As a kid growing up in Brooklyn , N.Y. during the early 30's when this country was coming out of the Great Depression our family did not have food to waste and we rarely ever had leftovers. This was just a fact of life and it has stuck with me ever since.
When we were raising our family of 5 children and I was cooking 3 times a day for 7 plus anyone else who happened to be in the house we never wasted food either and we did have leftovers that I was able to turn into a delicious side dish or main dish depending on how much was left over.
As the children grew and left to go out into the world on their own we eventually came down to cooking for two and for sure we never wasted food, we ate what was on sale or what we grew and we never had a problem with leftovers since neither of us are picky eaters. Plus the use of our small freezer took the monotony out of having the same thing two days in a row.
Now we are at a stage in our lives, in 2008, that the skyrocketing cost of fuel, food and everything is making us glad that both of us still have our lessons 101 in "how to survive the great depression" because we are going into what we personally consider to be the mother of all recessions.
Here are some hints on how to save money on food purchases and how not to waste food.
- Try to buy most of what you need each week from one or more store's loss leaders.
- If there is a sale stock up on it in the event you have the extra cash to do it.
- Do not buy your groceries with your credit card. I don't care how many sky miles and things that are offered; it will not offset the cost. Pay with a check or only take so much cash with you and only spend the amount you have set aside for that week's groceries.
- Find a grocery salvage store and buy those scratch and dent cans and boxes. Last week I purchased over $123.00 worth of groceries for under $22.00 and nearly all of them had a "use by" date that was way into the end of 2009. Plus I have checked with several manufacturers and have been told by their customer service that most products are good for at least one year past the "use by" date.
- Don't buy name brand items. These are items that have the cost of TV and magazine advertising tacked on to them.
- Use coupons only if it is for an item you usually buy.
- Have space for a small garden? Then plant one because a 20 foot by 20 foot garden will feed 4 people.
- Take prepared foods, such a prepared dinners, chips, processed foods out of your diet. They are really not good for you and you are paying more for them.
- Don't cook more than you need for each person at each meal. Even when we have guests we rarely serve "family style". I serve portioned meals from the stove and from appetizer to desert everyone's appetite is completely satisfied.
- Keep apples, fruit in season, carrot and celery stick handy for the kids and even yourself to snack on instead of prepared chips etc.
- Going out to a restaurant to eat? Then seriously think about how you order. In the United States the restaurants always serve portions of food that are too large and we wind up taking home doggies bags or leftovers.
- When we go out to eat, we each look at the menu and then decide what we can live with. i.e. Fish and chips usually come with 2 or 3 pieces of fish and lots of fries and coleslaw. Enough for two, so we share. Today we went to the state fair and Carl bought a plate of those curly fries that were plenty for two and an Italian sausage sandwich that was loaded with peppers and onions cut in half it was plenty enough for two especially with the curly fries. He also bought a soft drink with no ice. Why fill up a cup with ice and then fill one's cup up with the soft drink? The soft drink comes through tubes that are refrigerated and so are the tanks of soft drink. Two straws did the trick on the soft drink. So instead of paying $25.00 for two of everything that we would not either is able to finish or be so stuffed we would have needed a nap, we paid $12.50 and enjoyed a nice modest lunch. We do this now even in fine dining restaurants. Think about it. If Carl wants an entre that comes with salad and he does not want the salad he tells them to bring it and if the soup of the day is something I like then that is all I order and I wind up dining on a large salad and a bowl of good soup and he has the entre he wants.
