I was hoping to start a thread for those of us feeling the effects of rising gas and grocery prices.

I have a family of six and I also babysit so this recent inflation is hurting.

Ideas for saving money?
Cheap recipes?
Whatever it is...please share.

Also if you have any money saving ideas when it comes to cake decorating please add!

This is a good idea!

www.grocerygame.com you can join if you so choose and get money saving advice - they will tell you when to use what cupon, where. It does save you a lot of money, however, it will take some time to get going. Also I no longer do the game, because my family no longer eats many of the items that are on cupons, (hamburger helper, etc.) I got sick a little while ago, and went to many organic/no red meat items... and have never felt better so I need to stick with this. However, for many families this is will work and did save me a lot of money and had my family stocked on groceries for 6 months (we only had to buy milk, bread and eggs for 6 months) It was great!

You can also buy at Sam's club/Cosco -- or share a membership with someone and split the goods if you do not use a lot of a certain product.

I use a lot of 40 and 50% off cupons for Ac moore/Michaels to get cake decorating items or if something is on sale really cheap like AC moore a few weeks ago had Wilton pans 2 for 5 dollars - I got some cupcake pans.

I'll be watching this thread - hopefully others will have some good advice as well!

If an item is on sale that I use I stock up on it. This one may sound odd, but I always make sure to buy the really good brand of toilet paper. It may cost more but it last longer than the cheaper brands (may I suggest the new and improved Charmin Ultra brand ) This saves money in the long run.
I also clip coupons and use my discount cards for grocery stores. However, I drive a Expedition which is a large SUV that just sucks down the gas. I have a family of 6 and haul stuff so no getting around it. Sometimes it's actually cheaper for me to pay more for some items at one store than it is to drive to a farther away one.
I buy my kids clothes from 2nd hand stores, get hand me downs and buy at the end of the season clearance items to hold till they grow into them. I hate shopping and if I have the money I spend it on my kids and DH first.
I also buy all of my soaps, shampoos and what-not when on sale. I have shelves in a room with all of my stock items. My friends laugh and say I'm still stuck in my "always be prepared" phase, but when you have a family that's large and tight on money you have to plan ahead.
One of my friends was doing a cooking day swap. This is where you and your friends cook large portions of meals for a week, swap portions of them and then freeze. She would end up with meals for 3 weeks in her freezer by doing this. --Saved her money--(not my thing though)
I tend to try to buy in bulk and freeze when I can. I prefer healthy foods so the money I spend on food is mostly fresh fruit and veggies. I buy from local farmers and markets when in season. This not only helps me out, but them and our local economy also.
I try to do as much from scratch when I can for cooking. It may cost more to do, but it sharpens my skills, and gives me greater amounts in the long run so it sometimes actually costs less. I go to the dollar stores and discount stores (like dollar general) for lunch box items and odd's and end's.

What we are doing is putting our Tax rebate in the bank... it's only going to get worse and right now, we need it more then the economy.

were also putting our tax rebate money right into the bank .. my brother told me that's not really what the purpose of it is meant for, that I should run out into the world and buy a bunch of nonsense that I don't need only to get the economy going for what, another month or two? and then what? I would rather have MY money in MY bank so I can use it when I need it .. heck, at this rate, I will put the money in the bank, and then when I really do need to buy something, I will be able to pull out a few grand, put gas in the car, and then go look at what I really need, still unable to buy it because I had to get gas in the car in the first place! I understand this money is meant to get the economy going, but I guess I would rather have it in my hands so when it gets even worse, we have a little safety nest ... sorry to get off topic!

I read and/or belong to many frugal sites, here are some URLs. The black sections belong to the previous URL, the server wouldn't let me post it all at once. Just remove the space between, and it will take you there
(I have some of these sites only because of the food section, so the rest of the site might not be something you're interested in... )
http://standeyo.com/News_Files/menu.foodother.html
http://waltonfeed.com/self/index.html
http://www.y2kkitchen.com/index.html
http://www.mrssurvival.com/
http://www.stretcher.com/index.cfm
http://www.curevents.com/vb/forumdisplay.php ?s=bd571a6f21edbb29ac2d301487c7b5b0&daysprune=&f=14
http://budget101forums.com/
http://www.y2kkitchen.com/html/recipes.html
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/cooking
http://budget101forums.com/
http://www.frugal.org.uk/recipes.html
http://www.homestead.org/
http://minionreport.net/forum/forumdisplay.php ?s=bd571a6f21edbb29ac2d301487c7b5b0&daysprune=&f=16
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/category/food/
http://www.florilegium.org/
http://www.thousandeggs.com/
http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/html/browse.html
http://survival.com/IVB/index.php ?s=e8367c6b5001bcf7accf02efe0ae3421&showforum=17
http://www.primitiveways.com/
http://www.emergencyprep.net/starting.shtml
http://openforums.titus2.com/module/forums/f/Recipes/
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php
http://paleodiet.com/
http://www.thatcakeboard.net/iboard/

Yeah, we are definitely feeling it. All extraneous outings have been swapped for going to the park for entertainment. We're even eating cheap, hamburger helpers, spaghetti and such.

We're splitting our stimulus check: half toward debt and half in savings. If I can pay off a couple credit cards that will free up that extra money each month to put real food on the table and enough gas in the tank to actually leave the house.

I do the grocery game, and I can honestly say that it has been a lifesaver for our family. We used to buy groceries that we needed for that week because that was all our budget allowed. Now there are weeks when I only buy milk, bread, and produce. That money can go into savings or to pay something off. It really has been a lifesaver for us! If you want more info, feel free to pm me. I only run errands on one day, and we rarely eat out anymore. We are using our rebate check to get a Geo Metro or something similar. I drive an Explorer, and gas is killing me. We only budget around $40 per week for gas, and are sticking to it. I now get much less gas, so we stay home more! A fuel efficient car will help us so much. We can't really afford a car payment, and thought buying a used Metro or something similar for our normal driving would help us more than putting that check into savings. We'll be able to put the $ we aren't spending on gas into savings, and will probably have most of it back within 6 months or so. Good luck! I get angry every time I drive by a gas station these days! Dairy and produce prices are thru the roof here, and I'm sure will only get worse! We've been doing fun things at home so we don't drive anywhere!

a geo metro is a smart idea .. we have a 2000 chevy prizm, basically the same thing, and we just got back home from MI to TN and gas round trip cost us 100.00 .. Not bad, and DEFINITELY something we couldn't have done in our grand am .. I am amazed at how many SUV's are out on the road .. my uncle drives a regular chevy 1500 pickup and to fill it it cost's him 100.00 these days .. that is outrageous ..

I agee about the better toilet paper...however...don't use the extra strength Charmin (in the red pkg), feels like wiping with sand paper!!
It is really hard out there. My husband and I own a towing company and have to stay competetive with our charges, but with diesel fuel being $4.50 a gallon it is hard. We filled one of our trucks up yesterday and it cost $597.00!! I almost crapped my pants! . I try to make my trips into town (we live in the country) count. Instead of going 3 or 4 times a week, I just go once and get everything done at one time.
Clipping coupons helps too...just don't do like I do and leave them at home on the counter when it's time to go grocery shopping! I think that instead of getting rebate checks, that the President should make these oil companies lower their prices and that would make a lot of things go down in price!!!

Nancy

We have been living off of one pot meals revolving around egg noodles, pastas, or rice.

Beef and noodles
taco noodles
chicken and noodles
chili mac
chicken and rice
dirty rice
spaghetti (throw in cottage cheese for "lasagna" lol)
red beans and rice with smoked sausage

Thankfully my kids are good eaters and eat just about anything I put in front of them.


Thank God for peanut butter and jelly...

We were out of bread and had leftover hot dog buns from camping. So I used them to make pb&j sandwiches, lol. Its all about how you market stuff to kids, lol. They thought it was cool.

I don't know if this is true or not, but I heard that there is now a rice limit. If you go to sam's or cosco they will limit the amount of rice you are able to buy ...

maryjsgirl, what are taco noodles? sounds interesting ...

sounds interesting .. .might have to try it some night!

I think we all are going through the same thing.I am really afraid for the country right now, and it all boils down to one thing. Gas. It touches everything. I am only 22 but my parents own their own print shop and for the last 3 years it has been run my them and me. People come into the shop and ask why business card prices are going up, we say because paper costs are up because of gas. They look at me like I am nuts. Then they go to a big name store like Kinkos were the service is crap but their prices don't change because its a huge corporation which makes its money from its FedEx services anyway.
I am also in college (graduate in December) and commute to school, 65 miles one way. In 04 we bought the F 150 I drive but now it costs 50 dollars for me to go to school and back 3 times a week.
Business is the worst they have seen it in the 28 years they have been in business and there no end in sight. But over all I can see it in all the customers faces that walk into the store, its the look of defeat. I see it on my parents faces too and it makes me angry. People are working hard and most of them don't mind as long as they are seeing some kind of return. As it stands people, my family included, are just getting up going to work and trying to make ends meet and it takes a lot out of you. My Mom hates the face that we cant even go out to eat anymore really, we are a family of 6 so even a "cheap" meal is 50 bucks. We don't have any fun anymore, life is not a big party and I know that. I don't expect to be happy all the time, but when you just never seem to be able to catch up much less get ahead its exhausting.

Please, Aliwis000
Check out some of those links I posted earlier. They are a huge help to many people.

And when your customers ask why the prices are going up, tell them your paper and ink is delivered by trucks, and trucks use gas. One must remember that everything is trucked in this country. It comes in by plane, or train, or boat, and then onto a truck.

We are feeling it big time here too. We just sat down with our finances and made a few changes. Going out to eat is no longer an option and it kills me when my kids ask to on the w/e and we have to day no. We just changed our cable package and reduced our monthly payment by 50$ or so. I only go to the food store once a week now instead of 5 times a week as I ran out of stuff. I find if I go once a week and ONLY buy what we ran out of I save $$$ I have stopped using the kiddie paper plates, saves money and the environment No camps for my kids this summer ( SO not fair), I got rid of my bi-monthly house cleaner and we are getting rid of Netflix. No more Starbucks 3 times a week. Basically anything that is not essential got tossed. We had a trip planned to Disney way before things got so bad and now I feel so guilty we are spending the money to go but it was planned long ago. This whole country is going to...... insert not nice word

The country is in bad shape. However I watched my husband watched a program this morning and there was an analyst on it (he was watching our local news) The analyst estimates that the "pinch" and economic hardship will last another 6 to 8 months.
It is frustrating and very sad that our country gets this way, however, I believe the government is solely responsible and are doing many of this on purpose - IE. It is a Presidential voting year. It does not matter who gets in office, no matter who things will get remotely better after they are in to smooth the waters and then we will all think that we are ok again.

SueW - Have a great time in Disney - you have waited a long time, and believe me I know fully how you feel... You need to go, enjoy yourself, maybe instead of purchasing food for the trip down, while driving (ie. going out to eat and such, or flying .. ) bring snacks, sandwhiches (if flying you'll have to check with your flight plans to see if you can bring snacks and such) While down in disney, instead of eating out everynight, go to a close grocery store and purchase mickey and minnie eggo waffles, have breakfast in the hotel/or where you are staying... or lunch meat to have a quick lunch.) Limit souviners to one per house hold member, or a special spending limit per house hold member. Don't try to buy something for every family member. Encourage children to bring birthday money/chore money to spend on them selves beyond what you have limited for them if they choose.

As for camps -- If they really want to go, you could have them sell ham and cheese sandwhiches (my church does this for the kids to go to summer camp) or many places have fundraisers. You could also go to Sam's club and get the fundraiser packs of candy bars an sell them ... (if this does not help for this year, it could help for next year)

I hope some of these help -- I know how it is, I have a lawyer bill that just came in over a grand, and drs/operation bills that came in over 2 grand (with insurance thankfully) Plus all the other hub bub... driving to work 23 miles one way - It stinks but it will not last forever...

It is only DH and myself, but we are also trying to save more money. One way we do this is using left overs in other dishes. Example on Monday I cooked a large roast in the crock pot, before I served it for dinner I divided it up in to thirds. One third to eat Monday night, one third to to mix with BBQ sauce for BBQ sandwiches, and the last third for tacos. On the fourth night we will eat homemade pizza, then on friday it is omlets using all the leftover veggies and meats from the tacos and pizzas.

I find that if divide to food before I serve it, then my DH will not eat all of it

All for our meals are planned out and the week and the menu is posted on the fridge! That way I know what I need to buy for the week, and how I can reuse it. In addition I don't need to wonder "what's for dinner?" I try to have everything prechopped and already defrosted so when I get home I can start cooking. This way we do not need as many snacks, and we are not tempted to eat out as often. On Sundays I prepared all meals for the week. Potatoes can be peeled and placed in water and will keep for a long time. My fridge is stacked with tons of little gladware containers for the food already chopped and seasoned. This makes it easy for my hubby to cook. Open contain dump in pan cook for 20 minutes.

I try to eat healthy and do not want to pasta every night of the week. Also I look at the circulars for all the grocery stores in my area online print them off and go to wal-mart they will match the prices. This way I always get the cheapest food. I make a list and I must STICK TO THE LIST. If I think that I get carried away for a few weeks then I will start bringing cash only to the store and when I am out of cash I stop buying!

I only go to the store once a week! If I forget something then I will wait until next week to buy it or find a sub. This has helped me realize how much we really spent a week on food.

I also grow my own herbs in pots on my back porch, this year I added lettuce and it was already paid for itself. I tried to clip coupons but I always end up buying stuff I don't need.

Can I ask a question about The Grocery Game? I've tried going to the website and it completely crashes my computer.

I'm a pretty good grocery shopper. Buy most of our groceries at Super Walmart these days, and the majority of items that have a brand name are store brand. I typically spend $55 a week on groceries to feed 3 and a half (fourth child only here sometimes). I use coupons often for the rare items that I feel the need to buy a name brand...but I'm not so good that I always have a coupon.

I don't buy many "prepacked" sorts of things. No canned soups, no Hamburger Helper, etc.

Could someone like me benefit from The Grocery Game?

We're paying off our car with the stimulus check. We've only got a few more payments left, and not having to come up with that $245 a month will be a big help, especially because we just had to move unexpectedly...the foundation cracked in our apartment building and they assured us that it wouldn't fall down, but when you've got big cracks in the floor, ceiling and walls, it makes you wonder what's really holding up the building. So most of our emergency money went for our unexpected move, but it had to be done.

I don't work, and my husband is a security guard. We have two kids, so I've been playing the money-saving game for a while now. These are the things I've figured out:

Change the filter in the air conditioner every week in the summer (the cheap ones are about $3 for four of them at Walmart).

Hang curtains if you don't already have them, even on windows that have blinds. Curtains will block a lot of heat in the summer. If you have windows that let in too much light even with curtains, tack a vinyl tablecloth over the window, under your curtains.

Put weatherstripping around your front door if you don't have it already. If you feel cold air coming from your door when it's closed, you need more weatherstripping.

Don't eat fast food or go to restaurants...save it for a special treat.

Buy a bread machine and you won't feel as bad about not eating at restaurants. You can make bread sticks, pizza, bagels, cinnamon rolls, soft pretzels, regular rolls, etc... I even make pan dulce, it used to be a special treat but my daughter takes it to school sometimes and now the teachers ask for it all the time. I never bake in the bread machine, just use it to make the dough.

If you have more time than money, learn to cook a few things that take time but make cheap meals more special. I learned to cook flour tortillas, and now I can feed my family bean and cheese tacos and they act like it's a huge treat. It takes two cans of beans and the total cost of the meal, including tortilla mix, beans, cheese, rice and a can of tomato sauce, is about $3.50...to feed a family of four.

Rice is a great thing to eat when you're trying to save money. Even the fancier rices...basmati, jasmine, morelos...aren't that expensive. When you're cooking rice, if you don't want it to come out sticky, brown it lightly in a tablespoon of oil before you add the water to cook it. This works really well for spanish rice. If you're eating lots of rice, make sure you eat plenty of veggies too or you'll get backed up.

Using the crock pot is a good way to make tough meats more tender.

If there's somewhere you like to take your kids, see if they have a discount night. We go to the inflatable place on their half-price days and it only costs $10 for both kids to play as long as they want, and it's air conditioned in there. Also, find a friend who lives in an apartment complex with a swimming pool, and you'll be able to take your kids swimming for free all summer

Learn to cut hair and start giving your family haircuts. All you need for girls is scissors and a comb. For boys you need clippers, which cost between $10 and $20...but once you've cut their hair two or three times, you've at least paid for the clippers. I've been cutting my husband's hair for 8 years. One of my daughters has had one haircut at a salon, but all the other haircuts they've had have been at home. She only got one that time because she wouldn't sit still for me.

We buy clothes at the thrift stores. Both of my kids have enough clothes that I could go at least a month without doing any laundry (not that I DO). I don't save clothes for hand-me-downs because we get them so cheap and we have so little storage space. Also, my younger daughter doesn't really grow, so it might be 5 years before she fits my other daughter's stuff. So I sell the clothes on Craigslist when we're done with them, or give them to friends or someone in need, depending on how needy we are or aren't at that point

Not only money.. but can you all see a trend with how nasty people are getting anymore due to all of this ?

I hate to even shop at the nearest town due to all the nastiness I run into.

My kids used to always have to have somethiing different for dinner then what I fixed .. like DD (youngest) won't eat anything but chicken noodle soup... That changed.. I won't fix all different meals because of the kids.. they have to learn to eat what we have like I had to when I was growing up.

Here is what we have been fixing..

Spaghetti.. I make up the sauce which is very cheap to make and you have enough to freeze for the next week.

Sloppy Joes and homemade chips (potatos are a big thing here in the house)

Breakfast.. we have breakfast for dinner once a week..

Roast and potatoes ...

Sandwiches and soup .. it's good thing especially with being busy..

(try the recipe on Down home with the Neely's .. Veggie soup with pork chops YUMMMMMY and broccoli cheese cornbread)

Even the kids ate it!!!

If anyone is interested in trying the Grocery Game, it's only $1 for the 4 week trial period. DH and I saved over $1100 during our trial period. If you decide to give it a try, could you pm me? I can send you a link, and we get referral credit for it. If you try it because of this thread, could you pm so I can get the credit? Thanks!

Everyone check the manager markdown section at your grocery for meat! Our Kroger typically put it out on Wednesday morning, so that's when I shop. It's almost always marked down at least 50%. I bring it home and seperate it into freezer bags as soon as I get it, then into the freezer tagged and dated it goes. As long as it's frozen by the date or a day after, it's fine! Meat used to be one of those things that our budget only allowed us to buy what we needed for that week. Now, we have a freezer full of meat in our garage, and it's been so cheap!