saving money: need advice

[Naegore]

Anyone have any affordable, healthy recipes that we can stretch? We are a family of three. I spend way too much on food and most really isn't that healthy. I want to cut down on gluten. Also, we spend too much on bottled water. We can't drink our tap so what filter system is a better investment? Anything else that you want to add is greatly appreciated.

[Sarah725]

Quoting larissalarie:

Here's my blog post about this topic:

http://anothermomblogtalesfromanordinarylife.blogspot.com/2012/12/grocery-shopping-with-tight-budget.html?m=1

nice, thanks!

[nicole2884]

we havent jumped on the gluten free train so im no help

but we use the britta water pitcher an love it, they also make water bottles with filters for when your on the go i use my daily

[YzmaRocks]

Here is my (short) list:



1. We eat a lot of beans and only a little meat.



2. Meal planning is a huge help. I have a four week routating plan. I change it up for different seasons (in winter we eat a lot of soups).

3. I buy in bulk for certain items - beans, olive oil, butter, whatever is cheaper than buying in the grocery store.

4. I make everything I can homemade - bread, crackers, pasta, yogurt, sauces, etc.

[EthansMomma2010]

 for water, i just discovered that those stations where you can refill your big 5 gallon jugs, you can also refill just 1 gallon at a time 25 cents for a gallon. I'm doing that for a little while til I can find a good deal on a water cooler.

For meals, try going meatless a few times a night. if you pm me i can send you the recipe for lentil tacos which my family loves and is super cheap. i also go to costco twice a month and stock up on stuff i know we will use. while it's not organic grass fed meats, they seem to have options for meat from companies with better ethics than a lot of the grocery stores. at least from what i've read so far. also check out dollar store for some of the condiments and a few treat snacks if you are on a super tight budget. maybe not the best, but it definately cuts the food bill. Costco also has a lot of great produce so you can stock up on that for cheap as well as good bread options.

The biggest thing for me is to meal plan

[catholicmamamia]

Crockpot meals can be very healthy.. there are crockpot cookbooks out there which are great! Water.. ours is filtered through our fridge, and we make sure to replace the filters on a regular basis. Before we had a fridge which offered filtered water, we used a brita filter/ dispenser which sat on our counter.

[lilian1991]

We were going thru the same too but like they were telling buy frozen veggies make a list of what you really need and what you are going to use but just what you really nice, and for the water we buy sparkletts water and its 2.5 gallons it last about two weeks.

[littlelambe2]

We use a Brita filter. It's helpful to have several reusable bottles filled and in the fridge for easy access. 

We make most everything from scratch. Our local grocery store sends out a flyer with coupons every week. I meal plan around the fresh produce coupons and what's in season. I do meals that can become other meals. For example, one day I'll make a roast with veggies in it for dinner. Then, we'll have hot roast beef sandwiches. Depending on the size of the roast, I can make some into roast beef stroganoff. The rest of the roast gets put back into the roasting juices with veggies and becomes a stew. Sometimes I'll thicken the broth and serve it over mashed potatoes. We also buy all of our main foods in bulk (pasta, rice, quinoa, beef, prego, cheese, flour, etc)

[Naegore]

Thank you ladies!!