Something interesting I found about our in general spending habits. We do often times spend money daily. But we really don't shop and buy stuff other than groceries. We do have many days of running out to the store for a sale or fresh fruit or veggies. I've found that it's almost every other day. But at the same time since we've moved and had no income we've really curbed eating out. Before I would say we ate out 3-4x/week. Usually one night during the week, Saturday lunch/dinner and Sunday Lunch or Friday dinner. So our eating out was running $200-300/month if not more and not counting special occasions.
Now looking at our spending, yes we do spend between $650-750/month on groceries. But our eating out is less than $100/month. This month we've eaten out $10 so far and haven't any plans to eat out the rest of the month though it might happen. Plus our grocery bill is weirdly under $500 to date and we are trying to clear the freezer and pantry so I predict we'll be under $600 for with 7 days to go. We've already bought the rib roast for Sunday which will a few days of leftovers.
So we talking with friends who have a deep freezer because they hunt. DH and I meet quite a few people now who hunt and I grew up eating a lot of hunted meat (smoked) and fresh fish. I miss it but DH doesn't hunt and we've not really had the opportunity to fish. But now we're in a place where it might be possible. We also live in a house with a garage. So buying a deep freezer after we buy a house is something we're discussing.
Even if we don't hunt (i'm interested in Elk), I just got elk burgers from friends and deer tenderloin from other friends, I was thinking maybe we could go an buy a quarter cow. It might be cheaper and something worth finally investing in.
What are people's thoughts about deep freezers? Do you have one and what do you use it for? Do you hunt?
Grocery Spending and Deep Freezer
March 24th, 2016 at 11:53 pm
March 25th, 2016 at 01:19 am 1458868787
March 25th, 2016 at 01:35 am 1458869750
March 25th, 2016 at 03:48 am 1458877734
I use a menu plan + store flyers/electronic ads to create a list for the month that tends to be season matched and cost efficient. There is a stop on the way home weekly to take advantage of a bulk and ethnic outlet for extra fresh fruit, vegetables and dairy. Experience has taught if I'm missing an ingredient there's likely a substitute or I can make something different. It's very time saving to make a large batch of easy to freeze entrees, bag it in appropriate serving sizes and have a back up plan for days when it all goes off the track. A small deep freeze holds a remarkable amount of food. In my opinion, restaurant food has become boxed, frozen, packaged meals full of fat, sugar, unpronounceable chemicals sometimes poorly handled and I prefer the creative challenge of cooking.
March 25th, 2016 at 11:51 am 1458906690
March 26th, 2016 at 02:56 am 1458960968
I used to have a stand up freezer - inherited from my parents when they downsized. I used it for 8 years and loved it! Only let go of it because I foresaw too many more moves in my future and didn't want to keep hauling it around.
March 26th, 2016 at 03:42 am 1458963736
CB I would like a freezer.
FT I keep thinking maybe. I wonder what it would cost to run and if it's worth it.
March 27th, 2016 at 06:41 am 1459060911
We have a couple of freezers. We use it to store the chickens, ducks, and rabbits we raise and butcher, and 1/4 cow and 1/2 a hog and any lamb we purchase. I also store berries, onion and bell pepper strips or dices, and any other garden produce that I don't can. Even before we started doing this I would buy meat in bulk on sale, transfer it to usable portions for my family, and freeze it. I saved a lot of money that way and almost never paid full price for anything. I also use it to have homemade TV dinners and double batches of lasagna, enchiladas, or casseroles for future meals on days I don't feel like cooking and can just pop something in the oven.
April 6th, 2016 at 04:43 pm 1459961039