Come on, Trent.. you can do better than this.

I think a great way to curb the urge to eat out is actually calculate the cost of cooking at baking at home. Once you find out the tasty, healthy muffins you make at home are only a few pennies each, the $2 sugar-laden monster muffins at the local coffee shop are a lot less appealing. My boyfriend was a member of the “eating out isn’t that much more expensive” club until I started adding up and pointing out how much these things actually cost to make. Calculating the cost of a cup of sugar, flour etc at least gives you a ballpark figure for baked goods.

We try to live a minimalist lifestyle, or I think simplistic is a better term for us. Uncluttered means we get better use of our living space. But I do have a fairly stocked kitchen and pantry, in terms of cookware and supplies. But I would rather have 6 pyrex dishes than have to buy disposable cookware when I make up some meals to have in the freezer. Or 12 pie plates because I pre make all our holiday pies in the late Oct and early Nov. Its not hoarding for me because I actively use these items, and they help me save money for my family.

I have a large pantry, but make sure to eat through it at least once a year and reorganize every few months so nothing gets lost or too old. It works to our advantage because I can use stocked items to make very cheap meals, and in the winter when we get snowed in for days at a time, I just head to the freezer and pantry for meals. I can even take meals to the neighbors if they need.

Couponing is not for everyone. I found that I ended up spending more and buying more of things I really didn’t need all for the sake of using a coupon. You have to watch the coupons carefully. Many will say something like $1.00 off when you buy three. If you will never use three before it spoils or before the use by date, you’ve wasted money. I found that at the store I shop at, it’s cheaper to buy the off label brand than it often is to buy the name brand with the coupon.

I have never lived in an area of flooding, snow storms, hurricanes or tornados. We had a power shortage once that lasted 6 hours. Minimalism seemed a great way to live.

I am changing my mind. I am using coupons and sales to build up all foods, paper goods and any necessary things I can come up with to sustain a year’s worth of comfort living. My worry here is hyper inflation. Books like these you have mentioned I have been devouring because I am so new to this way of thinking. We also live on one income. Thus far we have been fortunate to keep this job with no problem but I don’t feel I can keep my head buried in the sand forever. I always thought it was silly to live in Florida, for example, and not have a garage filled with boards to cover all the windows should a major storm come my way instead of running to the store at the last minute to buy this when hundreds of others were there to do the same thing.

This is how I am feeling about our economy today.

It can be done. Our garden and stand alone freezer are must haves for us, and we are contemplating another freezer for next year. I just purchased a large pressure canner so I can can veggies instead of taking up freezer space, so I have room for making more pies!

I also believe in having the best kitchen equipment you can afford. We are working on upgrading our cookware, but already have a kitchenaid mixer 6qt, and a KA food processor which I love. And I was fortunate to have a retail job in the home department where we got credits for selling cutlery to receive free knives. So I have Wustoff, and will never use anything else. For me they make a difference. I make almost everything from scratch, including baked goods, bread, cookies etc.

And coupons are out there for produce and frozen veggies, dairy and organics, even GF too! Not as many but I work with what I have.

For me I make it into a game. I have a designated time to shop, and I go alone, no kids! I fuel up on caffeine and have a meal ideas list and food list as well. I work with loss leaders, but also buy many of the same things every week.

Say yes to cast iron…we’ve transitioned our cookware to cast iron and stainless steel. The most used items we have are a cast iron wok and a large cast iron skillet. We did buy new and it took ages to properly season but they are very easy to clean. In hindsight I probably would have looked for used (good tip deruiter).

Other advantage to cast iron is its a lot better against intruders than aluminum…

If we were talking about only a few dollars here and there then who cares.

But done right, grocery shopping correctly can save you tons!

I tried the couponing for a while and found it so time consuming. The ads were timed to not work with the coupons, it was pointless for the little money saved. A coupon for 25 cents on a $10 dollar item didn’t make sense.

It would be nice to see a book tackle cooking for one or two instead of always focussing on families. Sometimes you just get sick of the leftovers!

I have to say I enjoy soda and chips, things that seem to have coupons quite often, which I try not to buy or consume.