Hey Momma J: Thank you for your suggestions. The grape one sounds good:). Also it is definitely smart to buy an extra turkey or two when they are discounted in November. Paul and I will do that with a roast chicken–we will roast it, and then eat from it for days on end!! Thank you for your comment.

1. Just a suggestion, but instead of gobbling down fruit that’s going to go bad, get creative. You can freeze grapes and eat them that way (they look ugly thawed!)or you can put frozen grapes in a glass of wine to keep it cool.
2. January and February are always tough financial months since the heating bills go way up! To help offset the cost, I usually have a FREE turkey in my freezer that’s leftover from a grocery store deal in November (I usually get 2 from 2 different stores). It lasts a week between dinners and sandwiches. I also tend to stockpile meat in my freezer and canned goods in my cupboard since I hate going out in the cold…another way to save by not buying gas to fuel my trips to the stores.
3. One of my favorite ways to save in these chilly months is to serve breakfast for dinner. Either eggs, pancakes or waffles. All very inexpensive alternatives.

Best,
Momma J

Why is your romaine wilting? Try wrapping it in a dampened paper towel or two.

No, I haven’t heard of Angel Food Ministries. Sounds like a plan–I’d love to hear how it works out for you.

Happy New Year!

My husband and I have the bad habit of only eating what we are craving at the moment, so we end up eating out a lot or picking up specific ingredients from the store on the way home (along with junk food). Obviously, we also have more loss due to spoilage since we’ll buy stuff and never get around to eating all of it.

We are currently trying to change some of these bad habits. I’m starting to take leftovers to work for lunch so they don’t go bad. We are also cooking at home more often. Lastly, we’re trying out Angel Food Ministries.

Have you heard of Angel Food Ministries? They sell pre-packaged boxes of food at low prices and churches sign up as distributon centers. Their website says they are geared to everybody, not just low income families. I think you probably find better deals the way you shop, but we are going to try it for a month to see if it lowers our monthly food budget since I don’t bargain hunt like you do.

We currently spend about $550-$600 a month on food; groceries (about $250), fast food (about $200), and restaurants (about $100).

Our current plan is to spend $75 on Angel Food Ministries ($30 basic box, $23 7 lb Grilled Meat box, and a $22 vegetable and fruit box) and supplement that with less than $300 of groceries, fast food, and restaurants this month. We would be lowering our food expenses by at least $200…maybe more depending on how much we stretch out what we will have on hand.

I’ll post how it works out if you’d like.