Help Me Make A Food Plan

[PiesandAbrosmama]

So I'm returning to school this fall. I have 3 months to start putting away extra food stock for the fall/winter. It's going to be tight on funds so I need to plan now! I think realistic I can put $300-500 away in pantry food items in the next couple months.
We have 6 people I feed every day. We are frugal in general, but might need to be even more so. I cool with Spaghetti once a week, bean burritos once a week ect, oatmeal for breakfast. So if you have tips or ideas let me have it

[yeahwhat]

Why not just put the money away in an envelope in the pantry for buying food next fall/winter?

[PiesandAbrosmama]

because I'm putting money away too, but this is specific money for food. So anyone have food storage plans?

[Jyotsna]

Groceries

Hi there,

I have recently been printing coupons and saving a little bit of money on the things that I do use. Some of the items have double coupons, for things that you can store.

Also, look for sales at the whole food stores...and they have coupon books, as well as the products websites can have coupons.

If you are already frugal, are you making your bread, yogurt, granola, using vinegar for a rinse in your machine washing, drying on the line ect? these things may free up some money for you to put more food away.
Since you have a break this summer, could you care for others kids, and put that money away?

I'd make food at home and not buy in fastfood restaurants.
With a waffle maker, you can make your own. Make pancakes if your family eats these and freeze the left overs each time. Eventually you will have enough to jut pull out of the freezer. Make soups and cornbreads, make bran muffins and scones for breakfast, and make whole wheat bread for lunch and dinners.

Soups can be a great way to save money. Never waste a single veggie. Take out all the veggies that you don't think you can eat and then make soup stock.

Make soup from it. Make real mashed potatoes instead of boxed, baked potatoes instead of ordering at a restaurant. Okay..not enough, but hopt to get you started.

[fierrbugg]

You've gotten some pretty great ideas. Learning to use coupons effectively has helped us so much. As far as dry goods etc., go if you don't already I would find ways to put those items that are boxed into better packaging, like glass jars, etc.

I have found that loaves of bread and shredded cheese freeze really well.

As far as food goes - what about mixes? There are some great books you can probably find @ your local library or used book store that have mixes for breads, etc. You can make these ahead of time (somtimes as much as 6 months) and use as needed for a variety of meals. For instance I found this Make a Mix Cookery book locally for $7 and it's got some great ideas. I also have another one from the 70's that focuses on great ideas for freezing foods.

Another idea is making food ahead of time and freezing it in the pan you'll use to cook it in - for example making lasagna ahead of time, lining the pan with foil - layer your lasagna as normal. When it's frozen, take the food out of the casserole dish, wrap it however you normally would to preserve it in the freezer and save it for whenever you need it. Even making pancakes and waffles ahead of time is an idea. Freeze them and then toast them as needed.

Also there is a great thread about feeding the freezer here on mdc:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=522096

ETA: There are also alot of great meal plans online for food storage - or just general info about what is needed for food storage. If you're looking for general amounts - there's a storage calculator online I think that gives you amounts for a year of general food storage stuff (according to LDS standards) - and you can adjust it as needed for your situation.

[PenelopeJune]

Don't stock up on flour or sugar or other baking items yet. Wait until around Thanksgiving, because that stuff goes on sale like crazy at that time.

I've seen a lot of canned goods on sale right now. Mostly canned veggies.

[annethcz]

The most important question is- what do you eat? I'd recommend watching for sales and stocking up on the things that you eat now. When you're stressed out by going to school and being short on money is not the best time to be experimenting with new recipes or changing to a whole new way of eating.

With $500, I'd probably buy meat in bulk. If you look around, you can probably get a quarter beef direct from a farmer for about $500 in the fall. Summer is the time to look for chicken direct from farmers. www.localharvest.org is a good place to start looking for local farmers.