Comments on: Grocery Spending/Menu Plan | Busy Day Edition

By: Faith

Faith — Mon, 17 May 2010 17:03:52 +0000

Do you have a recipe for cream of soups? I am so tired of buying them. They come in such little cans.

By: Molly

Molly — Mon, 17 May 2010 13:53:03 +0000

Judy, the tomatoes and tomato paste in particular are a great bargain at Aldi, as are the cream of soups (if you don’t make your own). Other food items we always buy there: salsa, cereal, canisters of oatmeal, and the “fiber one” bars. If you eat any of those, the drive could well be worth it.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Sun, 16 May 2010 23:03:44 +0000

Unfortunately, the CSA’s in my area are all filled up. I’m on a waiting list, though.

By: Judy

Judy — Sun, 16 May 2010 15:43:19 +0000

Made my first trip to Aldi’s yesterday (it’s a ways off). Since I don’t have kids in the house there wasn’t a lot that we could use. (We don’t buy snack foods…..) but I did stock up on canned veggies. They looked like a bargain. I bought a few of each variety so that I could figure out which ones we like and which we’d rather pay more for.

But overall, it looks like it’d be worth it to make the drive once or twice a year.

By: EngineerMom

EngineerMom — Sat, 15 May 2010 16:05:53 +0000

I second the CSA call. Buying a quarter of a cow (or half or whatever) can also bring the price per pound of local meat down as well. My parents are planning to give us their chest freezer, and half a cow is probably the first thing that’s going in there!

The other thing with buying local is if you can buy completely in season, you can get enough to freeze or otherwise preserve for when it’s out of season – like apples into applesauce or frozen apple slices, or tomatoes into sauce or dried tomotoes.

By: Heather

Heather — Sat, 15 May 2010 15:08:36 +0000

You should try a search on http://www.localharvest.org for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program near you. Most of them offer incredible discounts for a weekly delivery/pick-up of locally grown produce, sometimes you can find an organic one. I joined an organic CSA near my home and my family of six shares a whole share with my parents, grandfather, sister and nephew so the total price equates to about $20 a week and it includes more produce than we would normally buy as well as locally baked bread. Catch is that you have to pay upfront, but some of them have a monthly payment. If you can stick to a budget that incorporates that upfront payment it will save you money in the long run.

By: minnow

minnow — Sat, 15 May 2010 14:35:53 +0000

I am having a horrible time keeping my budget under $100 with our new commitment to buying local and organic as well. I wasn’t sure if it’s just a learning curve or just the cost of business. Hopefully it does get less expensive as the summer goes on. =)