Ideas please?

[Dustybug]

My grocery budget is $300/month for our family of five(that includes toiletries/diapers/paper products/cleaning supplies). It is a super tight budget, but it is what it is for now until we get some medical bills and our van paid off (only a few more months!).

 

We eat relatively healthy, but I want to introduce more fresh veggies/fruits, grains, and lower the amount of dyes and preservatives that we are eating. I've been attempting this on my own for a few months and failing miserably. :/ I already cook mostly from scratch, so processed food isn't really an issue.

 

I have a house of picky eaters, including DH. He must have meat in most meals, prefers not to eat a ton of soups or casseroles and has a small list of veggies that he will eat. :glare: I seem to be able to buy things within this budget, but not enough to stretch through each two week period(DH gets paid biweekly, so my budget is $150 each pay period) or I can only buy enough food for dinners so we are really scrounging for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. If I go the cheap route, with coupons I can nearly fill our pantry... but it's with junk that I really don't want us to eat. Help!

 

Any suggestions to stretch this budget? Recipes to try? Anything?

[OrganicAnn]

Can you keep trying vegetarian meals - like one per week - until you find some your DH will like? Beans and Rice make a complete protein, so if you can use the combination in a meal it is good, healthy and cheaper than meat.

 

Other option - buy meat for DH and mom & kids eat beans and rice.

 

Usually something has to give. You can only stretch things so far.

[LittleIzumi]

The first thing that caught my eye was diapers. Any way to convince you to cloth diaper? :D

[MrsBasil]

Will he eat stir fry? I can stretch a pound of meat further with veggies(or veggies and canned pineapple) served over a generous serving of brown rice. If he will eat some veggies throw those in the stir fry and give him a larger serving of meat than you or the kids need.

 

Baked beans and cornbread make a decent meal and you can add some bacon, sausage, and/or browned ground beef for meat flavoring.

 

Pizza with salad. If you coupon you can get BBQ sauce pretty cheap or free I think? Use that instead of red sauce and throw 1/4-1/2 b of chicken or ground beef as a meat topping. Top with cheddar cheese and add onion and/or peppers to a portion of the pizza for those who will eat it. Do something similar with red sauce, but use mozzarella cheese instead.

 

Breakfast for dinner? Eggs scrambled with ham(leftover from Easter sales??), toast, and large bowl of fresh fruit. I have found good deals on frozen strawberries at Sam's(membership was a gift) and use that to make a fruit topping for homemade pancakes instead of syrup. A grocery store here has bacon for $2/lb, so we cook 4 strips and DH gets 2 and DS and I get 1 as a side. There's meat, but it isn't the main course.

 

Chili? I dislike many soups and casseroles, but I like chili. More beans and less meat is the way I do it. I know there are vegetarian chili recipes. If there's one he would like use that and add beef as a seasoning.

 

Spaghetti with sauce. You can hide veggies in the sauce to make it more filling. Make meatballs and portion them out, but the pasta and sauce is the main part of the meal. Add some bread and a salad or another veggie if possible.

[Kathleen in VA]

That's not much for two weeks - we are on a similar budget. How about cloth napkins and dish towels instead of paper towels? I bought a package of "flour sack" towels at Wal-mart that I use for mopping up big spills and other stuff I used to reach for a paper towel to handle. I still buy paper towels - just not nearly as often. Cloth napkins can be used all day long and then tossed in the laundry at night. You could buy those super huge packages of cheesy terry wash cloths and use those if you don't have cloth napkins already. I know some people make their own, but that's only cheap if you already own the fabric. Skip the paper plates and cups altogether if you buy those. Assign each family member a cup - perhaps put rubber bands around them (so many for what number you are in the family) to keep them straight and use the same cup all day.

 

You can make your own cleaning products - a google search will result in many sites with cheap recipes. Also, don't wash your clothes as often and you can save on laundry supplies. Bath towels can be reused for a week - I mean, after all, you are very clean right after a bath. How dirty can they get? My boys were notorious for throwing their jeans, which they only wore around the house all day, into the hamper at night. I had to teach them that jeans can be worn for a few days at least as long as you don't roll in the mud. The clothes and towels last longer too.

 

Oh, and you might send your dh to the grocery store with your list and see how he does with the budget. I understand wanting to please your dh - I agree with that mentality - but often they just do not get how much food costs. When my dh stops at the store, he is always surprised by how much everything costs.

 

For breakfast, how about eggs, oatmeal, grits, and the like? They really do not take that much time to make and are super cheap. Also, you can make up a week's worth of pancakes one morning and freeze them to take out on a daily basis.

 

Lunch can be soup and bread. Do you have a breadmaker? Start a loaf first thing in the morning, get the soup going and have it simmering. Then when it's lunchtime, you're all set. There are tons of soup recipes that are relatively inexpensive - skip the ones that call for a pound of bacon or some other high ticket item, lol. Make an especially big batch and freeze it to have available all week. I know soup isn't as desirable in the hotter months, but you get used to it.

[meggie]

My grocery budget is $300/month for our family of five(that includes toiletries/diapers/paper products/cleaning supplies). It is a super tight budget, but it is what it is for now until we get some medical bills and our van paid off (only a few more months!).

 

We eat relatively healthy, but I want to introduce more fresh veggies/fruits, grains, and lower the amount of dyes and preservatives that we are eating. I've been attempting this on my own for a few months and failing miserably. :/ I already cook mostly from scratch, so processed food isn't really an issue.

 

I have a house of picky eaters, including DH. He must have meat in most meals, prefers not to eat a ton of soups or casseroles and has a small list of veggies that he will eat. :glare: I seem to be able to buy things within this budget, but not enough to stretch through each two week period(DH gets paid biweekly, so my budget is $150 each pay period) or I can only buy enough food for dinners so we are really scrounging for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. If I go the cheap route, with coupons I can nearly fill our pantry... but it's with junk that I really don't want us to eat. Help!

 

Any suggestions to stretch this budget? Recipes to try? Anything?

 

Whenever my DH gets whiny about the food I make (he usually whines about spaghetti too often) I remind him that the Israelites got in trouble for whining about the manna everyday and that maybe, just maybe, he should start thanking the Lord that he has something to eat at all and has the lovely wife who prepared it for him ;)

 

For practical advice, what about oatmeal for breakfast. Eggs at Costco are about $5 for 5 dozen. You could hard boil a bunch for the week and have one with the oatmeal.

 

More than that, it's hard for me to advise you without knowing what kind of meals you are already making. At $300/month I would kind of assume that you've found a way to stretch it as tight as it will go.

 

Oh just thought of fried rice! (sorry I'm really tired and my brain isn't working too well anymore). Last week I stretched one chicken breast plus some eggs and a few slices of bacon, leftover rice and a 1/2 bag of frozen veggies for our whole family plus some leftovers.

Edited April 11, 2012 by meggie

[Reflections]

Try this website and see if there is a distribution point close to you. They offer a box of food for $35 that includes meat. There are lots of "menus". http://www.oneharvest.com/index.php?q=find-a-location. "One Harvest Food Ministries is a non-profit, non-denominational, faith based organization that is committed to helping American families. We offer an affordable family meal solution that provides high quality food choices."

 

Also, try to find a bread outlet. At ours, the bread is 1.69 per loaf vs 3.18 at the grocery store. They also have bread that they've pulled because of a day old expiration date, ask them about that.

 

If you have littles under five try to get in to the WIC program. It is easier than assistance/food stamps. They pretty much just supply milk and cheese but it all adds up.

 

Apples are probably the cheapest and best fruit. Oatmeal is super cheap and super yummy with a bit o'sugar and some cinnamon.

 

Ask your grocery store when they double coupons - Kroger doubles everyday up to 50 cents (so, that's a $1 off).

 

Shop the $1 store.

 

HTH.

[Mama Geek]

Look up recipes for pancit. It is a rice noodle dish that has meat and veggies. You can add as much or as little meat to it as you want and it is tasty. Rice noodles are pretty cheap as well.

[Lily_Grace]

One simple way to stretch with foods your family will eat is the rule of four. Every dinner (or lunch, if that's your big meal) set out 1 main dish and 3 sides. You end up loading up plates with less of the expensive main dish and more of the penny sides. For example, pot roast night in our house includes a side of potatoes and carrots, half ears of corn, and biscuits. Or mexican night has enchiladas, beans, salad, and chips. We also try to avoid single serving meats unless it's dirt cheap. Roasts, whole chickens, and chopped/ground beef is easier on the wallet. It helps us stretch the meat out for more than one night.

[Bassoonaroo]

Oh, we do something to avoid washing cups all day long. Someone mentioned rubber bands, but instead of that we have a piece of construction paper with six cirlces on it and in each circle is a name (we've got six of us in our family). We "park" our cups/glasses for the day on the piece of paper. Ours is laminated (you could ask a friend to laminate if you don't ow a machine) but you could use a page protector taped shut at the open end.

 

A fun way to stretch cleaning supplies is to clean less often. Can you go another day or two between bathroom cleaning? Can the sheets stay on the bed a bit longer?

 

If you have freezer room, cook a bag of beans and freeze them in 2 cup sizes and when you are making a meat-based meal, add the beans to stretch it. They can be a side dish or mixed into taco meat, even into spaghetti.

 

Do you have a "bargain mart" style store that sells things in dented boxes, slightly beyond expiration date, or that are discontinued? We've got one in town with better prices than the grocery store.

 

Get to know your butcher and baker at your normal grocery store. Ask them when things get discounted. If you simply went to your butcher and said, "We're on a really tight budget and I'd like to know when you discount the day-old meat. I'd love first dibs..." or "Could you call me at the number on this yellow sticky if it looks like you have ground beef on sale."

 

Some towns have websites listing local sales. Someone will post "I was just at target on South Avenue and they have about 3 dozen bottles of Tide that have dents on them -- they're half off." Look for that website.

 

It might be a good time to do some bartering. Maybe you could teach violin to children. The extra money goes to groceries. Or, perhaps the violin student's mom could bring you a casserole each week as payment.

 

Start a garden.

 

Pancakes, waffles for dinner

 

Eggs -- more fun if wrapped in a tortilla and you can stir last night's vegetables into them.

 

Never throw away a leftover. Learn to buy the right quantities of things. If you overcook a veggie, throw it into tomorrow's soup, etc. Cut out "bad spots" on an apple, banana, strawberry, etc.

[Dustybug]

The first thing that caught my eye was diapers. Any way to convince you to cloth diaper? :D

 

Actually, I wouldn't mind cloth diapering, and did so for awhile with my DS. We sold the diapers I had awhile back though before my youngest was born when my DH had lost his job and we needed some extra cash. We don't have the money now to replenish that stash. :(

 

I guess I could have expanded more on what I do actually cook. I do make a lot of casseroles (even though DH isn't exactly on board with that) because it's one of the few ways that I've found to stretch meat for all of us. I have to have enough in the dinner meal to feed us all AND to put in DH's lunch for the next day at work. He isn't a big rice fan, so he complains when I use rice so much, but I'm not sure what else to do there.

 

I make pastas(spaghetti, lasagna, baked ziti).

 

We just had rice and beans two days ago. We do pinto beans and cornbread(but the kids refuse to eat it). If I make soup, most of the time DH will not eat it. He will go and make something else to eat (even if it is a sandwich) rather than eat the soup. The kids will barely touch it either, so I feel like I am actually wasting money if I am the only one who will eat it. *sigh* DH will on occasion eat my chicken and corn chowder or black bean soup, but that is basically it. We do have breakfast for dinner, but again DH grumbles if there isn't bacon or

sausage with it. :glare:

 

I had forgotten about stir fry! Thanks for the poster who mentioned that. It's been awhile since I've made it and it had forgotten about it.

 

I had also forgotten about the bread outlet! There is one in town that I'll be near when I take DD to ballet class. I should check it out.

 

We garden in the summer and that will help, but we haven't even planted yet, so it will be awhile before we get anything from that.

 

I have been thinking about the cloth napkins, but don't have any right now. Maybe I should buy a pack of those cheap terry cloth towels. Hmm..

 

One of our problems is that DH hates to eat leftovers and that is pretty much all he eats. He works second shift. He takes the leftovers from the night before for his lunch at work, comes home and reheats what we had for dinner that night after work for his dinner and then eats that again the next day at work for lunch.

 

We do reuse towels and do laundry as little as possible. I use Charlies Soap for detergent, so I only use one tablespoon of that per load. The kids wear their pants/skirts/shorts/pjs several times before they get washed. I rewear pants/skirts/pjs as well. DH will rewear shorts but he sweats so much, his shirts need to be washed after one wear.

 

I clean mostly with vinegar and water and baking soda.

 

 

We do currently receive WIC for our two youngest children.

 

I never waste a piece of fruit. My children either gobble it all up before it gets a bad spot or I do cut it off, etc.

 

For breakfast, I usually make large batches of pancakes or muffins and freeze some for later. We do oatmeal, cereal, eggs and toast. Lunch is usually a sandwich, a cracker, cheese and fruit plate, or a tortilla with pb and honey rolled up.

 

DH does know the cost of groceries as he goes with my many times when I shop. It's just that there isn't any more money to give right now. He would absolutely without hesitation give me a larger budget if the money was there for it....it's just decidedly not.

Edited April 11, 2012 by Dustybug

[Annie G]

Cloth napkins- we started using bandanas a couple years ago. They're cheap and hold up well, and with the different colors, it's easy for all of us to remember which one is ours. They're stiff when you buy them but one washing makes them so soft.

 

Don't know if you shop Walmart but they discount meat and bakery products at 7 AM. Usually by 9 the meat is gone but at a 35% discount, it's worth an early trip. Ours discounts meat two days before the sell by date- plenty of time for me to get it home, rewrap it, and freeze it.

[BlsdMama]

You can buy a dozen pre-loved prefolds off of DiaperSwappers for about $25 inc. postage. It saves a rather lot. Covers are optional depending where you live but I've gotten by before on 14 diapers and 2-3 covers and made those from wool from old sweaters. :) Works SO great!

 

I love that you love your DH right now. :) Could you ask him to put together suggestions for a meal? Sit down and make a "master" list of inexpensive meals. Then, use that to make your menu.

 

It REALLY helps if you estimate what each of those meals cost in real dollars. Then you can sit down TOGETHER and say, "Okay so meatloaf is a $15 meal and soup is a $4 meal. Which should we have?" When you have the cost of each meal in black and white it's easier to "see" which are costly. When you add something like a pound of bacon ($6) to 20 days of your month and see that that raises the cost of your grocery bill by $120 it's obvious what should be cut. Plus, it's NOT good for you.

 

A cheaper way to do breakfast meats is plain ground pork and it's MUCH healthier for you. You'll have to play with seasoning - paprika, sage, chili pepper, etc. (check AllRecipes) until you hit upon a recipe you like, but it's without all the nasty preservatives/ingredients and a LOT cheaper!

 

My kids adore lentils with a little beef, carrots, cooked in beef broth. I don't make it the consistency of soup but instead the consistency of stew/oatmeal. They love it. My husband is skeptical, lol, but they would eat it three times a week if I made it. :D It's good for you too.

 

Eggs are a great, inexpensive, healthy breakfast choice with a piece of fruit.

 

If you haven't cut out all drinks that aren't water. They are a costly, unhealthy choice.

 

Give your kids/DH a glass of water about a half hour before the meal is served.

 

If you spend $$ on yogurt, making your own from whole milk is much less expensive.

 

For us, learning to make a great brown rice took time. We use half or whole broth to cook it which adds to the cost, but it does make it taste better which is better than them not eating it perhaps? All Recipes has articles/tips on how to cook rice properly. They like it NOT sticky but fully cooked and it took a lot of effort to do it properly. So, you might want to ask for suggestions... I found my kids love rice, just not sticky rice. DH loves soup, just maybe not the ones I traditionally made.

 

:)

[bolt.]

It sounds to me like you've already got great ideas and almost all the skills you need in order to live frugally... In my opinion the only skill you lack is that firm confident voice that can say, "Wanting better food involves spending more money. Since that's not a possibility, the complaining really has to stop. Cooking on the cheap is hard enough. You don't have the right to double my stress by showing me when you are unimpressed with my efforts. What I need is the encouragement of a husband, not the petulance of an adult picky eater."

[Dustybug]

Cloth napkins- we started using bandanas a couple years ago. They're cheap and hold up well, and with the different colors, it's easy for all of us to remember which one is ours. They're stiff when you buy them but one washing makes them so soft.

 

Don't know if you shop Walmart but they discount meat and bakery products at 7 AM. Usually by 9 the meat is gone but at a 35% discount, it's worth an early trip. Ours discounts meat two days before the sell by date- plenty of time for me to get it home, rewrap it, and freeze it.

 

Great idea about the bandanas! I didn't know that about walmart. I might have o make a trip.

 

 

I should also mention that DH both hunts and fishes, but this past deer season, he worked so much he didn't get to go much and we only got one deer. He hasn't had much time to go fishing either, but hopefully that will change soon. He shared a good portion of the deer meat with my SIL who is going through a divorce and short of funds. Turkey season starts Saturday though. :001_smile:

[CalicoKat]

My grocery budget is $300/month for our family of five(that includes toiletries/diapers/paper products/cleaning supplies). It is a super tight budget, but it is what it is for now until we get some medical bills and our van paid off (only a few more months!).

 

We eat relatively healthy, but I want to introduce more fresh veggies/fruits, grains, and lower the amount of dyes and preservatives that we are eating. I've been attempting this on my own for a few months and failing miserably. :/ I already cook mostly from scratch, so processed food isn't really an issue.

 

I have a house of picky eaters, including DH. He must have meat in most meals, prefers not to eat a ton of soups or casseroles and has a small list of veggies that he will eat. :glare: I seem to be able to buy things within this budget, but not enough to stretch through each two week period(DH gets paid biweekly, so my budget is $150 each pay period) or I can only buy enough food for dinners so we are really scrounging for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. If I go the cheap route, with coupons I can nearly fill our pantry... but it's with junk that I really don't want us to eat. Help!

 

Any suggestions to stretch this budget? Recipes to try? Anything?

Sprouting. I've never done it so I can't help with the details. But when I looked into it it was the best, cheapest way to get those nutrients into the diet.

 

Maybe someone else can give the details. I really need to implement for myself right now too.

[JFSinIL]

Take Dh to the store if you must, calculator in hand - he has to realize that, at least for the time being, he needs to expand his diet to include cheaper, yet filling, soups, beans, etc. that he otherwise would prefer not to eat.

[DawnM]

http://www.budget101.com/budget101-free-ebook/free-ebook-groceries-200-month-2547.html

 

Some great ideas on that site.

[*********]

Dustybug, you've gotten some great ideas. For the cloth diapers, do you know a mama who uses them who is inbetween little ones right now? Perhaps she could lend them to you. Or you can see if there's any listed on craigslist for your area.

 

Speaking of craigslist, I frequently see people giving away food on there in my area. Just something to watch out for.

 

It that same vein, I'd check out a food pantry if I were you. I know you're avoiding packaged stuff, but free food is free food, you know? I'm just thinking that where we live, the cost of living is LOW. But there's still no way I could feed our family (which is 6, but the stepkids are here only part time, so it's really like supporting 5) on $300 a month without couponing and therefore using more processed food than I'd like. If I were in your position, I'd be going to the food pantry.

 

In which there is NO shame, might I add. I've never gone to one, but I would if I needed to in order to feed my family. And dh wouldn't like it, but he wouldn't forbid it, either. I think sometimes dh's get defensive/whatever about not being 'able' to provide everything their family needs for a time. I know I have a girlfriend who's gone to a food bank a few times, and her husband feels embarrassed about it. She actually just doesn't tell him she went sometimes.

 

Just an idea. Honestly, you sound like you're doing a fantastic job! And I feel your pain on the picky eater part. There are days that I make three separate meals just to feed the four of us for dinner. :glare: Dh and the boys are so choosy, and by the time I've made a third separate meal I'm too far past caring what I eat, so I just eat some of whatever one of them is having. :tongue_smilie:

[happypamama]

If you have littles under five try to get in to the WIC program. It is easier than assistance/food stamps. They pretty much just supply milk and cheese but it all adds up.

In my state, WIC gives you a lot more than just milk and cheese -- eggs, peanut butter, cereal (which can be oatmeal depending on the store), beans, bread/rice/tortillas, even several dollars towards fresh or frozen produce. I know the OP said she gets WIC already, but for anyone considering it, the packages are pretty substantial and could provide several days' worth of breakfasts and lunches. (If you have excess milk, you can turn it into yogurt/kefir, and you can get tomato juice to make into soup too.)

 

It sounds to me like you've already got great ideas and almost all the skills you need in order to live frugally... In my opinion the only skill you lack is that firm confident voice that can say, "Wanting better food involves spending more money. Since that's not a possibility, the complaining really has to stop. Cooking on the cheap is hard enough. You don't have the right to double my stress by showing me when you are unimpressed with my efforts. What I need is the encouragement of a husband, not the petulance of an adult picky eater."

 

This is so true. It's really not fair for the husband to complain at the wife -- she's only the messenger about the realities of the budget. I have reminded my husband of this a few times, that it's not me saying we can't do X or Y; it's the reality of the budget.

[Cinder]

Just adding a thought about cloth napkins. Cheap bandanas are nice but still about $1 each. A pack of 12 washcloths from walmart is about $4. Better still you could recycle old tshirts or towels--just cut to size. Not glamorous but it will do for the time being.

[Tammyla]

:iagree: If you sew, they are very easy to make. Yard sales & 2nd hand are great places to build up a collection.

 

Just adding a thought about cloth napkins. Cheap bandanas are nice but still about $1 each. A pack of 12 washcloths from walmart is about $4. Better still you could recycle old tshirts or towels--just cut to size. Not glamorous but it will do for the time being.

 

Beans as a side dish stretch a meal; I'd serve them a lot.

 

Pre-serve nutritious snacks to fill them up a bit ahead of the sit down meals. A glass of milk with something like trail mix or oatmeal or pb cookies can add some nutrition that is filling. Or be creative with desserts. They may not love the meal, but eat up to get to dessert.

[cjgrubbs]

I have found that if I puree black beans I can add them to ground beef with no one really noticing! you could use canned or it would be cheaper to buy a bag, soak them and cook them, then freeze them in 1/2 cup or 1 cup portions. I puree them in a small handy chopper I got as a wedding gift 16 years ago but I think a blender would work. I add a little water or stock (if I have it on hand). when they are soft like a paste I add it into my ground beef. I can use 1/2 pound of ground beef with a can of pureed black beans for tacos. The black beans will season easily, make the meal healthier and reduce your cost. I would think you could do this for hamburgers, meatload or any other meal you make using ground beef - stroganoff.

 

I really feel for you. My DH is also picky and I catered to that for a long time. As we've added kids and I cut my hours and now don't work, we've had to gradually make changes. He knows that we have to eat cheaper and healthier. He is not always thrilled with these changes, but often finds that he likes or at least can tolerate most of them.

 

Another cheap meal for us is homemade pizza. I make the dough from scratch, put up tomato sauce from the garden to use all year and top with 1/3 pound of sausage and/or a few slices of pepperoni. You can go easy on the cheese and I buy it when it's on sale (you can freeze blocks of cheese easily) or from Aldi.

[Chocolate Lover]

I buy a 1 lb. chub of turkey sausage from Walmart for a very reasonable price, and turkey is much healthier than pork sausage.

 

I would not assume that all coupons are for junk food. Yes there are many that are easy to come by that are for white flour products, or very sweet type of items, HOWEVER, there are usually coupons at the local health food store. Please consider using those when you can. The health of your family is so important.

 

I agree with the stir-fry strategy, but try on whole grain noodles since your dh doesn't like the rice so frequently. The fiber is healthier and will fill up the belly for longer than white noodles.

 

The big strategy for food pantry/banks is to call the United Way in your area. They should have a list of all in your area and their hours and any other requirements. The UW can also fax over any required referrals. They helped me, and were positive and problem solving...no shame there.

 

The biggest suggestion I have is a group that wants to keep things out of the landfill. They are called FreeCycle.org. You go to their site and sign up for their group/s in your area. The local group should be on yahoo.com and you check their site or get emails. People give away things for free; clothes, cars, building supplies, home decorations, food, baby supplies, etc. I got lots of baby/toddler equipment and clothes for ds when he was young from people in this group. Oh, also bulbs and small plants. Clothes for me some great, some not us. Lots of these folks just want things out of their hair, so you take the group of items, keep what you can use, and pass on what doesn't work for you and your family.

 

HTH

We eat relatively healthy, but I want to introduce more fresh veggies/fruits, grains, and lower the amount of dyes and preservatives that we are eating.

 

They can be hit or miss, pricewise, but I bet there are fantastic farmers' markets in NC with fresh fruit and veg.

[5wolfcubs]

This made me think of a thread by Jennefer@SSA (who isn't around near enough anymore!) a while back...found it: Please help me feed my family

 

:grouphug:

[KidsHappen]

I don't have many answers for you but I can relate. I have a house full of vegetarians and we have to live out of the freezer and pantry for the next two weeks. That means lots of frozen veggies and starches but not much fresh fruit and veggies. Of course, two weeks won't kill them but still never really had to do this before.

[J-rap]

I have a friend who cooks up big batches of lentils, and adds them to her hamburger meat recipes all the time.

[BakersDozen]

"Wanting better food involves spending more money. Since that's not a possibility, the complaining really has to stop. Cooking on the cheap is hard enough. You don't have the right to double my stress by showing me when you are unimpressed with my efforts. What I need is the encouragement of a husband, not the petulance of an adult picky eater."

This is brilliant! Wonderful for both dhs and dc!

[mommymilkies]

I pm'd you about diapers.

 

I highly recommend cutting old t-shirts for napkins (doesn't fray!), using baking soda and vinegar for cleaners, and not using paper plates/cups if possible. If you can color coordinate the dishware to each family member, that would make it easier (one color per kid and only that color) or just use a rubber band and tag for kids' drinks. Good luck!

[Soror]

I would agree with others about the cloth diapers you could just buy a dozen flats or prefolds and a couple of pull-on wraps and it would be enough to get you started and cut a fair chunk out of your budget to free up for other things. I'd make my own recycled napkins or buy cheap washclothes asap, use baby washclothes for baby wipes. Do not use any cleaners except what you make.

 

I'd sit down with dh as well and start talking about cheap meal options and letting him know that this is what you can do with the money you have. Dh would prefer a lot of things but right now we've got our budget super tight to save up to pay off our house. Last month I had $95, I have stocked my pantry over the years though buying in bulk and saving money. So, right now we have way more beans than dh would like and a shortage of treats for him. However, we have talked about it and there is no more whining. I make a couple of veg meals a week and stretch the meat for the others with soups etc. I buy basic vegetables that everyone likes and don't try anything exotic that they don't. I think the main cheap options for hearty stretching is rice, potatoes, pasta, bread(tortillas-biscuits-cornbread etc) and beans and I'd just rotate through those. Some nice homemade deserts can help be a treat for a skimpy meal night and still seem like a treat(and perhaps lessen the aggravation for the less than preferred meal- it also motivates the kids to eat when it might not be their favorite). We do family movie night with homemade popcorn as well.

 

I'd recommend the bulk buying as well, setting aside a bit at a time. I buy frozen organic vegs and fruit from Azure Standard and can save over conventional prices often with bulk buying. All this winter we had juice apples as they were 50c pd for organic, they weren't always the best but worked. I try to stay seasonal and look for deals. We are gluten free here but back before then I bought a ton of bread at the discount store and also the salvage grocery store is good to check out as well, you never know what you will find. I'd be researching as well anything at all that you might still be buying that is not homemade from condiments, spice mixes, baked items, cereals, etc and start learning to make them (assuming it will save you money).

[NancyNellen]

Lunch can be soup and bread. Do you have a breadmaker? Start a loaf first thing in the morning, get the soup going and have it simmering. Then when it's lunchtime, you're all set. There are tons of soup recipes that are relatively inexpensive - skip the ones that call for a pound of bacon or some other high ticket item, lol. Make an especially big batch and freeze it to have available all week. I know soup isn't as desirable in the hotter months, but you get used to it.

 

Soup is a big budget-stretcher around here. Maybe you can try a few and find some that your husband likes?

[MHowell]

Actually, I wouldn't mind cloth diapering, and did so for awhile with my DS. We sold the diapers I had awhile back though before my youngest was born when my DH had lost his job and we needed some extra cash. We don't have the money now to replenish that stash. :(

 

PM me your address and the weight of your babies in diapers and I'll mail you covers and prefolds.

[Dustybug]

Thank you all for all your input! I have been taking notes! :)