August 2. Fred Meyer for the senior discount shopping day. I bought the large box of powdered milk for $13.04. This might last the whole year. I'm not needing to fortify my daughter's smoothies quite so much, these days, and never have to add the powdered milk to her drinking milk any more. So, that's good news on two fronts -- saves money, and a sign she's getting better. I found cottage cheese on markdown for 99 cents/16 oz container. Bought two. One container is earmarked for lasagna, and the other is for lunches, with fruit, this week. I also bought 4 packages of cheapo hotdogs for cookouts, at 80 cents/12 oz package, 1/10th lb unsweetend coconut at $2.69/lb, small jar blackstrap molasses for $3.41, 3 jars of natural-style peanut butter (15 oz for $1.61), 16 oz bag of marshmallows (for s'mores), at $1.35, 2 lbs of butter, at $2.25/lb, 12 oz milk chocolate chips and 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, at $1.80 each, plus 1 lb of whole wheat spaghetti for 90 cents. Spent $34.94
August 5. A change in plans for evening entertainment brought both daughters and I to the beach to have a small picnic dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches. Near to the beach is a frozen yogurt shop. So, for dessert, we headed over there. Even with my pleads of "let's keep these small, okay?", we still spent $14.20 for 3 fro-yo sundaes. Ouch! That comes out of the grocery budget. It was fun, but expensive fun.
Spent so far this month, $49.14
August 10. Dollar Tree. Among other things, I bought a box of graham crackers. Spent $1
August 12. Fred Meyer for the milk on sale at $1/half-gallon. I bought 5 half-gallons of whole milk, and 1 half-gallon of orange juice. I also picked up 2 weeks of Friday Freebies - 1 5-oz package of gummy worms (to go into a stocking at Christmas), and a 10-oz Hormel dinner (will probably also go as a gift to someone in family at Christmas). Spent $6. (While I was at Fred Meyer, they had a promotion on gift cards, at 4 x fuel rewards -- I picked up a Starbucks card to use as a gift sometime in the future.)
August 12. Trader Joes for bananas. I bought 17 bananas, at 19 cents each. Spent $3.23
August 14. Dollar Tree, again, this month (daughters needed student planners for classes). I also bought 1 box of 6 individual packages of animal crackers, and 1 box of 6 individual packages of fish crackers. These are a treat/snack for the 2 weeks my daughters are home at the end of summer, and we do a bunch of summer-y road trips. Spent $2
So far this month, I've spent $61.37
August 19. Country Farms produce stand. I was very near to this stand this morning, and was feeling like I needed a pick me up, so I stopped in. I bought 6 ears of corn on the cob (25 cents each), 3 small avocados (3/$1), 4 nectarines (99 cents/lb), a pint of blueberries ($2.49), and a cantaloupe (39 cents/lb) I spent $7.02. Although our garden is producing well, these days, this splurge was well worth it. Kris's blueberry and peach fruit cups (mentioned in the comments this morning) sounded so wonderful. I made fruit salads in similar fashion using the nectarines and blueberries.
Month to date spending, $68.39
August 25 Fred Meyer for 5 half-gallons whole milk (99 cents each), and 1 half-gallon orange juice (99 cents), about 8 lbs total of peaches and nectarines for 88 cents/lb, 1 PowerBar (freebie). Total spent -- $12.83
Month to date spending, $81.22
August 26. Went by Cash & Carry and picked up a 10-lb package of 80/20 ground beef for $18.80 ($1.88/lb), a 5-lb bag of white cheddar cheese ($6.95, $1.39/lb, last one, I would have bought more, no rainchecks), 25-lb bag of steel cut oats ($14.47, or 58 cents/lb), 3 bananas at 46 cents/lb, 3 64-oz jars of chunky peanut butter ($5.37). Spent $56.79
Total spent so far, $138.01
Coming in to the month of August, I had a surplus of $299.23. Add that to my budget of $190, and I had $489.23 available to spend for the month. I underspent by $351.22. That is my new surplus!! Add that to my monthly budget of $190, and for the month of September, I now have $541.22 available to spend on groceries. Good grief! Are we not eating?! I don't think I bought that much this month. Here's the list:
What I bought
Dairy
large box of powdered milk
32 oz cottage cheese
2 lbs butter
10 half-gallons whole milk
5 lbs shredded white cheddar cheese
Meat
4 packages hot dogs
10 lbs 80/20 ground beef
Pantry
1/10th lb unsweetened coconut
small jar blackstrap molasses
3 15 oz jars natural-style peanut butter
16 oz marshmallows
2 12 oz bags chocolate chips
1 lb whole wheat spaghetti
9 oz graham crackers
5 oz package gummy worms (Freebie)
Hormel pantry-stable dinner (Freebie)
6-pack fish crackers
25 lbs steel cut oats
6-pack animal crackers
1 PowerBar (Freebie)
12 pints of Jif-type peanut butter
Produce
2 half-gallons orange juice
20 bananas
6 ears of corn
3 small avocados
4 nectarines
pint of blueberries
1 cantaloupe
8 lbs of nectarines and peaches, mixed
Treats out
frozen yogurt
I'm still holding below our budget, to spare as much money as possible for fall sale stock-ups. I've benefitted by some spectacular deals, like the ground beef for $1.88/lb, and the cheddar cheese for $1.39/lb. Not to mention the eggs that I bought in June and July for rock-bottom low prices (I don't know if eggs will ever be that low again, 49 cents/dozen is pretty spectacular). I'm still using eggs from those 2 cases, that I froze.
I continue to look for better ways to buy items. Like the 25-lb sack of steel cut oats. I had been buying steel cut oats at WinCo for 62 cents per pound. I paid 58 cents/lb by buying the 25-lb sack. that's only a savings of 4 cents/lb, but multiplied by 25 lbs and I saved $1. And steel cut oats are not something that I have to worry about us eating, indiscriminately. This amount will last us about 15 months, and keep just fine. Mmmm, now I'm getting hungry for a bowl of steel cut oats, topped with fresh peaches. Yum!
One of my pantry goals this summer has been to work our way down on both pantry and freezer surpluses. I want to make sure nothing sits for so long that it's no longer edible, get both pantry and freezers cleaned out, and save some money for stocking up when prices are rock-bottom for many items. I had no idea just how much we have in stock, here. It's a lot of food, and could probably last us for several months, with no shopping at all, if need be.
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Think like a business
In stocking my kitchen, I've learned to think as if I'm a commercial enterprise. This has saved me quite a lot of money, as well as provided superior quality, in many items, both in foods and in equipment.
I received an email from a reader yesterday, asking where I bought these containers
This reader understood that these were repurposed containers, and was hoping to buy some just like these, and wanted to know where I bought them, and what they'd previously been filled with. I told her what item these containers came with and where I purchase that food (these are the containers for imitation bacon bits, in 3.5 lb jugs). But as she'd said she had looked high and low for something just like this, I went just a step further, and did a quick google-search for purchasing similar, but empty containers, in case she didn't need 17 lbs of bacon bits (to get 5 of these containers). My thought process was, "where would I purchase similar containers, in bulk, if I were packaging my own product to sell?"
I searched with the terms: "plastic containers wholesale". Once at a page for wholesale containers, in their search bar, I entered: "food storage handles". It brought me to a page with clear, food safe containers about the same size as the ones I own. These containers could be ordered 1 at a time, or in bulk, for a discount.
In addition to finding this container at that website, I also obtained the particular item information, manufacturer, measurements, etc. If I were serious about ordering some of these for my kitchen storage, I could take this information and google-search this product for other wholesale sellers, and do a price comparison. And I could take the pricing and check my local restaurant supply store.
Purchasing these containers through a wholesale seller online offers a great price (about $2.50 including lid, but not shipping). In comparison, if I went to a retail container store like Storables, I would pay $6 to $8 for a 1-gallon food storage container.
Not all wholesale merchants will deal with the public. But by shopping online, I have a large number of merchants that I can look at, and hopefully find a couple who will sell to me.
Shopping for the durable equipment, like pots, pans and bakeware
When it comes to purchasing equipment for my kitchen, again, I think like a business. In this case, a commercial kitchen. I could buy pots, pans, utensils and small appliances through a department or kitchen specialty store. And they would all be very pretty. (Williams-Sonoma, love browsing in there.)
But in a commercial kitchen, appearance comes second, after effectiveness and quality. Commercial kitchens put their equipment through its paces, day after day, month after month. That's the kind of equipment that I want to own. So, where does a restaurant or institutional kitchen purchase its equipment? In my area, I have 2 good choices. There's the durable goods section of the restaurant supply chain, Cash & Carry, or Bargreen's, a chain of food service equipment suppliers scattered across the western US, Hawaii, Alaska and Canada.
In addition to shopping in local stores, I've also shopped online for some items, like my bread pans. I go for commercial quality. About 15 or 16 years ago, I was in a small, local bakery, and I inquired about the bakeware they used. The owner showed me some of her baking pans, and suggested where I might find them. These bread pans are very sturdy, distribute heat evenly, and are fairly priced for their quality, but they won't win any beauty prizes. However, I expect that I will be handing these down to my children, in another 20 or 30 years.
By the way, my bread pans are Chicago Metallic, uncoated, heavy-weight, aluminized steel, with folded corner and wire-rod construction. They are commercial quality, and have a lifetime warranty. I bought 6 1.5-lb loaf pans all those years ago, and expect them to last my lifetime and beyond. These sell on Amazon for about $13.50, or through Chicago Metallic for $14.95. In comparison, Williams-Sonoma carries a very similar loaf pan, retailing for $18.95. The Chicago Metallic pans saved me several dollars per pan, and deliver excellent quality in baking performance.
Shopping for food
With food, once again, I think like a business. You all know this about my shopping. I don't buy 1 week's worth of sugar or flour or oats, or any other pantry staple. I don't even buy 1 month's worth. I think in terms of a 1 year supply for most items in my pantry. When I'm at Cash& Carry, I find it interesting to look at the carts for restaurants, in the check-out line. We have a lot of small Asian restaurants in our area. These restaurants don't just buy 1 gallon of soy sauce at a time, they buy a case of gallons, or a 4-gallon cube, or the 5-gallon bucket of soy sauce.
After church, on Sunday, I was talking with a couple of women about buying pork roasts. One of the women said she buys the 4-pack of 2-lb pork roasts at Costco. She said she saves a lot of money buying the roasts like this. This is definitely the easy way to buy in bulk at a good price. I told her how I buy pork roasts, by the full loin. I then cut the loin up into individual roasts, myself at home. I do this with the 10-lb rolls of ground beef and 20 to 25 pound pieces of top round. I divide or cut this beef up and repackage into family-size amounts for the freezer. On some items, shopping where the restaurants shop, I save a substantial amount of money. Last week, I bought a 10-lb roll of 80/20 ground beef at $1.88/lb. I can't even come near that price at my local supermarkets. Even in the discount meat section of Fred Meyer, the least I have seen ground priced is $2.49/lb. On top of the savings, on many items, the quality is excellent, and sometimes exceeds the quality of supermarket food items. (Just an example -- I buy whipping cream with a higher butterfat content at Cash & Carry than the whipping cream available at Fred Meyer.)
Sometimes, these sizes are not as convenient to use. For example, the vegetable oil that I buy comes in 35-lb jugs.
These are indeed heavy, when full. To use them, I fill a 1 gallon jug with oil, from this container, as needed. Not quite as simple as buying a ready-filled one-gallon container of oil. But I save several dollars per gallon with the 35-lb container.
I realize that not everyone wants to think of their kitchen as if it were a business. But by doing so, I've been able to stock my own kitchen very well, while spending less.
I received an email from a reader yesterday, asking where I bought these containers
This reader understood that these were repurposed containers, and was hoping to buy some just like these, and wanted to know where I bought them, and what they'd previously been filled with. I told her what item these containers came with and where I purchase that food (these are the containers for imitation bacon bits, in 3.5 lb jugs). But as she'd said she had looked high and low for something just like this, I went just a step further, and did a quick google-search for purchasing similar, but empty containers, in case she didn't need 17 lbs of bacon bits (to get 5 of these containers). My thought process was, "where would I purchase similar containers, in bulk, if I were packaging my own product to sell?"
I searched with the terms: "plastic containers wholesale". Once at a page for wholesale containers, in their search bar, I entered: "food storage handles". It brought me to a page with clear, food safe containers about the same size as the ones I own. These containers could be ordered 1 at a time, or in bulk, for a discount.
In addition to finding this container at that website, I also obtained the particular item information, manufacturer, measurements, etc. If I were serious about ordering some of these for my kitchen storage, I could take this information and google-search this product for other wholesale sellers, and do a price comparison. And I could take the pricing and check my local restaurant supply store.
Purchasing these containers through a wholesale seller online offers a great price (about $2.50 including lid, but not shipping). In comparison, if I went to a retail container store like Storables, I would pay $6 to $8 for a 1-gallon food storage container.
Not all wholesale merchants will deal with the public. But by shopping online, I have a large number of merchants that I can look at, and hopefully find a couple who will sell to me.
Shopping for the durable equipment, like pots, pans and bakeware
When it comes to purchasing equipment for my kitchen, again, I think like a business. In this case, a commercial kitchen. I could buy pots, pans, utensils and small appliances through a department or kitchen specialty store. And they would all be very pretty. (Williams-Sonoma, love browsing in there.)
But in a commercial kitchen, appearance comes second, after effectiveness and quality. Commercial kitchens put their equipment through its paces, day after day, month after month. That's the kind of equipment that I want to own. So, where does a restaurant or institutional kitchen purchase its equipment? In my area, I have 2 good choices. There's the durable goods section of the restaurant supply chain, Cash & Carry, or Bargreen's, a chain of food service equipment suppliers scattered across the western US, Hawaii, Alaska and Canada.
In addition to shopping in local stores, I've also shopped online for some items, like my bread pans. I go for commercial quality. About 15 or 16 years ago, I was in a small, local bakery, and I inquired about the bakeware they used. The owner showed me some of her baking pans, and suggested where I might find them. These bread pans are very sturdy, distribute heat evenly, and are fairly priced for their quality, but they won't win any beauty prizes. However, I expect that I will be handing these down to my children, in another 20 or 30 years.
By the way, my bread pans are Chicago Metallic, uncoated, heavy-weight, aluminized steel, with folded corner and wire-rod construction. They are commercial quality, and have a lifetime warranty. I bought 6 1.5-lb loaf pans all those years ago, and expect them to last my lifetime and beyond. These sell on Amazon for about $13.50, or through Chicago Metallic for $14.95. In comparison, Williams-Sonoma carries a very similar loaf pan, retailing for $18.95. The Chicago Metallic pans saved me several dollars per pan, and deliver excellent quality in baking performance.
Shopping for food
With food, once again, I think like a business. You all know this about my shopping. I don't buy 1 week's worth of sugar or flour or oats, or any other pantry staple. I don't even buy 1 month's worth. I think in terms of a 1 year supply for most items in my pantry. When I'm at Cash& Carry, I find it interesting to look at the carts for restaurants, in the check-out line. We have a lot of small Asian restaurants in our area. These restaurants don't just buy 1 gallon of soy sauce at a time, they buy a case of gallons, or a 4-gallon cube, or the 5-gallon bucket of soy sauce.
After church, on Sunday, I was talking with a couple of women about buying pork roasts. One of the women said she buys the 4-pack of 2-lb pork roasts at Costco. She said she saves a lot of money buying the roasts like this. This is definitely the easy way to buy in bulk at a good price. I told her how I buy pork roasts, by the full loin. I then cut the loin up into individual roasts, myself at home. I do this with the 10-lb rolls of ground beef and 20 to 25 pound pieces of top round. I divide or cut this beef up and repackage into family-size amounts for the freezer. On some items, shopping where the restaurants shop, I save a substantial amount of money. Last week, I bought a 10-lb roll of 80/20 ground beef at $1.88/lb. I can't even come near that price at my local supermarkets. Even in the discount meat section of Fred Meyer, the least I have seen ground priced is $2.49/lb. On top of the savings, on many items, the quality is excellent, and sometimes exceeds the quality of supermarket food items. (Just an example -- I buy whipping cream with a higher butterfat content at Cash & Carry than the whipping cream available at Fred Meyer.)
Sometimes, these sizes are not as convenient to use. For example, the vegetable oil that I buy comes in 35-lb jugs.
These are indeed heavy, when full. To use them, I fill a 1 gallon jug with oil, from this container, as needed. Not quite as simple as buying a ready-filled one-gallon container of oil. But I save several dollars per gallon with the 35-lb container.
I realize that not everyone wants to think of their kitchen as if it were a business. But by doing so, I've been able to stock my own kitchen very well, while spending less.
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