How to Pay For It All

If you already struggle with a big weekly food bill you might be wondering exactly how you're supposed to pay for all of this extra. That's a very valid concern in today's economy and there are several approaches you can take that won't blow your budget and make the rest of your life more difficult.

1. A little at a time...
As mentioned throughout this book, even the tightest budget can adjust to make room for one to five dollars towards emergency supplies. It can take time to build up extra food and everyday toiletries when money is that tight, but every little bit counts. When you consistently spend a few dollars each week you'll quickly find yourself with more extra on hand than you thought you had.

Prices vary from one part of the country to another, but in general at the time of this writing, an extra $5 per week can buy 5 lbs. of dry spaghetti or macaroni, 5-10 lbs. of dried beans or rice, or 5-10 cans of basic canned vegetables, fruits, sauces or tuna. For more expensive items such as hamburger helper or flavored potatoes, you might only be able to purchase two to three boxes each week. Even if you can only buy one small can of Spam in a week, that's one more than you had previously so it's forward movement, and that's all you need.

2. Use coupons...
In late 2010 and early 2011 coupons became all the rage. There's even a new TV show on cable called "Extreme Couponing." When you learn how to maximize the use of coupons you can save massive amounts of money. This approach is not for everyone because it does take some time to manage all of the coupons and sales ads, plus some people feel the only things they can get good deals on are junk foods.

If you're up to it, I'd strongly suggest trying it for at least a month or two. It is downright amazing what types of deals you can find when you use coupons effectively.

I have personally ended up with free cans of soup, biscuits, soap and candy just by using coupons in conjunction with store sales. I've also gotten name brand dry cereal for $0.75 a box, and name brand granola bars for $0.30 a box.

The process can seem a bit complicated at first and some coupon advocates call things free that I don't personally consider free. To me, if I bring something to the cash register and after discounts or coupons I hand over no money at all... that is free. On extreme couponing-style websites however, you'll find people saying something is free because you got a voucher back that is worth equal to what you paid for the product.

Even if you're not inclined to learn all the ins and outs of getting the rock bottom deals with coupons, I'd strongly urge you to save coupons for products your normally buy anyway, then keep your eye on your local store sales advertisements. If a box of cereal is on sale for $2 and you have a coupon for $0.50 off, that's a lot better than buying the same box of cereal next week for $3 without any coupons or sales.

Even just partially using coupons when a sale is running will help stretch your $5 weekly extras budget much farther, much faster.

3. Cook more from scratch...
This isn't for everyone but it has been a major tool in my arsenal over the last 20+ years. It was particularly helpful when all four of my children were home and eating like horses.

These days I only cook for myself, my husband and sometimes our dog, but I still save massive amounts of money by cooking a lot of our basics from scratch. I've been tracking the differences over the last six to 12 months and here is what I've found:

It costs me approximately $2 per week to create all of these:

         2 large loaves of bread OR about 16 large hamburger/sandwich rolls
         PLUS 16 tortillas
         PLUS about 4 dozen cookies

...and I still have enough left over to make basic cream gravy or cream based soups.

 

At the grocery store in early 2011, one loaf of bread is over $1 and often closer to $1.50. A dozen tortillas is also at least $1.50 to $2.00 and cookies are several dollars for less than a dozen.

 

I get all of the above just by having a good supply of the basic staples on hand:

         Flour
         Sugar
         Baking powder OR baking soda and cream of tarter
         Yeast OR saved starter dough
         Salt
         Vanilla
         Water or Powdered Milk

So yes, cooking from scratch can save amazing amounts of money. It's not for everyone but it's worth considering, particularly if you find yourself needing to cut expenses extremely low or you have extra time on your hands.