot of fresh things, and coupons dont always apply. Im also a gal who gets store brands on nearly everything, so I dont have to pay that 25¢-$1 extra they factor in for advertisments. Generics use to be a a safe bet, but now they are just a s expensive as major brands.

Trader Joes is my staple, and their brands and quality and price are always market value (with the acception of brands not labled by them).

I get a pound of spinich there for less than $3. Kroger would be $9. Might not be packaged as pretty, but I dont care about that, is gonna get recycled anyway.

Co-ops here are practically unheard of, but we do have an amazing selection of farmer's markets (in fact, my family runs one!) They supply almost all of our eggs, herbs, spices, vegetables, fruits, veggies, nuts...

I agree about the notorious overpackaging at most stores. I think that with a little ingenuity, one can eat healthy and green (or as green as desired) regardless of where you are able to shop. We live in the suburbs, but I still have a vegetable and herb garden. Everyone has room for a container or window garden, or even a salad bowl garden in the kitchen! I grew up in the country with a huge garden, chickens, well water, etc. I shop at the grocery store for the items I need, but I watch what I buy very carefully and I refuse to pay extra for "garbage" type items, such as the pre-made mixes and frozen dinners I mentioned before. It is generally far less costly to eat well and make things from scratch. It just takes a little extra effort, rather than just tossing a frozen Stouffer's lasagna into the oven. Even if you live near no farmer's markets or co-ops, I think it is very possible to eat healthy and be thrifty at the grocery store. You just have to learn how to shop differently, and not get sucked in by "great deals." I think it is a learning curve, just as someone who has never gone to a farmer's market or dealt through a co-op would have to learn to get used to it.

We both take our lunches to work most every day as well. HUGE money saver!

 

[Lady Day]

Very true, Fortworthgal.

I dont live in the land of co-ops and farmers markets any longer, and I miss it so.

I miss being able to get a weeks worth of organic produce for less than $10. Now I deal mainly with frozen veggies, fresh leafy greens, and dried fruits (trail mix is your friend ).

And I SO agree with you on the packaged/processed 'quick' meals. I dont need to drink my soup out of a microwave hand molded cup! lol

I have co-workers that bring a lot of that pre packaged stuff to work and I just wonder if they realize what they are eating.

"Its only $2.99 at the store." They say. $3x five days a week= $15 a week. Like you said, with a bit of planning, they could have a wholesome meal each say of the week (all 7, not just the 5) for the same cash.

Oh well.

LD

 

[jayem]

If you live in Chicago, it's Caputo's all the way! Dollar Tree/Junction is a great place for household items and some food. One of the Dollar Junctions by my house is going out of business, so everything is 20% off of $1. Now that's a deal!

 

[Real Swell Gal]

My husband is fairly new, and I am still training him. lol

If I can get him to pack his lunch every day, I would be flipping backwards like a mechanical poodle at Toy's R Us.

He was used to his bachelor days of going to fast food .....daily.

You tell him like I did Paul.
I said "Look, I know you like to eat out at lunch time but that five dollars you spend each day at Mcdonalds five days a week ends up being the $25 that I need for extra groceries. If you let me have your lunch money, I'll make sure you always have a good lunch and on Fridays you can treat yourself to lunch out." I invested in a decent lunchbox and we tried it for a pay period (two weeks) and he said it was good and he liked it. BUT (and this is a big but) You have to be willing to cook cause sandwiches get old after awhile. It's one thing with kids,another for a grown man.
Then I went after the morning stops for coffee and the pop machine at work by buying cases of soda and a thermos. I spend anywhere from $5-$7 for a
3lb can of coffee depending on what I get. That lasts two weeks. And soda is 65 cents from the machine but I can get a 24 case for around $5 so that makes a case less than 25 cents a can depending on the price or brand of soda. He takes a thermos full of coffee and two cans of pop in his lunch.
In the summer I encourage an iced tea jug and he likes that too.

Now he thinks it's cool because while the other guys are eating their nasty Burger King they're drooling and telling Paul they wish their wives would make them lasagna, or sausage and kraut, homemade mac and cheese,meatloaf, vegetable soup, salmon patties,potatoe cakes............. well, you get the picture.
One guy from work even paid me ten bucks to make him a couple pints of homemade strawberry rhubarb jam because his wife can't be arsed to can. Paul let him have one of his biscuits with butter and jam and he fell in love with it. Ten bucks for two pints of jam!

They say the way to a mans heart is through his stomache but the same is true with the wallet in my marriage.
I feed him good,he's happy. When Daddy Bear's happy,Momma Bear's happy and if Momma Bear's not happy, NOBODY'S happy.


Oh and on a side note ladies, Paul is back to work. He was only off for about five weeks.

 

[Real Swell Gal]

Unfortunately, this will not work for my man. He will always just go back in the kitchen for more. He is frequently hungry again 2 hours after eating two huge servings of whatever I've prepared as the previous meal. He is very thin and has an exceptionally high metabolism. He can eat as much as he wants (but always eats healthy) and not gain weight.

You know you might want o have his thyroid levels checked the next time he goes to the doc.
My nephew was like that. Skinny as a rail and buying weight gainer at GNC for cryin out loud just to keep what little butt he had on him.
He has hyper-thyroidism and is now doing better.

 

[Helen Troy]

Unfortunately, this will not work for my man. He will always just go back in the kitchen for more. He is frequently hungry again 2 hours after eating two huge servings of whatever I've prepared as the previous meal. He is very thin and has an exceptionally high metabolism. He can eat as much as he wants (but always eats healthy) and not gain weight.

That's not fair! I want his metabolism!

 

[MissMissy]

I feed him good,he's happy. When Daddy Bear's happy,Momma Bear's happy and if Momma Bear's not happy, NOBODY'S happy.

That's how things go around here!

Missy

 

[fortworthgal]

Now he thinks it's cool because while the other guys are eating their nasty Burger King they're drooling and telling Paul they wish their wives would make them lasagna, or sausage and kraut, homemade mac and cheese,meatloaf, vegetable soup, salmon patties,potatoe cakes............. well, you get the picture.

This is exactly what happens with Alan! We both take our lunches nearly every day - leftovers most days, but sometimes sandwiches or wraps. He's constantly telling me about his coworkers drooling over his lunch! Sometimes if I give him a large amount of food, he'll give some to the other guys just to keep them quiet. lol I actually ended up baking several small loaves of bread for him to take for them. I guess I should take a note from Real Swell Gal and start charging! lol

I also have coworkers in my office after I've reheated my lunch, asking what smells so good.

Amazing the effects home-cooked food has!

 

[fortworthgal]

"Its only $2.99 at the store." They say. $3x five days a week= $15 a week. Like you said, with a bit of planning, they could have a wholesome meal each say of the week (all 7, not just the 5) for the same cash.

I hear ya!!! I will say that $2.99 is less costly than going out each day (which many of my coworkers do), but still - I estimate our lunches cost maybe $1/day brought from home. And they're better nutrition-wise and probably taste-wise!

I honestly think most people do not realize the amount of salt, preservatives, etc., that goes into processed foods. Even simple things like cake mixes, that you would not even think twice about! For example, if something doesn't taste salty, most people assume it isn't. I used to be that way too, then I realized that making my own food, I could control what I put into it. Since we make most things from scratch now, we are saving money, we both feel better overall, and we have both lost some weight.

 

[Paisley]

I pack my lunch almost every day, too. I stopped buying Ziploc bags and started using plastic containers.

 

[desi_de_lu_lu]

You tell him like I did Paul.
I said "Look, I know you like to eat out at lunch time but that five dollars you spend each day at Mcdonalds five days a week ends up being the $25 that I need for extra groceries. If you let me have your lunch money, I'll make sure you always have a good lunch and on Fridays you can treat yourself to lunch out." I invested in a decent lunchbox and we tried it for a pay period (two weeks) and he said it was good and he liked it. BUT (and this is a big but) You have to be willing to cook cause sandwiches get old after awhile. It's one thing with kids,another for a grown man.

Even though I am newlywed (less than 2 months) I need to get into a routine and start making meals and sending him to work with a lunch.

I am going to enforce this, because the extra money he needs to buy (not $5, but more like $7) lunch at McDonalds adds up.

I told him, "You know.. you complained that I spent $20 a week on cigarettes, but you spend more on eating junk...so we are even."

That got him thinking!

(oh, and I quit smoking.. that is some foul sh*t.)

 

[Caroline]

(oh, and I quit smoking.. that is some foul sh*t.)

ooh congrats on the quitting (and the wedding)!

All this talk about planning lunches reminds me of that quote from the movie "Manhattan"

Diane K: "I can't plan that far in advance"
Woody Allen: "You can't plan 4 weeks in advance?!"

my darling husband's stomach can't plan 4 hours most days lol

 

[desi_de_lu_lu]

ooh congrats on the quitting (and the wedding)!

Thanks Caroline!

Add to the list: When you ask the spouse "What would you like for dinner...?"

THey respond with: "I don't care."

ahhhh *pulls out hair*

 

[Helen Troy]

I find that a great incitement for saving is the reward! Simple, but effective! We have a fixed amount for food in our bugdet, and if there is something left at the end of the mont, we go out and spend it on a nice dinner. If you are short of cash, it's absolutely possible to state that we use half of that for something fun, and put half of the saved money for something sensible. But never underestimeate the power of the reward!

 

[Smuterella]

see, i'm no good at this. i earn silly money. not really silly, i still have spent it all by payday, but still enough to last. and i pay measly rent ( i have actually suggested to my landlady/best friend that i could pay more) extra money for a leo is bad. i spend it on inappropriate dresses...

 

[Joie DeVive]

Add to the list: When you ask the spouse "What would you like for dinner...?"
THey respond with: "I don't care."
ahhhh *pulls out hair*

lol I know this "disease".

I understand it is closely related to the life threatening male illness of after ten (or twenty or thirty...) years of marriage announcing out of the blue that he hates a particular dish and wondering why it was served so often. :eusa_doh: lol

 

[KittyT]

Add to the list: When you ask the spouse "What would you like for dinner...?"

THey respond with: "I don't care."

ahhhh *pulls out hair*

Well then you make what you want, and if they don't like it there's more leftovers for yourself

 

[Real Swell Gal]

see, i'm no good at this. i earn silly money. not really silly, i still have spent it all by payday, but still enough to last. and i pay measly rent ( i have actually suggested to my landlady/best friend that i could pay more) extra money for a leo is bad. i spend it on inappropriate dresses...

I'd rather sepnd it on that than McDonalds. At least you have something to show for it in the end be sides clogged atteries AND and empty checking account.



Oh and Desi, it does take a little time to get into the swing of it but when everyone gets together on it you'll start to see a difference in your budget.

 

[jayem]

I'd rather sepnd it on that than McDonalds. At least you have something to show for it in the end be sides clogged atteries AND and empty checking account.

Mmmm, but their iced coffee and snack wraps are so good!

 

[KittyT]

Mmmm, but their iced coffee and snack wraps are so good!

I know, iced coffee is a huge thing for me, and I'm sure it's a drain. I need to start making my own and taking it in a travel mug. It's so easy, and just as good.