How to Stretch a Meagre Grocery Budget?

I think looking for sales is the best thing. Not to mention buying in bulk when things are on sale when you can. It is hard to balance, but it does need some creativity. You are on the right track stocking up things. Just keep your eyes pealed for deals and spend smartly. That is about the only thing that I can mention to help you.

Beans are an inexpensive source of protein. They helped my folks survive during the depression. There is a great verity of beans an there lot of things you can do with them. http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf20174591.tip.html Debra Frick give how to cook the beansas well as the equivalent of dry to cooked. and http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf41297362.tip.html. gives her favorite recipe. You can search the web for bean burgers and bean dishes. There are at least 16 verities. I haven’t tried all of them. I do use the pintos, great northern, black and red. One shouldn’t get tired of them. They are really inexpensive . Something else I would do is start getting familiar with herbs and spices.. Some of my favorites are sage, thyme, rosemary, turmeric, Ginger. Herbs and spice can turn a blaa meal into a gourmet meal; At thriftyfun.com You can find recipes for making your own bisquick mix and more. http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf41871417.tip.html Substitute for Canned Cream Soup This also makes a good gravy or sauce. Thrifty fun also has a substitute recipes for boxed hamburger helper. This site is really good for saving money on food and other tips This is another good site Use this http://www.care2.com/greenliving/23-ingenious-uses-for-white-vinegar.html# and http://www.healthylivingblog.net/?p=165 for many use of whit vinegar and baking soda. I hope these site help.

The real killer in any budget is rent or a mortgage. In Australia, a third of your salary goes into rent. You have to learn to adapt to your condition. You cannot rent a place while working, and expect to stay in that same place while not working. By cutting down the cost of renting, and finding alternatives to save on utilities, you can live quite confortably on little money. I have done this myself since I am not working anymore, and I live almost as well as when I was working. I did not even sacrifice my comfort by renting some horrible place. I just changed of suburb. You just find a similar place in a cheaper suburb. A loaf of bread cost $3.60 in Australia. Everything here would be more expensive than in Canada.

can you get help from food banks? i am in hamilton and are in a similar boat however, we dont qualify for banks because we own our own house. hubby was off work for 9 months and i only work 3 mornings a week due to health issues. where do you grocery shop? we shop at basics and freshco and their prices on bread are cheaper than that. prices here in canada are higher than in the us and sometimes it is hard to survive. we got a breadmaker from friends so we make our own bread (try to get one on freecycle). we also go to a butchers to get soup bones (just over a dollar) we eat a lot of pasta and rice and soup. you could also visit the library for cookbooks on thrifty cooking. hope this helps.

Being in Canada as well...i know that if i go to co-op sobey or superstore and buy their bakery bread its usually 1.29 if you buy 4 its a little less and you freeze them. Superstore/extra foods has Dollar days sales that are awesome to shop at. Especially for soups and rices and and some frozen goods. I've found the quicker and easier something is to make..the more expensive it is...So...by buying main ingredients and making things from scratch saves ALOT of money. Coupons from save.ca and brandsaver.ca and a site called smartcanucks (also has other deals posted) are a BIG help for saving money

My fiance actually saw your question and he gave me the answer straightforward. When going grocery shopping, always opt for the shop brand not the famous brands because those shop brands will be a lot cheaper than the well-known brands like for example, beans, instead of Heinz try looking for their home brand name like for us here in UK, Asda or Morrisons and the likes. Always be on the lookout for the reduced items in the reduced section because you can always freeze them especially the meat, the bread, dairy products etc. Just because they are reduced doesn't mean they need to be used immediately. Also look for the special offers like 2 for 1 or buy one get one free especially those basic necessities like bread, milk, meat etc. And do not stick to just one grocery shop, try doing a price check on every supermarket to see who sells the lower price on your basic needs. Not all items in one grocery shop are cheap, some shops sell cheaper bread than the other but the next shop may be selling cheaper meats. It would also help, I don't know if you do this, to make a shopping list so you don't go over the budget. Hope that helps in any way. Good luck and happy mylotting!

I'm in Canada too. Grocery prices have really climbed in the last few years, haven't they? I've been trying really hard to economize but it's hard when things really aren't cheaper. I have been making my own baby food by mashing up cooked fruit like apples or regular fruit like bananas. I have mashed up potatoes (plain) and bits of steamed chicken (just the white meat), as well as yams. Yams are only a savings when they go on sale. One large yam makes as much as 4 jars of food. I boil them and then drain most of the water and mash. Carrots are only a savings when you buy them in bulk. This year I am going to try planting the carrot tops to see if new carrots will grow. Mostly because I am curious. I have been baking my own biscuits to eat with eggs or with stews. If you buy the baking powder in bulk and the flour in bulk, this does actually work out to a savings, but again, not much of one. I could bake my own bread, but I'm a bit intimidated by that idea. I do make my own pizza dough. I bake a lot of muffins and that is what we have for snacks. If I mash up banana for the baby, I mash some up for muffins at the same time. In the summer we go berry picking. Blackberries and other kinds of berries can be found wild - free! I put them in muffins. I signed up for as many free coupons and free samples as I could find online. This helps me to stretch our shampoo and toothpaste, etc. $120 per month for groceries plus other needs is a challenge!

Well, that sounds like it would be hard. I would say go with boxed foods, canned foods, dehydrated foods, and try to cut down on meat, which tends to be the most expensive thing of all. I remember one year my dad made us drink dehydrated milk, which is pretty much milk powder mixed with water - and it was really gross (I don't suggest it), but I think it was a little insider frugal 'tip' he came up with. Ha. I would also try shopping at an Aldi if you have one nearby. I'm not sure where you live, but it's a discounted grocery store, and they actually have some really good deals.

One of the really frugal meals that our family likes to enjoy is soup beans and cornbread. When I make this for our family, I am able to feed all four of us (two adults, two children aged 4 and 8) for about $4 and still have leftovers. It is a bag of pinto beans (some ham pieces if you can afford it) and cornbread that is made from scratch. Another very cheap option is to do eggs because they are relatively inexpensive as well.

How much time and strength do you have for cooking? do you have cooking skills? what other resources do you have? where do you shop? All these will affect my answer. Here are some basic ideas to start you: * is powdered milk less expensive? what about canned (evaporated)? * legumes are a great cheap source of protein. Lentils don't have to be soaked, many beans do. (look online for directions) * how many different kinds of soaps do you use- do you use different soap for hands and showers? If they are liquid, they can be diluted. *are there stores you can get to that discount at the end of the day or week, especially perishables? * in the produce department, set a maximum price per kg, and buy any produce less than that. look up (online) how to prepare them, * does your community have any aid programs? I hope this gives a start. Good luck and don't lose hope.