Cheap Trick

On Saturday, I saved $48.57 on a $93.36 grocery bill. 21 of the items were on sale. The savings broke down at $1.60 for coupons, Sales items $26.55, and BOGO savings $20.42.

Saturday's shopping involved several challenges. I only had $97.00 left in the grocery budget for the month. The store had some specials I needed to stock up on for houseguests arriving th second week in July. We needed meat for two meals.

I didn't buy any specials that I didn't need immediately or else for the guests. The guests have difficult to meat eating requirements. We don't even want to go there.

What we are eating. I had a package of chicken breasts, and we ate chicken piccata two nights, one night with grilled zucchini and lettuce from the garden, and the second night with corn on the cob and organic romaine hearts on sale at a good price. With the romaine, I could plan that I would use all the lettuce before leaving for the 4th of July weekend.

Last night we had petite sirloin on the grill, and I saved one of the steaks and a portion of a 2nd for steak salad (remember the romaine?) tonight. Cluster tomatoes were also on sale. Tomorrow I'm making a minestrone with Italian sausage, on sale two weeks ago. I bought zucchini and coleslaw mix for the soup, and one can of tomatoes.

Eating cheap does not mean forgoing food pleasures. Remember the steak! Cherries and blueberries were also on sale, and we had blueberry waffles yesterday morning and blueberry pancakes this morning. Sale bacon, of course. Some of the cherries went into a ricotta dessert last night. Tonight I may use the rest of the blueberries for a freeform tart. I'll be making the crust myself and baking some food processor bread tomorrow to go with the soup. I do hate to pay $4.00 a loaf for decent bakery bread. I can make the bread while dealing with the soup.

Thursday, en route to the holiday weekend locale, we're packing a lunch of chicken sandwiches on home made bread, cookies (on sale two weeks ago), chips, plums and coke on special last weekend. We'll eat better and faster.

Remember, eating cheap(er) doesn't mean yucko margarine and boiled cabbage. We had a delicious salad last weekend of cucumber, dill from the garden, and a dressing of plain yogurt and sour cream.

Menu planning and keeping a well-stocked pantry are your greatest helpers on the road to supermarket savings.

For instance, after the chicken piccata, we need capers. I'll haunt the job lot for a nice big jar at a fab price instead of paying through the nose at the grocery store. Capers (if you like them) add zest and flavor to a lot of dishes.

Everything is a balancing act between time, money, health and taste. It's a lot to consider, and you do have to plan ahead.

Yours in frugality,

The Cheeseparer

Road Warriors

No doubt about it, travel isn't cheap, but there are always economies, large and small that will pare some dollars off your trip.

We're driving from Boston to NYC on Tuesday. For two, with the price of gas down and an economical car, driving is still the cheapest. We park on the street and observe the NYC rules.
We also stay with a friend, which will shave at least $600 off the trip for hotels. If we had to pay for a hotel, we probably wouldn't go. Our friend also serves breakfast and one dinner. We take her to dinner one night and split the meal on the third night. She has a museum membership, so we get into MOMA for $5.00 each intead of the regular rate.

We'll also save $20+ dollars taking our lunch. I'll broil/bake a chicken breast on Monday. We make sandwiches, take potato chips, cookies, fruit and something to drink. A commuter cup brimming with coffee. The chicken, chips, cookies and fruit were all on sale. We have soft drinks in the fridge left from a house guest.

You get the idea. A trip that would cost over $1000.00 is accomplished for a couple hundred. I take busses or the subway whenever possible in Manhattan. More savings. If the distances aren't too great, walk.

When you're looking at the weekly specials, consider what you may already have in the freezer/pantry and plan your meals. This cuts way down on the weekly groceries. You do shop the specials?

I found a cheap pizza stone at the Williams Sonoma outlet which will make doing our own pizzas even easier. Homemade pizza rocks. It's not dirt cheap, but if you shop for sales in the grated cheese section, you'll do all right. Italian sausage is on sale frequently. Pepperoni can be purchased in SMALL quantities at the deli. No need to buy huge amounts. Tomatoes and broccoli were on sale today. Hey, that's a good topping. You keep pepper flakes on hand, don't you? Spices, while costly, add so much interest and flavor to food.

I buy ALL my spices on line at http://www.penzeys.com/. Once you're a good customer, they send freebies with each order. You can also order very small or very large amounts, depending on your level of use. I grow sage, chives, oregano,mint,dill, cilantro,parsley, and basil. Nothing beats tomatoes with thin slices of fresh mozzarella and chopped basil with a little EVOO. Once tomato season is here, all you buy is the EVOO (from Ocean State Job lot) and the fresh mozzarella. Yum!

Can hardly wait for summer. It's 72 degrees south of Boston today, and I'm going to plant spinach and beets today. Get that garden going. Create your own compost. Coffee grounds encourage earthworms, something my mother taught me.

Pare that cheese!

El Cheapo Travel Trips

A Brit can give us Amis a few lessons:

http://plonkee.com/2008/04/23/21-resources-for-budget-travel/

Site is slow to load, but you can do other stuff while you're waiting, or maybe I need a new computer. Sigh.

The Cheeseparer

On the Road

Here are some great tips for car travel. We like a cooler on wheels for longer trips, packed with granola bars, smoothies, water and lunch. I've noticed a lot of people parked at the food emporiums along the Interstates eating their own brought-from-home-food in the car.

It's nicer to find a river bank or a park or a pleasant scenic spot. Picnics are never out of season.

http://www.kivitv.com/global/story.asp?s=8012796

Don't forget napkins and wipes and a trash bag--reuse a plastic bag from a store. Reuse everything. Good for the wallet, good for the earth.

The Cheeseparer