I do the same thing that Marcie does with the meat at the market. Usually Monday and Friday mornings are a good time to find the marked down meat. I even find bacon for $1 a package sometimes. Sometimes it's sausage marked down. I like to take my DD with me. She's a good meat spotter.
The market will sometimes package up veggies that are starting to look a little worn (but not spoiled). I have bought a bag of 6 bell peppers (variety of colors) for .99, or a large bag of zucchini for .99, etc. You have to look carefully at what's there, but if you are going to chop up the veggie, then what difference does it make if it's a little worn. I buy mushrooms like that, usually they bag up 2 or more lbs., for .99. When I find mushrooms, that's when I really feel like I've hit the jackpot! Look for the pre-washed bags of spinach that are coming close to the date. Coleslaw, lettuce, etc. I find really good deals. One time I bought a bag of very ripe tomatoes, about 5 lbs, for .99. I went home and made salsa, with jalepeno from my garden.
I also shop at Sam's Club and Costco. I like buying the Romaine hearts, 6 in a package, for $2.49. It usually takes the three of us to finish off the package in a week. It stays very fresh the whole week because it's really fresh when I buy it.
Buy cheese in the bulk size from Sam's or Costco. I get the 5 lb. brick, and shred and freeze 2/3 of it, and have the 1/3 for eatin'.
For eggs, I have been going to a local egg farm and been buying what they call Chex eggs. These are eggs that sometimes are mis-shaped, small to medium sized, or have cracks on the inside membrane or the egg. But most of the eggs are large sized. I only get a couple that are small to medium. I have been buying 30 for $1.50. These eggs are so fresh and so yellow! Eggs are so economical.

Teri

boy so many suggestions. I too buy meat in bulk, I pour over the adds when they come out and will buy boneless skinnless chickenbreasts only when they are under $2.00, I buy roasts and ground beef at Costco: sirloin roasts for about 199-2.25/pound usually an 8 lb roast will be cut into 4 by me DH, and then vacum packed. This can be used for stew, roast, steaks, stir fry, etc....Chicken legs/thighs when on sale can be gotten for as low as 29cents /lb, I will buy 2 10 lb bags, and take one and cook up and debone and then package as cooked chicken, Chicken taco (with low carb tortillas), Chicken stew, chicken/dumplings, chicken soup.
thats my 2 cents, I only buy meat in bulk, Sometimes will get the lettuce from costco - 6 heads of romaine will last a good month or more if kept in fridge.
carrots, celery, peppers, cukes, will all last a while.
hope this helps.
I would cut down on other areas before I cut down on my food budget... i would rather have food in the house than new clothes, or call the phone/elect/water/and let them know you are having a hard ship time and ask if you can set up a reduced payment plan for a couple of months to give you a little extra for you food.
They would rather work with you than see you be disconnected.

http://www.youravon.com/cnorulak

carolyn in texas
started 8/11/03
327/290/150

I got paid once a month for 10 years and frankly, darlin', it bit. I would get oaid on the 10th of the month. So, I can certainly understand where you are coming from. One of the best things I did for managing my money was to have my company direct deposit my rent/mortgage directly to the lender. By doing that, I was able to negotiate with landlord/lender to have the the rent/mortgage due on pay day, not on the 1st. And, I never had to worry about it. I also kept ONE credit card, and ONE gas card. And, I talked to the issuers as well as my utility companies about having bills due as close to payday as possible. The trick here is to get all of the fixed cost stuff out of the way as close to pay day as possible. Then, if you mismanage later in the month, you still have lights . Trust me, you will adjust after a couple of months.

Re: grocery bill - the wholesale clubs rock. It is worth breaking yourself for one month in order to fill up that freezer, after that it is just maintenance. You can freeze just about everything (butter and cheese, too). And the farmer's market idea - that is a great one. You'll end up with more produce than you'll know what to do with.

Good luck and stay the course.

Jen
175/129/120

Years back when my DH got paid once a month, I did my meal planning for a month at a time. I figured out exactly what we were going to have, went shopping, stocked the freezer, looked at my menue for the day, pulled out what I needed for the evening and off I went. We were raising 5 kids at the time too. I keep saying I am going to do this again now, it's only DH and I now, but still, it would keep me from running to the store every couple of days. But I keep seeing such yummy recipes here, that I have to try them right away, LOL.

The large shopping clubs and watching the sale papers and shopping at Aldi's really saves the budget. And I NEVER go shopping without a list. I stick to my list like glue.

Barb - 30 lbs gone FOREVER!
www.iwsgroupinc.com - website design and development


Atkins-3/14/03
174/144/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER

What a WEALTH of wonderful advice!!

Bon (AKA Hopeful in Hollywood)
210/181/165
Atkins since 12/15/02

SSSSSSSSSSSShhhhh!!!!




Don't tell anyone, but Barb is a fibber!!

I went shoppine with her....and she did not have a list!!!

Shame on her! LOL

Peace, Joanna
Atkins since 12/3/04
299/272/130

Um.....it was......uh......in my head, yeah, that's it, it was in my head. That's the ticket.



Barb - 30 lbs gone FOREVER!
www.iwsgroupinc.com - website design and development


Atkins-3/14/03
174/144/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER

Ooooh Barb! You bad girl!

That was the exception that makes the rule, right Barb!



Jen

Atkins since 11/11/03

5'3" 140/130/115


I used to be indecisive...But now I'm not so sure!

Actually, we went on a field trip with Joanna to show her this really cool grocery store, Meijer's, and to find her some almond flour and Atkins syrups and Kefir making supplies. They had broccoli and cauliflower on sale, how could I resist? And they were practically giving milk away, and I needed that for my Kefir. Then I went to the meat dept. to get a whole chicken for dinner and ended up talking to the lady behind the counter about LC. She's going to do SBD. I told her to do all her reading before she starts and gave her the LCE web address. I just can't keep my mouth shut,

So we had chicken and broccoli for dinner. Then I made chicken salad with the leftovers today for lunch. And for dinner..........chicken and veggies soup. 3 meals for about a lowly 4 dollars, WHAT A DEAL!!!!! And I have some chicken salad leftover (lunch tomorrow) and soup left (dinner tomorrow) So that's actually 5 meals for 4 dollars. Such a deal. I can't think of a cheaper way to eat.

Barb - 30 lbs gone FOREVER!
www.iwsgroupinc.com - website design and development


Atkins-3/14/03
174/144/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER

man. im stumped. I cant seem to find any of these deals taht you all are talking about. I mean, there IS a "farmers market" near my house, but its more like a supermarket, everything is expensive, and i have trouble finding places that are on sale right now because of the grocery strike in southern california. IF anyone from socal area (especially LA) has any suggestions, i would sure appreciate it!

Sarah
159/152/135

Have you tried Trader Joe's? Also, if you're near Hollywood, there's a new store called Lo-Carb U on Melrose. It's awesome!

Farmer's Market-like activity is on Ivar between Hollywood and Sunset on Sundays and there's always the Farmer's Market at 3rd and Fairfax. Both of those locations are in Hollywood.

HTH

Bon (AKA Hopeful in Hollywood)
210/181/165
Atkins since 12/15/02

Sarah,
Bon, Marcie and I all live in So.Cal. area and find these deals.
I live in the Ontario/Chino area, so I find lots of egg farms out here (3 within a 5 mile radius). But belive it or not, I can't find any farmer's markets way out here in the country! I do like to shop at the markets that target the latin and asian communtites. The latin markets you find great produce at REALLY good prices. The asian markets you find good produce, but really great fish. Very fresh fish and great prices. The one asian market I like is 99Ranch Market. I don't know if you can find one in Monterey Park or Chinatown in L.A., but there are several in the Hacienda Heights and Roland Heights area right off the 60 Fwy.
But the markets we shop at are the same ones you shop at. Ralphs and Stater Bros. I know have discounted meat. I have seen it at Albertsons before, but not as much. I don't have a Vons near me, so I can't tell you about Vons.
Hope this helped.

Teri

i work at the Trader JOes on 3rd and la brea, so i know whats going on there... its sometimes a good deal, but its really not all that cheap.
About the farmers market on fairfax, it seems quite expensive to me when i go there... i will try the one on ivar and see what i find.
To Terry: IM in ontario every saturday! hehe Im in a music group that practices at upland high school, so i will check out the egg farm activity, i think i have seen some of the drive thru egg spots,.. is that what you were referring to?

Sarah
159/152/135

Sarah,
Check you private messages. I'm going to leave you a message telling you how to get to a couple of egg farms in Ontaro/Chino area.

Teri

Hey, you guys should get together!!!! It's a lot of fun to meet people from these boards!!!

Barb - 30 lbs gone FOREVER!
www.iwsgroupinc.com - website design and development


Atkins-3/14/03
174/144/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER