Buying in bulk

This morning on the news there was a story about a farmer who opened his fields to gleeners.
He didn't expect much of a responce but by the end of the weekend the fields were clean.
It illustrates that people are in need of food and looking for ways to get it cheaply. Food
banks are facing empty shelves. Food missions have many more people stop by for a meal.
The question is how can we keep our families fed on little, making our money stretch to
cover our obligations.

When I need to stretch my money I have several standby's. They are brown rice, black beans
and oatmeal. Potatoes, eggs, and pasta are all good stand by foods as well. I have a habit of
cooking up a pot of brown rice every week. Brown rice is very versatile and at my wholesale
house, Smart and Final, I can get a 5 # bag for $3.99 which is .75 cents a #. Smart and Final has
no membership fees. Brown rice makes
a great stir fry with either meat or eggs and vegitables. It can be baked into a custard, sprinkled
with brown sugar and cinnamon with milk like cerial. You can put it in soups or serve it as a side
dish. I like to make gravy and put mushrooms or meat and vegies in
it and pour it over cooked rice.

Black beans are great for stretching a meal too. They can be made into refry and spread on torteas
They can be put in soups or made into chili and put on top of a baked potato. They stretch a soup and
make a good filler. Black beans are my fovorites , I also like chick peas or garbanzo's. I put a pot on
in my crockpot at night and it's ready in the morning . Quick, no problem and ready to eat. These are
simple foods but healthy and if prepared and in the frig make a great fast food. Oatmeal can also be
purchased for .75 cents a pound if you buy the 9.5 box of Quakers at the wholesale grocers. I make
my own granola which is good to eat in hand or sprinkled on deserts or dishes. My favorite desert is
a sugar free dark chocolate pudding with frozen blueberries and granola. I mix them together so it
satisfies my chocolate graving, is healthy and crunchy and low calorie. I also make oatmeal in the
morning by putting a little nonfat powdered milk with my oatmeal, sprinkle on a few frozen blue-
berries and add water, then zap in the microwave until it is like a pudding. It makes a great hot
healthy breakfast or late night snack. Oatmeal can be added to meatloaf too or vegie burgers as
fillers. I don't bake cookies now but when I did oatmeal cookies were one of my favorites. I also
make an oatmeal pumpkin bread that is just great toasted. It makes a wonderful filling breakfast.

A few other low cost meals are egg drop soup with vegies and ramon noodles. Egg foo young with
rice. You can substitute chopped cabbage for beans sprouts if you don't have any. Sprouting
seeds for greens is also not hard and gives lots of nutrition for the buck. I like sprouted lentils. They
are very easy to sprout and they remind me of radishes, kind of spicey. They make good sandwiches
and toppings for salads. To sprout, rinse, then soak in a bowl of water overnight. Drain
the water then put the bowl in a dark cupboard. Rinse twice a day and in about two days you'll have
sprouts.
Think simple and healthy when you want to save. Fried potatoes and eggs!

$$$ Save Some!!!

This is the beginning of my new blog about strategies to save more money.
I want to spend less is the goal. Here are some of the things I did this week
to accomplish this.

1. I learned a bit about coupons. I learned that I could pay clippers for
coupons they clipped without going through the struggle of looking for
coupons in newspapers. This way I can order lots of 10 -20 of the coupons
I use and save. Check out ebay. Type in your product name and then put
coupon in the search slot. If there are any currant ones on that product
you should find some. Look for coupons that are shipped free. There are
people who have coupon stores, if you find a favorite shop there first. Don't
forget all your pet needs. Type in kitty litter etc.

2. I learned that there is a web page called dealcathcers that has all the
weekly sales . This includes more than grocery's http://www.dealcatchers.com
click on Sunday Ads and there you are. I also learned that if you check on Wed.
morning for the grocery ads you can look for what you will purchase that is on
sale. Then go to ebay and look for coupons on the sale items. I ordered on Wed
and had two envelopes of coupons in the mail by Friday. Most coupons should be
there before the sale ends if you have a reliable shipper. Big savings there.

3. I learned that if you have a book with prices per ounce you will know a good
deal when you see it. Get prices of all the products you use from the stores in
your local area. Then go to Office Depot and get baseball card protectors and
dividers. Slide your coupons in these and put them in your price book binder.
Put in a pen and calculator and you are set for some smart shopping. Be sure
to take your price book along with your cloth bags with you to the store AND
take them in the store with you.

I will let you know how my system works out as I blog about this.

Yesterday I had to go into town for hay. On the same block as the feed store is
a place called "The Ark" They have a thrift store but out in the yard they also
have grocery carts full of clothes and household items. You can go through these
and usually a grocery cart full of stuff will run you $2.00 or $3.00. I found that
if I go in with $2.00 only in my wallet I get charged $2.00.

This is what I got yesterday for my $2.00.

Two pairs of jeans in my size. They looked new.
One pair of slacks, brand name, in my size, worn little.
A cute top in my size.
About 7 T shirts and pants for my great grand daughter, cute
A beautiful china white platter for Thanksgiving
An electric sandwich maker, looks unused
Two hawain shirts to sell on ebay with the sandwich maker
Several dresses of good quality to sell on ebay
Two skirts in my size
A jacket for one of my great grandsons
A storage bin.

At the feed store I bought two bales of hay plus got two bales of
rotted straw for the garden

When I got home there were coupons in the mail . 19 coupons that have $3.00
off meat if I buy 10 Rice A Roni. It's on sale this week. Total cost of each
coupon to me was .28 cents. I will sell the ones I don't use on my community
bargain page.

Another was $1.00 off meat if I bought 3 Kraft products. I have coupons for Kraft
products coming. These coupons cost me .05 cents each.

For those of you who like to stockpile food for emergencies this is a good way to start.

Well, got to get my ebay sales ready and up. Tell you more later.