PLAN, PLAN, PLANBuy any food in season that can be stored safely or frozen.
Plan your meals
Prepare a meal plan that can be rotated
Prepare a shopping list
Have needed spices in your kitchen
Plan for time
To shop
To prepare
To store
Plan for needed storage supplies
Prepare your kitchen with reusable containers, cooking bags, foil pans
Plan for coupon use
Check the ads for sales and buy the maximum allowed if storable
Plan for freezer space needed
Clear some shelves for prepared meals only
Save coupons and watch store ads for your coupon items to go on sale for the most benefit. The internet is a great place to get coupons and some stores have their own coupons on their website. Don’t shop on the day you plan to cook, plan ahead.
Set aside a time each week to prepare all of your meals at one time. Three or four hours should be plenty of time to prepare a full week of main courses and you will save energy by using your oven and cook top just once. If you are on the utility company time usage plan, cook during off peak hours for maximum savings. Label and date your containers and all you will need to do at meal time is add your side dishes. If you have friends that like to cook you could start a group, share recipes and cook together and double your meals to share with each other.
Watch for store closings to benefit from their liquidation. They move most of the perishables to other stores but sell off many items at great reductions.
Share your Costco or Sam’s club membership with a friend or family member to buy in bulk and buy larger quantities to split.
Smart and Final is a store that has a large variety of covered containers that you can use for cooking, freezing and heating. Also wash and save sturdy take out containers that you get from restaurants.
Fruits such as citrus can be purchased in season in bulk and juiced for future use. You can freeze juice in ice cube trays and transfer to zip lock bags to be used for cooking or juice drinks.
Buy large bags of onions and dice or slice and package in individual meal size baggies or containers to freeze. Using a food processer tends to bring out a bitter taste in onions, better to slice or dice with a knife.
Pre-cooked potatoes will freeze better than raw due to the water content. Celery is not a good item to freeze. Corn on the cob, when cleaned and blanched in hot water can be frozen.
Butter, nuts, brown sugar and coconut can be frozen in their original containers.
Fresh herbs from the produce department should be frozen for future use because generally you don’t use the whole package for one meal and this will save on waste. Fresh herbs make your food taste much better than dried herbs.
Purchase large packages of meats when on sale and reduce to individual meal portions and freeze. The meat can be pre-cooked or frozen raw. The larger packaging or family size is priced at a reduced price per pound and only takes a few minutes to repackage at home. If you purchase ten pounds of lean ground beef you can prepare all of it at one time. A sandwich size zip lock will hold enough meat for one meal and if you fill to capacity and press all of the air out you can flatten the bag to stack and save freezer space. Seasoning can be done during the cooking process if you know how you are going to use it. Large roasts can be cut into smaller pieces and cooked together in a crock pot or oven and stored separately for future meals. Roasts can be used for soup, bean dishes, noodle dishes, stew, pot roast or barbecue beef.
Expensive items such as olive oil should always be bought on sale and olive oil should be refrigerated because it can become rancid after opening if left unrefrigerated once opened. If it gels, just set out for a few minutes and shake before using.
Salad dressings can be very expensive. If you use Italian dressing, Good Seasons has a dry mix when mixed with olive oil and wine vinegar tastes as good as homemade or higher priced dressings.
Savings Tips
Save for emergencies as well as vacations. Most credit unions offer sub-shares on accounts so you can set aside money in different ‘pockets’ for different uses.
To save on your insurance premiums, call your agent and ask what the difference is for higher deductibles on your auto, boat and home policies.
Teach your children by example, save for items that you want and wait until they go on sale. Let them know what you are saving for and show them how you do it. It can be as simple as having a jar on the counter and emptying your change into it everyday. You can save cans, use consignment stores to earn credit or money with your no longer used items and buy items from consignment stores or yard sales. Check Craig’s list for items for sale in your area.
Save gas and time and send less money overseas and keep more in your pocket. Try to combine at least three errands into one trip.
Please go to mydollarplan.com and read messages and suggestions on saving from Madison DuPaix. Madison is a married mom that retired from her full-time job at 29 years old due to her diligence in learning how to use her money to its’ highest potential.
Prepare a meal plan that can be rotated
Prepare a shopping list
Have needed spices in your kitchen
Plan for time
To shop
To prepare
To store
Plan for needed storage supplies
Prepare your kitchen with reusable containers, cooking bags, foil pans
Plan for coupon use
Check the ads for sales and buy the maximum allowed if storable
Plan for freezer space needed
Clear some shelves for prepared meals only
Save coupons and watch store ads for your coupon items to go on sale for the most benefit. The internet is a great place to get coupons and some stores have their own coupons on their website. Don’t shop on the day you plan to cook, plan ahead.
Set aside a time each week to prepare all of your meals at one time. Three or four hours should be plenty of time to prepare a full week of main courses and you will save energy by using your oven and cook top just once. If you are on the utility company time usage plan, cook during off peak hours for maximum savings. Label and date your containers and all you will need to do at meal time is add your side dishes. If you have friends that like to cook you could start a group, share recipes and cook together and double your meals to share with each other.
Watch for store closings to benefit from their liquidation. They move most of the perishables to other stores but sell off many items at great reductions.
Share your Costco or Sam’s club membership with a friend or family member to buy in bulk and buy larger quantities to split.
Smart and Final is a store that has a large variety of covered containers that you can use for cooking, freezing and heating. Also wash and save sturdy take out containers that you get from restaurants.
Fruits such as citrus can be purchased in season in bulk and juiced for future use. You can freeze juice in ice cube trays and transfer to zip lock bags to be used for cooking or juice drinks.
Buy large bags of onions and dice or slice and package in individual meal size baggies or containers to freeze. Using a food processer tends to bring out a bitter taste in onions, better to slice or dice with a knife.
Pre-cooked potatoes will freeze better than raw due to the water content. Celery is not a good item to freeze. Corn on the cob, when cleaned and blanched in hot water can be frozen.
Butter, nuts, brown sugar and coconut can be frozen in their original containers.
Fresh herbs from the produce department should be frozen for future use because generally you don’t use the whole package for one meal and this will save on waste. Fresh herbs make your food taste much better than dried herbs.
Purchase large packages of meats when on sale and reduce to individual meal portions and freeze. The meat can be pre-cooked or frozen raw. The larger packaging or family size is priced at a reduced price per pound and only takes a few minutes to repackage at home. If you purchase ten pounds of lean ground beef you can prepare all of it at one time. A sandwich size zip lock will hold enough meat for one meal and if you fill to capacity and press all of the air out you can flatten the bag to stack and save freezer space. Seasoning can be done during the cooking process if you know how you are going to use it. Large roasts can be cut into smaller pieces and cooked together in a crock pot or oven and stored separately for future meals. Roasts can be used for soup, bean dishes, noodle dishes, stew, pot roast or barbecue beef.
Expensive items such as olive oil should always be bought on sale and olive oil should be refrigerated because it can become rancid after opening if left unrefrigerated once opened. If it gels, just set out for a few minutes and shake before using.
Salad dressings can be very expensive. If you use Italian dressing, Good Seasons has a dry mix when mixed with olive oil and wine vinegar tastes as good as homemade or higher priced dressings.
Savings Tips
Save for emergencies as well as vacations. Most credit unions offer sub-shares on accounts so you can set aside money in different ‘pockets’ for different uses.
To save on your insurance premiums, call your agent and ask what the difference is for higher deductibles on your auto, boat and home policies.
Teach your children by example, save for items that you want and wait until they go on sale. Let them know what you are saving for and show them how you do it. It can be as simple as having a jar on the counter and emptying your change into it everyday. You can save cans, use consignment stores to earn credit or money with your no longer used items and buy items from consignment stores or yard sales. Check Craig’s list for items for sale in your area.
Save gas and time and send less money overseas and keep more in your pocket. Try to combine at least three errands into one trip.
Please go to mydollarplan.com and read messages and suggestions on saving from Madison DuPaix. Madison is a married mom that retired from her full-time job at 29 years old due to her diligence in learning how to use her money to its’ highest potential.