Our neighbors built a chicken coop this weekend and brought home three chicks for eggs. And while I'm not all that fond of live chickens - I love their meat and eggs, of course – or the mess they make – I'm thinking it might not be such a bad idea now that the price of eggs is soaring.
It's not just eggs, of course. Economists are predicting that prices for goods like bread, macaroni and eventually meat will continue to rise. A few factors are driving up the cost of food, including high corn, wheat and fuel prices. It’s hitting our family already. I’m getting fewer bags of groceries for the same money.
Some of my friends actually eating our more now that food prices are up, since they can feed a family of four at a place like El Pollo Loco for $10 or so. When we eat out, my 8-year-old and I often share a plate since the portions are so big that it's cheaper to eat out than eat at home – that is, until restaurants start raising their prices.
So, to save money, I've vowed to actually use the coupons I faithfully save from the Sunday paper. I’ve never been one to run from store to store for the best prices, figuring I'd spend the difference in prices on gas. But I will spend more time studying the grocery ads for deals.
Other than that, what else can do? I mean, a family has to eat.
Karina Bland is raising her 9-year-old son in Tempe with a lot of love, humor and support from her friends and family. A longtime journalist covering child welfare and education issues for The Arizona Republic, she blogs about raising good kids.
I wonder if pot lucks could
I wonder if pot lucks could be cheaper?
I have heard that eating out is cheaper these days than some meals at home. I get a roasted chicken from Costco for $4.99. I can't buy and roast it for that price. We also have a free standing freezer so when we happen to see a deal we have room to store it. I like Costco for that reason, but you have to be careful because sometimes mainstream stores have better prices.
I should eat smaller portions anyway to watch my waste line so I suppose this could be the only positive in the costs going up!
KarilouMomof2 is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Tempe. Her daughters are 9 and 6.
go to google and type in
go to google and type in "feed a family of 4 for $45/week".
It will bring up a website that details exactly how to do this without resorting to fast food and maintaining a bit of nuitrition. While this is certainly not the situation you find yourself in, I found the website absolutely fascinating. And it made me thankful I was not in that suitation either. Also, it motivates you to stay home and cook more.
I would suggest going vegetarian more often. I'm not suggesting that you become a vegetarian, but you can do really well with beans, rice, pasta, on sale fresh and frozen vegetables. Stock up when things go on sale. If you can do that at least 3x week, that's money in the bank. My son absolutely loves refried beans. I buy the vegetarian kind, which are fat and cholesterol free, and pair them with some tortillias and a little bit of cheese, instant buritos that kids love. Pair it with some salad, and it's a meal.
I've also cut out things we buy once, and never finish. This means making substitutions in recipes that use unusual ingredients.
The thing that I've been meaning to start is a home garden...I have the spot all arranged, but have not planted anything because that irrigation line is broken, and I would forget to watter it by hand. At this point, I'm putting it on the fal fix up list, because it's going to get too hot for most vegetables soon enough. I'm doing this as a project with my 2.5yr old, so he gets some experience growing stuff, but the area we've devoted to it is small, so we're not going to produce more than we can eat, and it won't be too much work for me + a small boy. And I'm only buying seeds, because they're cheap, but seedlings are relatively expensive. And if things don't make it to maturity, well, that's part of the learning process too.
I remember when my sister's
I remember when my sister's boys were younger; she kept a chicken coop (she said) so that she could make them clean it when they misbehaved. Personally, I plucked enough chickens as a kid to make me wish we could buy them on styrofoam like the neighbors did.
Seriously, though ... the two of us (adults) eat very well on less than $200 a month, including at least one dessert a day and several soda pops. I've said I'd blog about our strategy, and I promise I will, but here are a few highlights:
You need a pantry and a freezer.
I'm enjoying a can of Diet Coke. I prefer Diet Pepsi, but it wasn't on sale when I went to the market. I got 5 12-packs for $12, so this can cost me 20 cents. If I walked over to the vending machines at our apartment complex, I could get a can for $1. If I walked across the street to McDonald's, the same amount of soda (given the ice) would be at least $1.50. So, if each of us has three sodas a day, our cost can either be $1.20 or $9.00. There's the same markup on juice, bottled water, candy, chips, ice cream and coffee. Stay away from vending machines and drive throughs.
I hear the Mom who says that buying a cooked chicken is cheaper than cooking one. That's true, if you go to the market to get a chicken. Except for things like milk, bread and maybe eggs, don't go to the market more than once a week -- once every two weeks is better.
Let's say that you get up in the morning and say to yourself, "Self, I want to make tacos for dinner." You go to the store and buy taco shells, ground meat, refried beans, a packet of seasoning, a head of lettuce, a couple of tomatoes, shredded cheese, salsa, and maybe sour cream and/or an avocado. You'll be lucky to check out under $15; Taco Bell is cheaper.
However, if you've shopped the sales and stocked your pantry and freezer, you can have the exact same meal for $6 to $7 -- and have leftovers for lunch the next day. We do it even cheaper, because we've got corn tortillas in the freezer that we can use to make taco shells in trans-fat free oil (at 10 for $10).
Yup, you can get food for four at El Pollo Loco for around $10. Last month, I scored on boneless, skinless chicken breasts -- two per package -- for about $2.25 per package. I love El Pollo Loco. I know that, since we're minding our pennies, I can broil chicken with lemon, lime, and orange juice for less than half the cost.
I'm not criticizing. I really want to help Moms who want to serve real food without wasting time and money. I don't know how I can do that most effectively. Maybe, I could scout sales, and suggest items to buy and recipes that use those items? What would be helpful?