Grocery Shopping for Big Savings Part II
In the first part of the payday loans money blog post entitled “Grocery Shopping for Big Savings” we discussed buying in bulk, buying food for your household once a month, adequate food storage and comparison shopping.
In part II, we will discus the advantages of planning meals around cheaper staples as well as the benefits of joining a local food co-op if available in your area.
Planning Meals Around Cheaper Staples
Planning your meals provides more benefits than you may realize.
Saving money on groceries by buying cheaper foods doesn’t mean that you have to live on a Third World diet. With careful planning and a little research, you can buy cheaper foods and make better dishes.
Here are some good examples of these types of foods and the dishes they can make:
Egg noodles
- Tuna casserole
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Fettuccine
Pasta
- Traditional Pasta
- Baked Pasta Parmesan
- Lasagna
- Macaroni and Cheese
Rice
- Stir fry
- Fried Rice
- Spanish Rice
- Rice Pudding
- Chicken Rice
- Chicken and Rice Soup
- Rice Pilaf
- Spicy Beef And Rice
Beans
- Bean Burritos
- Baked Beans
- Bean Soup
- Boston Baked Beans
- Beans and Rice
Beans, rice, pasta and egg noodles are some of the cheapest foods you can buy, especially when buying in bulk. The above shows the variety of dishes you can make utilizing these staples, and don’ t they sound tasty?
A 25-pound bag of rice or egg noodles is cheap, and goes a long way in feeding you and your family. The more dishes you can create utilizing cheaper staples, the more extra cash you will save, and the less likely you will need a payday loans at the end of the month to cover expenses.
Joining A Food Co-op?
A Food Co-op has some wonderful advantages you can profit from, both financially and physically. A co-op is the combined efforts of a large group of people to buy consumer goods at discount prices.
Sometimes buying in bulk by yourself just isn’t a feasible option because you have difficulty coming up with the available funds to buy a month’s worth of groceries at one time.
With a food co-op you have the combined resources of multiple individuals working together to purchase food items in bulk. Often times deliveries will be made to your home once a week, saving you time and money at the store.
You will still need to carefully plan out your meals so you can put in an accurate order for goods that won’t leave you needing something until your next shipment.
Organic Food Co-ops
Food co-ops come in many varieties, so it will be primarily up to you to search your area to discover what the co-ops in your locale can provide for you.
The last few years have seen the popular emergence of organic food co-ops. These co-ops allow consumers to buy organic goods for prices equal to or less than the same goods available at retail grocery stores. The added advantage is that you are treating your body healthier by avoiding a lot of the chemicals and pesticides in store-bought produce.
Time Share Co-ops
For families, time share co-ops allow members to donate portions of their time in exchange for goods. This is especially valuable for parents who want to teach children the value of work or the simple fact that food doesn’t grow in the kitchen.
It takes hard work and money to fill the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets, so having the kids contribute a little time to the co-op and therefore the household, will help teach them a little bit about life as well as an appreciation for what they come to expect instead of earn.
Regardless of the type of food co-op you choose, joining one will allow you to save extra money each month that you can apply toward other financial matters such as an emergency fund for those unwelcome little surprises that pop up from time to time.
Good luck in your money-saving endeavors!
Posted courtesy of personalmoneystore.com, your payday loans source.
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