Kitchen

[DiAnne]

On 9/20/2014 curlywhitedog said:

I'm a Costco shopper so it's no surprise to me when I wheel my cart out of the store having spent over $300 and that happens every 10 days to two weeks or so mixed in with a quick stop at a grocery store during that time to pick up milk, cold cuts and a few other items I can't get at Costco. I have a side by side refrigerator/freezer in my kitchen that I couldn't get one more thing into, a very large upright freezer in the garage that's also pretty well stuffed and a bar 'fridge in the basement (small but good for overflow).

For my groceries I have a 48" floor to ceiling pantry in my kitchen, the bottom of a very large built in bar in my basement plus a cabinet on the middle level of the basement steps that holds extra groceries.

We're only 2 people in this house and yet you would think I was feeding an army. I have no idea where this kind of food mentality comes from...I need an intervention,

Maria

I have a friend who is just like you and she lives alone! I am always kidding her about having a fear of famine!

[Susan Louise]

Coupons, coupons, coupons...

I save on average between 30-75% on most items other than meats and produce. I also coupon at a level where last year DH and I donated about $12,000...just from couponing, and a total of $15,000 when we include all the other charities we donate to...

When it comes to couponing, either one is motivated or not. Being in the mid-west, I know many couponers who live 25+ miles from stores...living on farms and ranches. They plan their trips to the stores with coupons in hand. Nowadays there are coupons for nearly everything.

There are times I have been to the stores, standing in line at the checkout and folks just roll their eyes at me. I don't care!

There are also times I try and give coupons generously to folks in front of me checking out so they can save a few dollars on a product they have that I just happen to have a coupon for. What is strange is the ignorance about coupons.

Ignorance you say? Yes...

One lady I tried to hand a coupon to so she could save $2 on her bottle Tide detergent flat out refused the coupon saying 'I don't need that stupid thing!"...looking at me as if I was the scum of the earth...

So, I thought (my 'inside voice of coarse)...well, fine then! You go right ahead and WASTE $2 of YOUR money!

AND...add the fact that of coarse, I got no "thank you anyway"...

Some folks just make my head hurt...

[lovesrecess]

On 9/20/2014 DiAnne said:

On 9/20/2014 curlywhitedog said:

I'm a Costco shopper so it's no surprise to me when I wheel my cart out of the store having spent over $300 and that happens every 10 days to two weeks or so mixed in with a quick stop at a grocery store during that time to pick up milk, cold cuts and a few other items I can't get at Costco. I have a side by side refrigerator/freezer in my kitchen that I couldn't get one more thing into, a very large upright freezer in the garage that's also pretty well stuffed and a bar 'fridge in the basement (small but good for overflow).

For my groceries I have a 48" floor to ceiling pantry in my kitchen, the bottom of a very large built in bar in my basement plus a cabinet on the middle level of the basement steps that holds extra groceries.

We're only 2 people in this house and yet you would think I was feeding an army. I have no idea where this kind of food mentality comes from...I need an intervention,

Maria

I have a friend who is just like you and she lives alone! I am always kidding her about having a fear of famine!

A few weeks ago DH and I decided to clean out and rearrange the pantry where I keep all food other than fridge or freezer. I could not believe how many canned or boxed foods needed to be thrown out because of their use-by dates!

I was guilty of over-buying and ended up having to toss out lots of food we had never even opened! Just hated to throw out food! Now I am trying to only buy 4-6 cans of something I use very often, like canned tomatoes, and then buy 1 or 2 cans to replenish. Even cans have expiration dates...so check your canned goods, especially before donating during the holidays.

[Susan Louise]

On 9/20/2014 lovesrecess said:

On 9/20/2014 DiAnne said:

On 9/20/2014 curlywhitedog said:

I'm a Costco shopper so it's no surprise to me when I wheel my cart out of the store having spent over $300 and that happens every 10 days to two weeks or so mixed in with a quick stop at a grocery store during that time to pick up milk, cold cuts and a few other items I can't get at Costco. I have a side by side refrigerator/freezer in my kitchen that I couldn't get one more thing into, a very large upright freezer in the garage that's also pretty well stuffed and a bar 'fridge in the basement (small but good for overflow).

For my groceries I have a 48" floor to ceiling pantry in my kitchen, the bottom of a very large built in bar in my basement plus a cabinet on the middle level of the basement steps that holds extra groceries.

We're only 2 people in this house and yet you would think I was feeding an army. I have no idea where this kind of food mentality comes from...I need an intervention,

Maria

I have a friend who is just like you and she lives alone! I am always kidding her about having a fear of famine!

A few weeks ago DH and I decided to clean out and rearrange the pantry where I keep all food other than fridge or freezer. I could not believe how many canned or boxed foods needed to be thrown out because of their use-by dates!

I was guilty of over-buying and ended up having to toss out lots of food we had never even opened! Just hated to throw out food! Now I am trying to only buy 4-6 cans of something I use very often, like canned tomatoes, and then buy 1 or 2 cans to replenish. Even cans have expiration dates...so check your canned goods, especially before donating during the holidays.

I keep track of what's in the fridge/freezer with a notebook...keeping track of what meats/veggies/etc we have. I also make a monthly planner for meals...leaving one or two meals blank every week for 'leftovers'. It is not a perfect system, but it does help prevent a lot of wasted food

[ValuSkr]

Okay, so you were stocking the pantry and freezers, hence the high amount. Just the same, meat is expensive. Save a lot by becoming vegetarian. Also, try using coupons.

[Snicks1]

I grocery shop every 10 days or so, I can easily spend over $200 each time. There are just hubby and myself and little dog. I keep a list on the fridge of things as I use them up so I have it ready to go when I am. I do get tired of the same foods every week tho, so I do add to my list to make something different at least once a week. I can understand if you haven't shopped since June that the total would be $900, actually it would not surprise me if it was even higher than that. Good quality food is expensive.

[SharkE]

On 9/20/2014 Susan Louise said:

Coupons, coupons, coupons...

I save on average between 30-75% on most items other than meats and produce. I also coupon at a level where last year DH and I donated about $12,000...just from couponing, and a total of $15,000 when we include all the other charities we donate to...

When it comes to couponing, either one is motivated or not. Being in the mid-west, I know many couponers who live 25+ miles from stores...living on farms and ranches. They plan their trips to the stores with coupons in hand. Nowadays there are coupons for nearly everything.

There are times I have been to the stores, standing in line at the checkout and folks just roll their eyes at me. I don't care!

There are also times I try and give coupons generously to folks in front of me checking out so they can save a few dollars on a product they have that I just happen to have a coupon for. What is strange is the ignorance about coupons.

Ignorance you say? Yes...

One lady I tried to hand a coupon to so she could save $2 on her bottle Tide detergent flat out refused the coupon saying 'I don't need that stupid thing!"...looking at me as if I was the scum of the earth...

So, I thought (my 'inside voice of coarse)...well, fine then! You go right ahead and WASTE $2 of YOUR money!

AND...add the fact that of coarse, I got no "thank you anyway"...

Some folks just make my head hurt...

probably on Food Stamps had somebody else paying her bills anyway. LOL I see it all the time. People on hand outs think they should be the first in the queue when waiting on prescriptions, etc. Like they're royalty. Just way your raised. You don't know any better.

[NYC Susan]

Am I the only one who doesn't think costs have gone up since June?

I shop at several different stores, and I would say prices have stayed the same, if not lower in some cases. I certainly haven't noticed an increase at all, and I definitely would because I am obsessive about comparing prices, checking receipts, etc.

[ROMARY]

My goodness, that's a long drive. Perhaps there is a smaller grocery store nearby? I guess that there are many folks across the country who don't have nearby grocery stores. Let's all appreciate our local markets.

[SharkE]

Meat has really went up and milk, butter, etc.