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Large families and groceries… (& hard boiled eggs)
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Hey Misty,
I use vinegar for our softener. Just pour it right into the softener dispenser in the washing machine. It works great and is much cheaper!
-Rebecca
I use Charlie’s soap and I have found that after using it the initial time, I do not need softener at all. I sometimes make my own soap, but I find Charlie’s soap to be super economical. Also a little white vinegar in the rinse water can take away the need for softener. Hugs, Linda
what is charlies soap? I’ve heard of it but that’s it. Also is that cheaper than making it? Or just a more convenent soap?
I still use fabric softener. I buy the uber-concentrated kind, so one bottle lasts me several months and costs less than $4. I’ve wanted to jump on the vinegar boat for a long time and didn’t have the guts. I do use white vinegar in my dishwasher’s Jet Dry dispenser. It’s SO much cheaper than even generic Jet Dry.
I don’t have time to post all the links, but all the recipes on the Penny-wise blog are very money-saving. We don’t post any recipes that call for fancy, expensive ingredients. Most recipes can be doubled or tripled very easily, and have been tested to prove that they’re good. If you have questions about any specific recipe, you can contact us from the blog. One of us is bound to have tested the recipe in question and can give you honest feedback.
Blessings,
Lindsey
Here is the link to Charlies – I really like it because I like gentle and if I find it economical – you can buy it through them, or through Amazon or through various other places. I sometimes make my own detergent, but often I will use this, as it is great for soaking things in and as we use a lot of cloth products – I need a good soaking solution. You could likely make it cheaper, but I find this better than anything I have made. It is a personal preference. I use one tiny scoop per load, and it works great. I also love the Oxyboost from this website:
and I have yet to find a stain this does not remove after soaking in it. I use it for the female sanitary protection and it works wonderfully well – even better than Charlie’s for that type of stain. It is also very economical long term though expensive when you first buy a tub of it. I buy the large size and it lasts me 9 months to a year.
Linda
Oh I should add, that I like the products I mentioned especially for the convenience as this past year has been hectic with illness and I have not made as much homemade stuff as I usually do, just the cleaners and things like that. So yes this is a convenience thing – but for us also economical long term.
Helpful hints for hungry kiddos – when giving them fruit or grains ALWAYS include a fat. The children are growing fast, so they need the *good* fats anyway for proper brain development, etc. This is also not a bad idea for adults, but some do better w/ fats than others just like everything else.
So, if you are givng out fruits and veggies, include nut butter, mashed avocados (doesn’t have to be true guac.), or hummus (cheep to make). If you are doing the whole grains, include butter, nut butters, etc on them as well. The fats slow the breakdown of the carbs so the body is satiated for longer periods of time.
Also, if you are able to do so, purchasing a juicer, food processor, and blender make cooking from scratch SO much easier. I know budgets are tight, but *if* you have a Good Will or other second hand store about, check them out. I found a brand new ice cream maker like the one we had already in GW for $8.00. I wanted an extra bowl since it only make a quart of ice cream to keep in the freezer anyway, and to order new online would have been $30 or so. So for a fraction of the cost, I got a whole unit that works perfectly, and we are able to make our own DF/SF/GF ice creams, etc. for our family of 7.
I have seen: Omega Juicer for less that $15.00, several assorted blenders for $5 or less, popcorn poppers, food processors, and even a canner in excellent condition for $10. So even though I have to drive about 35 minutes to get to this store, I am still saving money if I find something we need that will ultimately pare down our food bills.
When buying your groceries, buy things that will give you more bang for your buck. I can get three meals out of a whole chicken. Always, always, always make broth from the bones. I put it in freezer containers and freeze it for later. Ditto on the fats. They are SO important. I’m blessed enough to be able to make pounds and pounds of butter from our milk, but never skimp on real fats…butter, tallow, lard, coconut oil. Look around your area for farmers who may be a source for some of these.
I just want to say that you all amaze me with your chickens, and cows, and home made everything! I grew up in the country (or so I thought) where we did pick vegies and freeze them, but that’s all I’ve seen done or learned to do!
I would have no earthly idea how to make butter! LOL
I guess that is why I too have a grocery bill that is not making me happy 🙂
I’ve never even thought about doing some of these things!
Amanda
Oh Amanda, butter is SO easy! (Lest you think I’m little miss Laura Ingalls, I grew up in a subdivision and had never even touched a cow until two years ago…when we bought our first one before we even had a barn! We stopped off and bought the barn on the way home from buying the cow!!!!! I just tend to jump off the deep end with everything.)
Butter – you can just buy heavy cream from the store. I let mine come to room temp. I make mine in a KitchenAid mixer. You can also use a food processor. Put the cream in there and turn it on. (If using the mixer, make sure you cover it with a cloth. It will splatter everywhere.) It’s fun to watch the transformation. You can stop it at one point and have whipped cream. Let it go until it “breaks” or separates. You will have butter (the solid part) and buttermilk. Scoop out the butter. I use a fine-meshed sieve. Run it under cold water and press as you do, getting out as much buttermilk as possible. Salt if desired. Put in fridge. My butter is very bright yellow because my cows are on luch pasture. The butter you make from store bought cream will be more white, but still delicious.
OR fun for the kids (or just an economical way to make it if you don’t have the equipment) is to put the cream in a jar and let them take turns shaking it. It will take several minutes to turn to butter. We did this at one of my story times I have in my lending library. Then we served the butter on bread. The kids thought it was the greatest thing.
So, if you are givng out fruits and veggies, include nut butter, mashed avocados (doesn’t have to be true guac.), or hummus (cheep to make). If you are doing the whole grains, include butter, nut butters, etc on them as well. The fats slow the breakdown of the carbs so the body is satiated for longer periods of time.
never skimp on real fats…butter, tallow, lard, coconut oil.
I was going to express the same thing, so thank ya’ll for expressing here.
Any of you that get half-cows can make your own tallow. Hopefully, it’s all-to-mostly grass-fed cow leftovers to make the tallow from and pastured pig to make the lard, otherwise it’s not beneficial and you’d be wise to direct your attention to the other fats-coconut oil, palm oil, and butter from grass-fed cows which is easy to find (though expensive) or make (which is easy thanks to food processors and my Bosch mixer). Although raw milk is more expensive than chemically altered milk, I can make more with it so it works out; cultured butter and buttermilk, kefir, yogurt, farmer cheese, kefir cheese, yogurt cheese, and my next endeavor – cottage cheese. There’s no waste because even if the milk sours, it is used in cooking projects.
@sheraz: I will PM you on how we create a mindset for butchering our chickens that we’ve raised ourselves, so as not to veer off topic.
You can make your own canned beans, too, once you learn to can; same with creamed soups once you start making veggie, lamb, beef and chicken stocks.
There’s ways to reduce your use of the freezer (in case there’s an electricity issue in our future and electricity $ going up, which may well be the case)by lacto-fermenting, drying, canning and root cellaring if you can (something I don’t have yet
)Just look at your receipt and discern what can be made at home and pick one and start there. Give yourself a challenge as to how long you can go between grocery store trips. You may not be able to do it yet; after you’ve built up some bulk items. You’ll be amazed how often some of those trips become unnecessary.
I too find paper plates to be a sanity saver during those times when there are a lot of doctor’s appts. and health emergencies for my husband though when push comes to shove, I could live without. I am downsizing the amount of utensils, cups and plates available for use to reduce dish pile-up, thereby using the D/W less, thereby reducing electricity use=$
I still buy fabric softener, because my husband has neuropathy of his skin so he is very sensitive, but only 2x a year; I cut it by half with white vinegar into 3-4 bottles and then when those get down to half, I fill it back up with vinegar again. I just keep doing this until it’s the palest white or when he complains-whichever comes first!
I’m sure there are other tips I’m forgetting, but the other ladies have given great info.
HTH,
Rachel
I just remembered: bread crumbs and bread cubes
Using your homemade bread (or store bought if you want), use the failures, bread that’s gone stale, and the heels of the bread to make bread crumbs and bread cubes. Just toast them, let them cool and either cut them into cubes for certain recipes and/or grind them into bread crumbs. I put them in the freezer until needed.
That saves you money on buying the expensive, packaged, additive filled, yet very useful bread crumbs.
Cut out juice purchases; they are expensive and very unhealthy. Switch to whey, lemon juice water for summer refreshment (my children’s favorite), various herb teas and fruit teas ( when the watermelon comes in, it is very useful as a tea base due to all the water content).
Lastly, for now anyway, is using preserving to make snacks and sides for lunches. For examples, we all know that pickles are handy to have around as a side or snack. Well, some of our other favorites are:
pickled watermelon rind (now you know what to do with all that leftover rind!),
sauerkraut and pickled/fermented veges, like beets and carrots, etc.
You can make your own salad dressings and dips very easily with just bases of yogurt and kefir, balsamic vinegar and olive oil and wine vinegars, ketchup for thousand island and adding herbs and other yummy additons to get the flavor you like;
then there’s making your own mayo with olive oil and sunflower oil (or coconut, but I haven’t tried yet); it’s quite easy, too.
So there are some more ideas; once you get started, you keep trying more!
Rachel
Wow you guys have some great ideas. I thought I already trimmed all the fat out of our bill but now I have more ideas….
Just wanted to say….if you don’t grow all of your own veggies ……we get ours at the farmers market instead of the store….we canspend about $20 ish dollars and get lots of fruits and veggies to last our family of 7 a week sometimes longer. (of our 5 kids 2 are teenage boys)
Also for bread….I make croutons and bread crumbs but we also make cinnamon bites….I cut bread that is going old into bite size cubes and sprinkle with a touch of cinnamon and bake….they make a good snack…
I would love some of your tried and true recipes-like watermelon rind. All the recipes I came up with on google had multiple cups of sugar in them. Do you have one that uses little to no sugar or honey instead?
What do those of you who don’t have a garden do for fruits and veggies? A garden was out of the question for this year. I do pretty good on finding other staples (grains, meat, beans, etc) for good prices and keep those pretty stocked up but fruits and veggies have always stumped me.
-Rebecca
The biggest problem I find here is spoilage. Back home in Europe we don’t tend to have the giant fridges and freezers you do here, and I would shop at the local farm market daily to buy the produce I needed, so there was no waste – here that is not practical and because of the climate I guess things spoil much quicker here. In England and Germany I used to purchase a sack of potatoes in September to last the winter and keep it in my garage, they would last with no problem at all – I could keep all my root veg like that as well – here things are rotten very fast. Any tips for me on that please? Linda
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