Learning how to shop without the Seminary food co-op

I wear my frugality like a badge of honor. When people say, "You're the cheapest person I know," I swell up with pride. Or when someone calls me "Tight with money," I consider it a compliment of the highest order. But, lately, I've lost my frugal touch.

I blame my frugal ineptitude on our time at Seminary. Having no income means having no budget. Then, there is the overwhelming support of congregations and individuals that has allowed us to have things I wouldn't have purchased otherwise. (Gift cards are a joy to spend, while cash is not).

Because of the generous donations to the food and clothing banks at the Seminary, along with generous gifts to us directly, we have only had to purchase a few clothing items for our children, and thus I've forgotten how to shop for kids clothes. My food and household budget are jaded because so many of these items have been provided for us.

As we near the end of our years at Seminary, I am forced to ponder our budget for next year. Of course, I have no idea where we will live, what shopping will be like or what my husband's salary will be; but, I do know that as the economist of this household, I don't want any of it to go to waste. So, now is the time for me to relearn how to shop, study the retail and resale market of items we will need and polish up my old tricks of the trade.

Here are a few of those old tricks.

1. Throw together meals: In the United States, we waste, as in throw away, 40-50% of our food.. I have learned over much trial and error to mix and match items in a wok with some oil and seasoning, or in a crock-pot to make a new meal. Some people say, "Oh, my kids won't eat leftovers." But, when you are working on a strict budget, I say, "My kids will eat leftovers or my kids won't eat."
Another way to use up leftovers is as snacks. When there is just a small amount of something, one child can have it for a snack.
Or, if you have several leftovers that don't seem to go together in one new dish, you can have a special day of leftover buffet. Set out all the various things from your refrigerator in a sort of buffet style presentation and let the kids make their own plates. This makes for a great, fun lunch. For example, today, two children are thrilled to get egg salad sandwiches, while the others are happily eating Tator Tot Casserole.
This is an area that I have been a little lax in over the past few years; but, now is the time for me to get back into my old habits.

Our goal for next year is to get our food budget down to $10 per day. That will require no waste and carefully planned meals.

2. Batch cooking & freezing. Some people like to do freezer meals, but they are mostly a replacement of the freezer meals that can be purchased at the grocer; like lasagna. My family doesn't really eat foods like that, so the amount of work that would be involved in making up a bunch of recipes that I don't normally use and don't know if my family will like doesn't seem like the best use of my time. Plus, I don't like buying a bunch of ingredients just to make these recipes. Instead, I batch cook more like this. Buying potatoes in bulk is a waste if I don't use them up, but her method allows all of the potatoes to be processed and frozen and it replaces the purchase of frozen potatoes, like tots, and fries.

I also like the way she cooks up bulk hamburger. My plan is to purchase a case (about 80 lbs) of meat from Sam's Club and cook it up 10 lbs at a time in my 20 qt stock pot. Another good option that we may or may not have available to us next year is to buy meat directly from a local farmer. It is not always the least expensive, but is usually a very high quality meat for your dollar.

We will also batch cook waffles in a four-square waffle maker. The ingredients for waffles; like flour and sugar are generally inexpensive and easy to buy and store in bulk. A huge batch of these size waffles can be made all at once, cooled and frozen for later. They fit nicely into a toaster (like Eggo's) and make a great, quick, convenient breakfast or snack on the go. My kids will even eat these cold right out of the refrigerator, but you can add fruit, butter, syrup or other toppings as well.

I am planning to try doing something similar with a pancake mix, but I haven't found a recipe that freezes well and is easy to heat up (I like the McDonald's ones, but am still working on replicating them.) If someone can send me a link for that, I would be very grateful. (I could eat those McGriddles all day long - see what gift cards do to me?)

This is longer than I'd planned, so I'll talk shopping for clothes in another post