$1000/ mo for groceries - Page 6

[The4OfUs]

Our local chain just started offering a soft whole wheat without HFCS, and I almost burst into tears right there in the aisle. It's less than $2 a loaf, and we go through 2 loaves easy a week just the four of us. I had been paying about 3.50 a loaf previously for bread with HFCS in it. I've tried making bread at home, but run into the same problem others have...none of us want to eat it after the first glorious hours out of the oven (or machine) when it's warm and soft and delicious.

[Storm Bride]

That's interesting. I think fresh, hot, soft homemade bread is the best (doesn't everyone?). But, I like it after it's cooled off just as much as I like storebought...except that my homemade bread is more likely to shred while spreading something on it, which is a PITA.

I also slice my homemade bread thinner than the stores do. DS2 likes that, because he gets a better filling/bread ratio. I like it, because a loaf goes farther.

[Leta]

Originally Posted by Storm Bride

Making my own still isn't cheap (I haven't worked it out exactly, but it's got to be over $2.00/loaf)...but it's a lot cheaper than storebought...and doesn't have "glucose/fructose".

What ingredients are you using?

[Storm Bride]

I don't have the recipe in front of me, but it has whole wheat flour, white flour, a Tbsp. of honey, yeast, water, and unsalted butter.

But, I just remembered that it's not quite as much now. I'd started out using the yeast packets, and then realized they cost about 3X as much as buying a jar, so I've switched. The other biggie is the butter. There's not that much of it in the recipe, but it's expensive.

[Carley]

Whoa!!! That's some expensive homemade bread!!! How much butter are you using???

I have been using a pound? of yeast forever & get fresh ground organic whole wheat flour at .79/lb (f/ grinder @ local chain), approx 1 1/2 lbs in 2 loaves. Pretty cheap homemade bread!

We love breadmaking too, but I also have the worlds smallest freezer. Unless it's a bag of ice or in pyrex it's a lost cause.

I train in Muay Thai kickboxing & can do over 50 pushups in a minute & there is NO WAY I could physcially knead more dough than I do with my 2 loaf recipe.

That's some workout!!! Have you 8 loaf ladies tried pushups??? I bet you could just scream them out!!! I am seriously in awe of you who can somehow beat down 8 (!!!!!!) loaves worth!! Man! I feel like a weinie beanie!

[Carley]

Originally Posted by Storm Bride

But, I just remembered that it's not quite as much now. I'd started out using the yeast packets, and then realized they cost about 3X as much as buying a jar, so I've switched.

Oops... missed this!! Packets are the devil! N/M

[Dar]

Yeah... I get 2 pounds of yeast for $3 at Costco.. ww flour occasionally goes on sale for $2/5 pounds in my area, and I stock up when it does. That's .40 a pound... Butter is cheaper at Costco (although sometimes I use Canola oil or olive oil, both of which I get at Costco), as is high gluten white flour (I buy 25 pound bags for $7, so about .28 a pound for that). I sweeten with honey (Costco) or molasses (big lots) or sugar (Costco)...

I get bulk oats from wherever is cheaper, and also small amounts of wheat bran, vital wheat gluten, wheat germ, flaxseed, and other interesting things. I have a basic recipe and I switch it up a bit each time... so I might use some oat flour and sweeten with molasses and sugar and use butter as the fat one week, and the next use olive oil and honey and sesame seeds..

So, it looks like I probably spend about .25 each loaf, depending on the exact ingredients. I don't know what they weigh but they fill (and often overfill) a standard loaf pan.

[Carley]

Originally Posted by Dar

Yeah... I get 2 pounds of yeast for $3 at Costco.. ww flour occasionally goes on sale for $2/5 pounds in my area, and I stock up when it does. That's .40 a pound... Butter is cheaper at Costco (although sometimes I use Canola oil or olive oil, both of which I get at Costco), as is high gluten white flour (I buy 25 pound bags for $7, so about .28 a pound for that). I sweeten with honey (Costco) or molasses (big lots) or sugar (Costco)...
.

That's IT! I'm getting a Costco membership!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PaulaJoAnne]

You can also get 3 pounds of fresh peeled garlic for about $5.
When I get it home, I cover them in a mixture of 3 parts water and 1 part vinegar to prevent them form molding.

[PaulaJoAnne]

Homemade bread should only cost 50 cents per loaf!
I buy all my wheat from Wheat Montana (its organic) and can get 50 lbs for $30.
Even ground costs close to the same.

[Leta]

Yeah, butter's a killer for those outside dairy country. Here, nonsale priced local hormone free butter (read: tasty) costs $3.50/#. My family in FL pays $4/# for WalMart brand butter that tastes like lard.

I miss Costco. It's awesome.

We knead our bread 2 loaves at a time... in the Kitchen Aid. I'm 36 weeks pregnant and doubt I could do a single pushup.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by PaulaJoAnne

Homemade bread should only cost 50 cents per loaf!
I buy all my wheat from Wheat Montana (its organic) and can get 50 lbs for $30.
Even ground costs close to the same.

I was paying more than 50 cents just for the yeast...about 65-70 cents per packet, plus the other ingredients. I have no idea how much to figure in for Hydro. I do use a bread machine - I love making it by hand, but my favourite recipe requires rolling out, and I just have trouble getting motivated, because my counter is too cluttered...plus, I ended up with some seriously over-inflated bread a few times when I went out and took too long to get back.

Even buying the jars of yeast, I worked it out to about 25 cents or so a loaf for yeast...but that's much better than what I was paying for packets.

Carley: umm...I think it's 2 Tbsp for the loaf I usually make. It's not a whole lot per loaf, but even regular (non-organic) unsalted butter is almost $6.00/pound.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Leta

Yeah, butter's a killer for those outside dairy country. Here, nonsale priced local hormone free butter (read: tasty) costs $3.50/#. My family in FL pays $4/# for WalMart brand butter that tastes like lard.

Basic grocery store butter is usually about $3.80/pound here....but that's the cheapest brand, and they don't make unsalted, which is what I use for bread. The cheap butter does taste okay. I'm not sure, but I'd guess it's hormone free - the hormones would be the bovine growth hormone, right? That's banned here.

I want to buy better (organic, grassfed) butter, but I keep getting scared off by the price. It's pretty ugly. Mind you, the industrial butter actually seems to be creeping up faster than the good stuff, so the price differential is closing.

[Dar]

Costco has Kirkland (their own store brand) organic butter... don't remember the price but it's usually cheaper than anywhere else. Lisa, have you priced any of this at the Costco in Vancouver? It's probably more than in the US but not a lot more...

[Storm Bride]

DH and I had a Costco membership, but we only went once, and let it lapse. We found we were just tempted into buying stuff we didn't really need, or thought we might need, because the price was so good. I don't recall seeing any organic anything, though, and I was looking.

I may think about trying them again, but it's hard to make myself pay for the membership if I don't think I'll really use it, yk? It's a bit of a PITA to get to, as well. I'm not much of a driver, so I mostly stick to stores really close (ie. under two miles) to home.

[PaulaJoAnne]

Originally Posted by Storm Bride

I was paying more than 50 cents just for the yeast...about 65-70 cents per packet, plus the other ingredients. I have no idea how much to figure in for Hydro. I do use a bread machine - I love making it by hand, but my favourite recipe requires rolling out, and I just have trouble getting motivated, because my counter is too cluttered...plus, I ended up with some seriously over-inflated bread a few times when I went out and took too long to get back.

Even buying the jars of yeast, I worked it out to about 25 cents or so a loaf for yeast...but that's much better than what I was paying for packets.

Carley: umm...I think it's 2 Tbsp for the loaf I usually make. It's not a whole lot per loaf, but even regular (non-organic) unsalted butter is almost $6.00/pound.

Oh, get the difference for us.
I buy the bulk yeast, 4 cups for $5 I think.
I put it in mason jars and freeze it, using as needed.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Storm Bride

Even buying the jars of yeast, I worked it out to about 25 cents or so a loaf for yeast...but that's much better than what I was paying for packets.

Look for yeast in bulk. Usually restaurant supply stores will have it in 1 or 2 lbs packages for really cheap. My local HFS (small independent) carries it in the bulk bins for $4/lb. The jars are 4 oz (1/4 lb) and cost more than that.

[Delicateflower]

Originally Posted by Storm Bride

I don't have the recipe in front of me, but it has whole wheat flour, white flour, a Tbsp. of honey, yeast, water, and unsalted butter.

But, I just remembered that it's not quite as much now. I'd started out using the yeast packets, and then realized they cost about 3X as much as buying a jar, so I've switched. The other biggie is the butter. There's not that much of it in the recipe, but it's expensive.

I just bought two pounds of yeast online and including shipping it was just barely more than a jar from our supermarket.

I switched from the NYT recipe which uses 1/4 tsp yeast per loaf to the 5 minute a day one which uses 2 teaspoons per loaf.

I want to buy better (organic, grassfed) butter, but I keep getting scared off by the price. It's pretty ugly. Mind you, the industrial butter actually seems to be creeping up faster than the good stuff, so the price differential is closing.

I buy nice cultured butter for eating and cheap (organic) butter for cooking.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Delicateflower

I just bought two pounds of yeast online and including shipping it was just barely more than a jar from our supermarket.

I switched from the NYT recipe which uses 1/4 tsp yeast per loaf to the 5 minute a day one which uses 2 teaspoons per loaf.

I had no idea you could buy yeast online. I'll look at that. If I don't find a good supplier in Canada, it probably won't be worth it, though. Shipping food products over the border is a PITA, and it costs a lot.

I didn't even know you could buy yeast in bulk. I've never seen it anywhere.

I buy nice cultured butter for eating and cheap (organic) butter for cooking.

I might do that, although I have enough trouble keeping track of my salted vs. my unsalted.

But, "cheap" organic butter here is about $6.00/pound. Actually, I noticed when I went shopping last night that even the storebrand has now reach $4.00. We love our dairy around here, but it's definitely getting expensive...

[Luvourlives]

Thanks all for the fabulous replies!! I definately feel further inspired to cut costs. We just started going to Sams club, no costco or close BJs here...We had all 4 kids so I never made it to the freezer/ meat section because the kids were all getting hungry and crabby, but I will definately check it out next time we go (hopefully without children!). Oh, I did stop buying the individual bagged chips, so after we finish off what we already had, I will try and bag up from the big bags. Re-usable drink containers isn't cost effective for us either because they just end up lost or missing parts and are so expensive to keep replacing, maybe someday!!!

To all who had suggestions to change our eating habits, I am going to try and include the occasional vegeterian meal, but I don't feel that there is much I can do to change our diets. SB works very very well for dh (didn't work for me a lick when I tried ), well enough that I wouldn't ask him to change his eating style unless we were desperate. And as for sending PBJ with any of my kids for lunch, I generally am afraid to do so because I have on occasion messed up and sent the wrong kid with the wrong lunch. Its one thing to have the kids end up with something they don't like, having my son accidentally get PBJ is another story entirely. So, bottom line, I don't trust myself...or anyone else, to make sure that a mix-up doesn't happen....its easier just to not do it at all. I will look thru the lunch links you all helped out with and see if there is anything inspiring in there.

Thanks again!