Best painless "stretching things" budget tips?

[Angel16]

Bumping for great budget stretching tips.

 

[LovesTimone]

I have been doing this for years,and never really thought about it, my grandmother did it so I followed her lead. When baking potatoes instead of just baking 2 for DH and I, I will maybe bake 6 or 8 - it only add maybe 5 to 10 extra mins to the cooking time. Then I use the extras during the week, for potato salad, twice baking potatoes, mashed potatoes, cut up in green beans you get the idea.If I cook bacon, I cook the whole pack, ( I cook mine in the oven) then use for salad, BLT sandwich for lunch, add to veggies. If DH turn's on the grill instead of cooking a couple of piece's of chicken, I will have him cook 8 to 12, then I use for chicken salad, chicken in rice, potpie's ect. This save's so much time and energy. I think it helps with the grocery bill as well because you are planning more of your meals.

Making a list really helps me,Oh yes I am a list maker...... I shop at Publix, which is wonderful, I use their site on line to help, as I look through the AD I can click on what I want, then you can add your own things, milk bread whatever, you can also click if you have coupons, and It prints it by aisle for the store I shop in. So armed with the list, and coupons. I hit the store, I find that I spend about 50 dollar less when I shop like this than when I just go in without a list. I think the list keeps me on track and on budget.

 

[mom2my3kids]

Hey - I've been so inspired by the ideas from budget board folks! On one thread, someone recently posted that they mix their frozen juice concentrate with one extra can of water and no one in the family "notices."

I thought I'd share something I recently started doing and hope that many others weigh in with more suggestions for *relatively painless* ways to stretch our food and household $...

Our family members are all 100% maple syrup snobs. But at $12 a quart, I've just started mixing our real maple syrup with some of the cheaper maple syrup blends (Mrs. Butterworth, etc.) when we have pancakes to keep the cost down. We're also butter lovers, but I've started using margarine when baking cookies and making rice krispie treats.

Also, we just got a $20 gift card to a local chain pharmacy for free for switching a prescription to them. (Our neighborhood's little independent drug store finally closed... ) But, I used that gift card today to buy lots of sale (BOGO) laundry detergent - $40 worth that I only ended up paying $1.55 for!

Ok...your turn!

I know this is a very old post, but I had to laugh because at work we have people who actually ask is it real I mean real maple syrup..lol

 

[BusyMom2Three]

I've spent a couple of hours reading the first 30 pgs of this thread off and on, and now I have to get some sleep but wanted to post some of our tips before I forget. Sorry if any are repeats!

We do these things for various health, environmental, and money-saving reasons:

We never buy soda or juice and primarily drink water. The kids even have reusable water bottles they take to school for lunch. Even at restaurants, we just ask for lemon to squeeze in for flavor (this saves at least $10 every time we eat out).
Buy huge handsoap refills and refill bathroom and kitchen hand soap dispensers.
Bake our own bread using a bread machine to make it easy (DH actually usually does this chore and throws in the ingredients). I also have an easy jelly recipe for the bread maker.
Bake & cook homemade -- no pre-made mixes or boxed meals.
Also bake snacks (muffins, nutrigrain style cereal bars, cookies, granola bars, etc).
Make our own pizza dough, buns/rolls.
No baggies (I have been using snack sacks from Snacktaxi for yrs but you can get reusable baggies at a lot of stores now. I recently got each child a Lunchbot as well and love them. For food storage I use pyrex, mason jars, and anything else I have on hand. You can buy a lot of those at garage sales, too).
Turned air up 1, heat down 1.
Close curtains on hottest side of house in summer.
No oven when it's too hot (or, if we do, cook early morning). We still use the stovetop.
Buy kids' clothes in advance when they go 75% off (Target often has 75% off racks, and I shop Children's Plc when they have $1-$2 clearance sales and combine it w/ a coupon they've emailed me or look it up on retailmenot.com--you don't have to print out the coupon at TCP; just show them the code on your phone).
Stock up on gifts for kids' friends' bday parties at Target toy clearance.
Went down a tier on tv and saved $15/month w/ negligible channel loss.
Always turn off lights.
Make own smoothies.
Add 1 tsp italian herbs and 1 tsp garlic powder to plain tomato sauce instead of buying pre-seasoned jarred sauces.
Shop in bulk at Costco/Sam's/Amazon subscribe & save.
We used cloth diapers (Motherease one-size) & cloth baby wipes.
I breastfed exclusively.
Reuse bath towels a few times before washing.
No more straws except reusable ones for littlest DS.
Divacup
Reusable/washable mop pad
Make own rice milk (we don't drink dairy).
Buy bulk popcorn kernels and use a $15 air popper instead of microwave bags.
Homemade gifts for certain people i.e. older family members and teachers (soaps/candles, baked goods, scrap books)
I'm going to try making my own soap. I found an organic base for $5-something that makes up to 20 bars of soap (you can add essential oils).

I read some earlier threads about those trying to eat vegetarian or vegan some nights to save money in which people focused on combining beans and rice for a complete protein. Just wanted to let anyone interested in that know that that theory has been replaced with the knowledge that as long as you eat all of the food groups in a day, your body will have everything it needs. You don't have to eat certain things together at the exact same time. Happy Herbivore cookbooks have the easiest meat-free recipes that use basic things everyone has on hand.

I have a whole list of things to try and can't wait to finish this awesome thread!

 

[pampam]

BusyMom2Three, I've just enjoyed eading your post, and have a few questions.
What do you use instead of baggies? plastic wrap?
and

After you've added the Itialian herb and garlic to tomato sauce, what do you use it on?

Also, I see you use cloth diapers. Have you considered "family cloths"?

 

[BusyMom2Three]

BusyMom2Three, I've just enjoyed eading your post, and have a few questions.
What do you use instead of baggies? plastic wrap?
and

After you've added the Itialian herb and garlic to tomato sauce, what do you use it on?

Also, I see you use cloth diapers. Have you considered "family cloths"?

Thanks. I added the info into my post.

Now it's easy to find reusable baggies (I've seen them at Target), but a few yrs ago I bought a few from snacktaxi.com. I bought each of my kids a Lunchbot this year too and love them.

For storing food I use glass pyrex type containers (some people reuse margarine and other plastic containers, but we prefer glass. You can even pick them up at garage sales). If I run out of those, I just use mason jars. They are great for storing soups and bulk pantry staples too.

The plain tomato sauce I season costs much less than jarred tomato/pasta/pizza sauces, which is what I use it for.

I respect the people who do family cloth, but I can't get into. I don't know why it doesn't bother me using cloth diapers lol. Maybe because breastfed baby diapers don't smell much if at all until they start eating solids.

 

[BusyMom2Three]

I just finished skimming through this entire thread only to be reminded I posted on it a few times 4 yrs ago.

I remembered a few more things along the way.

You can sign up for kidsbowlfree.com & kidsskatefree.com to take your kids bowling and skating for free.

When we go on vacation or to visit family, I never buy travel size anything. We have a handful of resusable travel bottles that we've used for years. I fill those with shampoo, detergent, vinegar, sunscreen, anything really.

This year I got the idea to cut open the paper bags I get when I forget my reusable bags at the grocery store to use to wrap some of our family's smaller Christmas and birthday gifts. I will have the other kids decorate them to give them a free craft project. My kids are excited about being green and like crafts/art, so I know they will like it. I'm also going to stop buying those wasteful stick-on bows that just end up in the landfill.

My washer has 5 settings from lightly soiled to very soiled (or something like that). I usually leave it on the standard normal setting in the middle, but I've started lowering it one level.

Another inexpensive meal is bean burgers. You can make these with random ingredients and either sautee in a skillet, bake, or use a toaster over. One I like is mashed black beans, oats, ketchup, mustard, garlic & onion powder from Happy Herbivore (she calls it "quick burgers"--you can Google the recipe). Yesterday DH got creative and mashed some adzuki beans w/ a chopped onion, grated carrot, and salt & pepper and sauteed it on both sides. It was really good, fast, healthy & inexpensive! They aren't supposed to taste like hamburgers, more like a bean cake (like how some people make potato cakes). Add a baked potato or brown rice on the side and a green veggie, and you have a meal.

 

[pampam]

I know this is an older thread, but some of the info is good, so I wanted to add to it.

Gently close your lips, and puff air into the space between your teeth and your lips. Do this whenever you are alone, driving, watching tv, on the computer, etc. Skin has memory and the wrinkles will gradually decrease around the mouth. Look in a mirror when you are doing it. If your lips are pursed together too tightly, you will be adding vertical wrinkles to your mouth. You don't want that. Just gently puff air into your mouth when you are not eating or drinking.

 

[tcarr5]

anymore threads like this?

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I am so glad I found this thread again. I am going to start reading it I over from the beginning. My painless idea is taking old socks with holes and cutting the toes completely off. After going through a bleach wash I now have new rags. If they get too nasty I can throw them away. If not they go into the bucket of rags, by my washer, waiting to be bleached out and used again.

 

[disney1990]

When we stay in a hotel, I take the mini shampoo and condition that they put out, away in my suitcase every day when I leave the room. Then they leave more the next day. We then use them when we get home. After a long trip, we can have 1/3 to a 1/2 bottle of each.

 

[MOpGrad2013]

Just found this and was skimming through....Love the vinegar tips. Yes, we use it instead of jet dry, fabric softener (it also removes all the sweaty gym scents),

For ring around the collar...I use toothpaste (any, but generally paste, not gel) and give it a good scrub. It has also worked on most other clothing stains (no need for shout).

My mom buys shower caps from the dollar store to cover bowls in the fridge-instead of plastic wrap.

Just found out that we can use powdered sugar in place of regualr sugar. We have 10 pounds of the powder because of cake baking. So, even though it's more expensive, we aren't having to buy granulated right now. I also don't buy brown sugar (use white instead).

And I add cooked beans to just about every meat dish...mash them good and you don't know they're lurking in the sloppy joe. Makes 12oz (the used to be 1 pound pkg) of gr turkey go way further...

 

[danygirl]

My local bakery thrift store has two "fill your cart" days each week $10 for an entire cart. I usually get a mix of stuff - breads, cakes, cookies, bagels, hamburger and hot dog buns, sub rolls, English muffins. I can get an average of 36 items, and I freeze a good bit. With a per bag/box price of around 27 cents this is a big money saver!!

 

[IDoDis]

I love Big Mac's from McD's but don't eat them much because they are sooo bad for me. However, on those rare days when I decide to buy one, I just order a McDouble with mac sauce. The only thing missing is the middle bun and the lettuce. The McDouble is $1.00 and the mac sauce is .05 at one place and .30 at another. Either way, it's less than half the price of buying a Big Mac. Add a small order of fries and a 1.00 large drink for a cheap meal!

 

[Eureka]

I love Big Mac's from McD's but don't eat them much because they are sooo bad for me. However, on those rare days when I decide to buy one, I just order a McDouble with mac sauce. The only thing missing is the middle bun and the lettuce. The McDouble is $1.00 and the mac sauce is .05 at one place and .30 at another. Either way, it's less than half the price of buying a Big Mac. Add a small order of fries and a 1.00 large drink for a cheap meal!

This brings back memories. When DH and I were first married, I had just started my first after grad school job and he was still a student, teaching a few adjunct courses. Made next to nothing. Our treat was getting McD's when they had the $2.22 Quarter Pounder deals. We'd bring it in and watch movies on a Friday night. Once he got a full time job, we were able to go out to eat again. Which we did every Friday night for three years until DS#1 was born, lol. Now, we don't eat McD's anymore and have two kids who eat like adults, so going out to dinner is an expensive venture. No more every Friday night out!

 

[peigirl]

The McDonalds around here have an option on the cash register to order a McDouble dressed like a Big Mac - seems to be very popular and alot cheaper.

 

[NorCalGal]

Bumping.

 

[verleniahall]

I invinted this while the DH was on Active Duty, he wanted pasta salad, and it was a couple days prior to payday.

INGRIDENTS:

1 box noodles
1 Can Peas
Celery
1 PKG Cheese Cubes
1 Jar Miracle Whip
To Taste:
Crushed Red Pepeprs
Cayenne Pepper
Cajin Seasoning

Instructions:
Cook pasta until done. Rinse, and chill. Drain the peas and add. Chop the celery into small pieces, add. (I chop the cheese cubes into smaller cubes personally, but you don't have to). Then add Miracle whip until everthing is combined. Chill again. Then add seasonings to taste. I

 

[queenbetsey]

How funny is this! That's what we're having for dinner tonight . My husband's mom used to make something like this all of the time. She called it American Chop Suey (apparantly the name is a New England thing but it's known as goulash or Johnny Marzetti). We make it with cooked chop meat, sauteed onions & celery. It's very good, filling & easy to stretch.

y mom used to make something like this and she called it goulash
hamburger, diced tomatoes (I have a ton in my freezer from mu summer garden)
macaroni,corn onions and celerymake a huge pot great for a rainy weekend of movie watching or feeding a crowd.

also instead of ground meat I buy cheaper cuts of beef when they are on sale and chope them up in the food processor when I need hamburger

 

[kymom99]

Is there any secret to freezing diced tomatoes? We have a ton from the garden and I heard you could dice and freeze them. Do you peel them or dice them with the skin on? Use ziplock bags?