Stocking up ........

So there we are at our local Aldi , hubby spies a good deal on a few things that were reduced because they were changing stuff around. We got a few weird looks, a couple raised eyebrows, and the poor cashier looked a little scared. But hey, we got enough diced tomatoes, chilli and spaghetti sauce for like 2 years.  At less than half price. It`ll be good to have the tomatoes to supplement what we already are planning to put up.  The hubby said at that price it was almost as cheap as the ones we grow and put up ourselves.  The chili will be great for quick meals on nights I have to work or lunches on the weekends.  The spaghetti sauce, hey as my four year old will contest "mom we eat way to much spaghetti around here". 

Lesson is, if you find a good deal, go nuts...you never know when you`ll need 4 cases of chilli. Hubby really, really likes that stuff. Shoulda seen how excited he was.

Another good idea is to shop sales, and use coupons.  You can get name brand stuff cheaper than bulk prices (like at sams club ) plus save gas from a trip to sams or costco.  For example, we buy all our paper products at a grocery store just a few miles from home. We save our coupons up and wait for them to go on sale, which they do every couple of months.  Then you got it, we go nuts again and restock the closet. We end up with plenty to last us until the next sale.

We learned a trick a long time ago about how to eat dinners cheaper too. We go and get a giant thing of hamburger meat, and make 3 or 4 meals off of it. When you buy a 5 lb. package, use a pound each for spaghetti :) , chilli, vegetable soup, ect. It also freezes well for later. Then if you make a big pot of chilli, you can eat at least 3 times off it , just make chilli and baked potatoes one night, then have taco salad the day after. Still got chilli left? Hot dogs......   By this time though your probably tired of chilli experiments. It lasts 5 days in the fridge so you can have chilli related meals every other day,or you can always freeze, and eat later. We have put up lots of little bags of soups and such , works great when you have no time to cook.

Best and cheapest food we make though is beans....yup beans. We take and cook a ham every so often, and freeze little bags of ham. Take a little bag of ham(or the bone) , and add some dry beans (we use great northern most) . Throw into a crock pot add some water and salt, and voila` tommorows dinner is ready. Add some cornbread and greens for a complete meal. You`d be surprised but our kids love this more than any other thing we fix . Its wonderfull in the wintertime, and freezes easily.