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Showing posts with label budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label budget. Show all posts
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010 | 
Posted by
Chris
When deciding on your garden, there are a few things to consider. First is how much space can you devote to your garden. This depends on the size of your yard of course. A lot of people live in town and do not have a large yard. We have some friends that only have about 1/2 of an acre for a back yard and they decided to do box gardening.
Box garden
This is done by building "boxes" to plant in. They planted 90% of their back yard in boxes and were able to eat all spring, summer, and fall and put up a large amount for later.
The second thing to consider is harvesting schedule. Most vegetables and fruits will be ready to harvest at different intervals. If you do some planning in the winter and pick out which plants perform the best in your growing zones, you should be able to harvest in all three seasons. I also recommend planting your garden in stages so you can harvest throughout the season. I would plant corn 1/3 in week one, 1/3 in week 3, and 1/3 in week five.
The third thing to consider is doing the grunt work before the day you are ready to plant. This includes building your boxes, tilling the soil, and putting down compost and/ or fertilizer. This well help you have a more productive planting day and will keep you from getting burn out at the beginning of the season.
Take advantage of this great weather and add a few more dollars to the monthly budget!
Have a great spring!
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Monday, February 22, 2010
We all want to save time and money when it comes to cooking and groceries, but most of us cannot stand to take half a day on sunday and scroll through the newspaper and sales ads to find the best sales. Add to that the time it takes to cut and organize all the coupons and it just doesn't seem worth it. Or is it?
The truth is, shopping sales and utilizing coupons can save you major money in your grocery budget and it does not have to be so time consuming and painful. I was introduced to a the website http://www.thegrocerygame.com/ a month ago and it is great.
This site will give you step by step instructions on how to save money with every sale at your local grocery stores. You just sign up (the first month is free), put in your zip code, and select the stores you like to shop. It will then generate a shopping list for each store. The lists are amazing. They show you the item, the regular price, the sales price, which coupon to use, where to find the coupon, and the net cost. All you have to do is print the lists, gather the coupons included in the lists, and start saving. It even tells you when the best time to shop is and the day the sales start.
Give it a try! If you do not like it, just cancel within 30 days and you are out no money.
Go to http://www.thegrocerygame.com/ and click sign up. Please add my email bluecollarkitchen@gmail.com in the referral area.
Start saving time and money today!
The truth is, shopping sales and utilizing coupons can save you major money in your grocery budget and it does not have to be so time consuming and painful. I was introduced to a the website http://www.thegrocerygame.com/ a month ago and it is great.
This site will give you step by step instructions on how to save money with every sale at your local grocery stores. You just sign up (the first month is free), put in your zip code, and select the stores you like to shop. It will then generate a shopping list for each store. The lists are amazing. They show you the item, the regular price, the sales price, which coupon to use, where to find the coupon, and the net cost. All you have to do is print the lists, gather the coupons included in the lists, and start saving. It even tells you when the best time to shop is and the day the sales start.
Give it a try! If you do not like it, just cancel within 30 days and you are out no money.
Go to http://www.thegrocerygame.com/ and click sign up. Please add my email bluecollarkitchen@gmail.com in the referral area.
Start saving time and money today!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
The weekend is a good time to cook a little extra of certain items that can be used in meals during the week. You can cook extra meat, beans, soup, and several other items that will save you precious time during meal prep next week. The good thing about this is that it does not add very much time to your weekend cooking.
If you don't already, you may want to make a weekly meal planner to help you plan what items you can use during the upcoming weeks. This can be as simple or complex as you would like to make it. I know some people that eat pratically the same items on certain days of the week, every week. I am not that structured and like to mix up the recipes, so that does not work for my family.
You can use a premade weekly menu planner like the free one found at microsoft by clicking this link. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/TC300023051033.aspx?pid=CT101423511033&WT.mc_id=42
If you like to use a paper planner, you can use any of the many available ones on the market like this one.
Day-Timer Mini Weekly Planner 2010, Two Pages per Week Format, Pocket-Size (D13331-1001)
Here is an example using ground beef.
If you are making meatloaf for dinner Sunday and the recipe calls for 2lbs of ground beef, take out 5lbs.
While the meatloaf is cooking, brown the left over 3lbs of beef. Once it cools, divide it into three 1lb portions and place in freezer bags and freeze. On your menu planner you can add three recipes that call for ground beef. For me, I would make spaghetti on Tuesday, Tacos (or your favorite mexican) on Thursday, and Hamburger Helper for lunch on Saturday.
You can do this with many ingredients. My favorite is soup. I recieved a 27qt pot
for a christmas present a few years ago and it makes a huge batch of soup. I will usually freeze 5-6 gallons of soup after cooking one meal. You can also do this with waffles and pancakes, peas, beans, and other legumes.
This simple steps can cut your cooking time during the week in half. be sure to experiment with your favorite items to see how much time you can save.
If you don't already, you may want to make a weekly meal planner to help you plan what items you can use during the upcoming weeks. This can be as simple or complex as you would like to make it. I know some people that eat pratically the same items on certain days of the week, every week. I am not that structured and like to mix up the recipes, so that does not work for my family.
You can use a premade weekly menu planner like the free one found at microsoft by clicking this link. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/TC300023051033.aspx?pid=CT101423511033&WT.mc_id=42
If you like to use a paper planner, you can use any of the many available ones on the market like this one.
Day-Timer Mini Weekly Planner 2010, Two Pages per Week Format, Pocket-Size (D13331-1001)
Here is an example using ground beef.
If you are making meatloaf for dinner Sunday and the recipe calls for 2lbs of ground beef, take out 5lbs.
While the meatloaf is cooking, brown the left over 3lbs of beef. Once it cools, divide it into three 1lb portions and place in freezer bags and freeze. On your menu planner you can add three recipes that call for ground beef. For me, I would make spaghetti on Tuesday, Tacos (or your favorite mexican) on Thursday, and Hamburger Helper for lunch on Saturday.
You can do this with many ingredients. My favorite is soup. I recieved a 27qt pot
for a christmas present a few years ago and it makes a huge batch of soup. I will usually freeze 5-6 gallons of soup after cooking one meal. You can also do this with waffles and pancakes, peas, beans, and other legumes.This simple steps can cut your cooking time during the week in half. be sure to experiment with your favorite items to see how much time you can save.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
If I only had more time...how many times have you said this? It would be easy to watch the sales if I just had more time. If you are like me, you probably have a bad habit of waiting until you run out of the grocery items you need before you decide to buy them. You jump in the car and run to the grocery store and purchase the item, usually at regular price. This may help you get dinner on the table tonight, but it will end up costing you in the long run.
I recommend making a grocery list that you can put on the side of your fridge or pantry door. Here is a link to a pre-made list that you can edit for your own needs.
"Grocery list with space for brand"
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/TC010186181033.aspx?pid=CT102530571033&WT.mc_id=42
Find more templates (including more Home templates) at http://office.microsoft.com/templates
If you have never used microsoft templates before, they are great. You can templates that download to Word or Excel for anything you need help with.
Make sure your grocery list has all of the staple items you use cooking on a weekly basis. When you use an item and only have enough left for one more use, add it to the grocery list. Check the local grocery adds each week and purchase any item that is on sale that you have added to your grocery list. You will find yourself buying more items that are on your list and fewer items you have ran out of. Within a month, you will notice a significant difference in your grocery budget.
Here is an example.
Ground beef: 10lb family pack
Regular price: $2.99/lb = 29.99
Sales Price: $1.29/lb = 12.99
Instant savings: $17.00
I recommend setting a goal of purchasing 80% of all staple items through sales within two months. Don't try and do it all the first weekend. Don't forget to shop the sales at all the different stores in your area. I recommend watching the sales at 3-4 grocery stores. Most stores rotate their sales every 12 weeks.
Be sure to watch out for Part 4 of Taking Control of Your Grocery Budget coming up in a few days!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
In order to make the most out of weekly sales and items purchased at warehouse stores, you will need to setup a place to store extra grocery items. There are two things to consider when planning for extra storage. The first you will need is a place to store your dry goods. Items like canned goods, flour, sugar, and condiments can usually be store in a cool, dry place for up to several years. The second item you need to consider investing in is a freezer. A freezer can help save money on perishable items like meat, fish, bread, and milk.
Make plans and schedule 3 to 4 hours one weekend to set up your storage space. Before the weekend arrives, write out a plan that includes the location of your dry storage space and a freezer. These can be in separate parts of the home. For me, I have both places in my garage. In your plan, also include a list of items you will need to complete your storage area. The main item you will need is shelving. There are many types of shelving that can be used, just make sure the ones you use can hold the weight of heavy dry goods. You can find heavy duty plastic shelving
at most discount and home building material stores. If you are tight on money, see my upcoming article on ways to make storage shelving for free. All you will need is a hammer, a saw, and a few nails.
at most discount and home building material stores. If you are tight on money, see my upcoming article on ways to make storage shelving for free. All you will need is a hammer, a saw, and a few nails. For dry storage, you do not need a very large space to store a large amount of groceries. I utilized the space under the staircase in my garage. You need enough space to setup four or five shelving units. A free closet, a corner in the garage, or floor attic space will do well for this.
If you do not own a freezer, consider investing in one. It will pay for itself in just a few months. Over half of the average household's grocery budget is spent on meat. However, most grocery stores will rotate sales on different types of meat every month. If you have a freezer, you can purchase large quantities of meat while they are on sale and freeze them for use later.
When buying a freezer, you need to determine how much space you have available to setup a freezer. This will give you an idea on what size and type you will need to buy. Next determine how much money you can afford to invest. Currently, places like Sears, Lowes, and Home Depot are running no interest and/or no payments for most appliances. If you are able to take advantage of these deals, you can pay for your freezer with the savings you have from sales items over the next few months. I prefer to buy a chest
freezer because they are a little cheaper and if the power goes out, they will keep your food colder longer than an upright
. Another thing to consider when buying a freezer is the size. You do not need a large 21 cubic feet freezer to freeze a large amount of food. For example, a 14 cubic foot chest freezer can hold around 800 pounds of food. That is a years worth of meat and perishables for the average family.
Once your space is complete, you are ready to move to the next step. See the upcoming blog for Part 3 of Taking Control of the Grocery Budget.
The grocery budget is one area of our household budget that we can actually control each month. With more and more people out of work and the economy still weak, most households struggle each month to meet the monthly budget. After talking with friends and coworkers, I have found out that many people spend up to 50% more on groceries than they need to. I am not talking about eating less or buying fewer groceries. I am talking about shopping smarter. What I have found out, is buy implementing these five simple steps into my monthly grocery shopping, I was able to reduce my budget by 60% and end up with more groceries in the pantry.
Below you will find 5 steps that you can take to help control your grocery budget. I will go into each step in detail in upcoming blogs. To be successful with this, I recommend making a plan and setting short term and long term goals. Many people give up before they see the results because they try to do to much in the beginning and get frustrated and quit. Take one step at a time and implement them in stages. After a month, you will have all steps in place and should see a significant savings in your grocery bill.
Step 1 - Plan ahead. Don't wait and buy groceries because you run out and must buy groceries to prepare a meal. Keep a running list of items you are getting low on. You could pay twice the price of items you run out on at regular price compared to the same item bought when they go on sale.
Step 2 - Shop outside your box. Plan ahead and shop multiple stores to get the best price on the items you need. Most towns have three to four grocery and drug stores and many have a warehouse savings store. If you purchase all of your groceries at one store, then you will usually pay twice as much for 60% of your grocery items each month. Shopping at multiple stores and taking advantage of their specific sales will greatly reduce your grocery budget.
Step 3 - Prepare your home for extra storage and/or bulk storage. Most homes have a free closet or extra corner in the garage that you can turn into extra storage for commonly used grocery items. You do not need a large space to store a lot of grocery items. Consider investing in a freezer if you do not already have one. Meat can make up 40% or more of our monthly grocery bill. If you have a freezer, you can take advantage of meat sales through the month and really cut down the grocery bill.
Step 4 - Mix up the recipes. Most of us have a bad habit of dinning our or ordering delivery because we do not want the "same old thing" again. Instead of spending the extra money, look for a different recipe using the same ingredients.
Step 5 - Take advantage of the sales. This is one of the easiest and most profitable ways to greatly cut the grocery bill. I know what you are thinking; I don't have time to go through sales papers and clip coupons. You don't have to. Check back to see the upcomming blog on taking advantage of sales, without having to spend hours going through sales papers.
By implementing these five simple steps into your monthly routine, you will be suprised how much money and time you can save on your grocery shopping and budget.
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