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11:15:39 |
mamasara |
The Feeding Your Family Healthy on a Budget 10am PST |
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11:54:51 |
mamasara |
Hello Goodmorning... I'm Sara the host of this chat
:silly: |
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12:08:37 |
mamasara |
Heloo any one here? |
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12:10:26 |
kaylasmama |
Hi! |
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12:12:05 |
kaylasmama |
Is this the budget chat? |
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12:17:18 |
mamasara |
oh yes, Hi |
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12:17:56 |
mamasara |
Glad someone finally showed... I think maybe we are
confused as to the time? I always thought it was 10am
right after the Homeschool chat |
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12:18:12 |
mamasara |
How are you this morning? |
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12:19:02 |
kaylasmama |
HI...Good, thanks |
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12:19:17 |
kaylasmama |
It's pretty clear to me what time it starts ;) |
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12:20:37 |
mamasara |
yup, I don't know maybe these chats are always this
slow??? Don't know anyhow, I have some things to chat
about if you'd like to get started |
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12:21:29 |
ourwiefamily |
hello! |
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12:21:36 |
mamasara |
Topic: Food Shopping on a Budget |
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12:21:49 |
mamasara |
Hello Wiefamily! Thanks for dropping by |
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12:21:49 |
ourwiefamily |
cool ... that's what I was looking for. :) |
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12:22:03 |
ourwiefamily |
my name is Karla in case you haven't seen me in other
chats. |
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12:22:16 |
mamasara |
Okay, I'm Sara |
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12:22:17 |
ourwiefamily |
I'm mum to six kids ages 14 down to 11mo, so I am very
interested in this topic! |
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12:22:26 |
mamasara |
Excellent |
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12:22:38 |
mamasara |
1. Make a Food Budget |
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12:23:10 |
mamasara |
I.E. if you shop for your family 1x per week divide your
food budget by 4 (400/4 = 100/week ) |
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12:24:05 |
ourwiefamily |
I am curious ... how big are your families and how much
do you spend on groceries per month? What is your goal
amount? |
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12:24:12 |
mamasara |
2. Plan meals and snacks for your family each week |
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12:24:42 |
mamasara |
Well, we have a family of 4 and our budget is anywhere
between 200 - 400 month depending on the income (income
varies) |
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12:25:00 |
kaylasmama |
Hi Karla and Sara...I'm Jill, mommy to DD, Kayla who is
13.5 months |
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12:25:17 |
kaylasmama |
We spend $60 a week...but lately, trying to spend less.
SO hard |
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12:25:21 |
mamasara |
Some weeks are pretty scarce... I have 2 boys and a
hubby LOL |
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12:25:46 |
mamasara |
Hi Jill! With a wee one it is a bit easier as they can
just drink mama's milk |
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12:26:02 |
kaylasmama |
Yah...but she is starting to eat 2-3 meals a day |
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12:26:02 |
mamasara |
Does your family eat out a lot? |
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12:26:07 |
kaylasmama |
No...we NEVER eat out |
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12:26:11 |
kaylasmama |
can't afford it! |
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12:26:59 |
mamasara |
You let her eat from your food stock right? Or do you
make her food ? |
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12:27:49 |
mamasara |
3. Make a shopping list include your coupons that you
use (product exp date) |
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12:27:52 |
kaylasmama |
She eats our food sometimes, but mostly I make her
something...right now she's only interested in fruit.
*) |
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12:28:06 |
kaylasmama |
AND we only eat organic...tough!!! |
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12:28:30 |
mamasara |
fruit is great! Organic is Super! She is off to a
fantastic start. |
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12:28:36 |
kaylasmama |
yeo |
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12:28:44 |
kaylasmama |
oops..meant Yep |
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12:28:45 |
kaylasmama |
;) |
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12:28:46 |
mamasara |
Do you belong to a local food-coop |
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12:29:01 |
kaylasmama |
so..I was just answering Karla's question about how big
our family is and how much we spend |
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12:29:05 |
mamasara |
Hellow Lelia this is the Family Budgeting Topic |
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12:29:19 |
kaylasmama |
Trying to get a membership, but it's not fitting into
our budget right now |
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12:29:19 |
Lelia |
Yay! I found the right room! |
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12:29:37 |
kaylasmama |
Hi lelia! |
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12:29:42 |
Lelia |
hi! |
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12:29:47 |
ourwiefamily |
where are you located, Kayla? |
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12:29:48 |
mamasara |
Try to maybe split a membership with another family...
We did this in the beginning with my folks |
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12:30:23 |
kaylasmama |
Hi Karla..my name is Jill :) We're in Santa Barbara.... |
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12:30:40 |
ourwiefamily |
lol ... sorry ... just noticed it's Kayla's mom. oops |
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12:30:46 |
Lelia |
how does one find a food coop? |
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12:30:52 |
kaylasmama |
ya ;) no worries! |
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12:30:52 |
mamasara |
Santa Barbara... they have a nice farmers market... are
you close to that? |
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12:31:04 |
ourwiefamily |
azure standard is worth looking into depending on your
location ... not sure how far south they go. |
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12:31:16 |
mamasara |
google CSA I believe Let me check if that works |
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12:31:17 |
kaylasmama |
oh yaaaa..and we have 3 farms to shop from too....lots
of options...but they all cost the same.. |
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12:31:40 |
kaylasmama |
we spend most of our money on produce ;) |
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12:32:08 |
kaylasmama |
Hi Penny and Ruth! |
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12:32:13 |
mamasara |
Yes, that is the case here too but it is our main staple
except for rice |
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12:32:20 |
mamasara |
Hello Ladies |
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12:32:28 |
kaylasmama |
yah....us too |
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12:32:41 |
ourwiefamily |
penny and ruth are in a different room from us |
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12:32:45 |
mamasara |
Do you ladies eat meat, chicken, turkey, fish? If so how
do you save on these? |
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12:32:53 |
ourwiefamily |
yes... we are meat eaters |
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12:33:02 |
kaylasmama |
wow Karla..just saw how many kids you have |
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12:33:08 |
Lelia |
we eat chicken sometimes |
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12:33:18 |
kaylasmama |
Good on ya |
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12:33:22 |
kaylasmama |
(Karla) |
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12:33:24 |
ourwiefamily |
best way to save on beef is to buy part of a cow direct
from a farmer ... best way to save on chicken is to buy
from Amish (those tend to be organic or close to it even
if not certified) |
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12:33:25 |
mamasara |
Large family... Karla... how much to you spend a month
on your family ? |
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12:33:28 |
Lelia |
I'd like to buy some fish - husband doesn't like it |
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12:34:02 |
Lelia |
where do you find amish? I know they are in PA> |
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12:34:06 |
ourwiefamily |
or Mennonite ... I think there are Mennonites around
here that sell. Big chickens for like $5 each so
cheaper than local grocery and tastes WAY better |
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12:34:59 |
ourwiefamily |
we found out through the grapevine. Typically, if you
ask around at places like LLL or a local natural foods
store or homeschoolers, someone knows how to find them |
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12:35:01 |
mamasara |
fresh chicken is So much better you'll never go back to
store bought... I lived in MO for a while and they were
both Amish/Mennonite we shopped at their store all
fresh/organic (not certified) |
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12:35:12 |
ourwiefamily |
Another way to save is to buy milk straight from the
dairy |
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12:35:33 |
mamasara |
Where do you live? (farm country?) |
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12:35:55 |
ourwiefamily |
we are in ND ... but I know lots of people that work
this out in larger cities. |
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12:35:57 |
mamasara |
I never thought about any of those but I guess that
makes sense... We do the veggie/fruit from the farms |
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12:36:04 |
Lelia |
I am in jersey city nj |
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12:36:23 |
Lelia |
I'm in an urban area |
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12:37:14 |
kaylasmama |
Wow...never thought of fresh chicken. DUH! Good
idea..I'll have to check around here... |
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12:37:22 |
ourwiefamily |
if you look in the phone book for dairies on the
outskirts of town, there might be some ... and if they
are there, they may have it set up so they deliver into
the city if there is a group interested |
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12:37:30 |
ourwiefamily |
same thing with buying the other meats |
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12:37:36 |
kaylasmama |
huh...cool. Thanks Karla |
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12:37:54 |
ourwiefamily |
Like the mennonite chickens come from several hours
away, but one person goes out there, picks them up, then
they can be picked up at that person's home |
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12:38:41 |
ourwiefamily |
well ... sadly, we aren't doing any of this right now. |
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12:38:49 |
ourwiefamily |
but we used to and it was awesome |
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12:39:13 |
mamasara |
urban areas still might be able to find fresh produce
and meats depending on the natural food stores around... |
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12:39:33 |
mamasara |
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa/ is the directory for
Community Supported Agriculture You can look for a farm
near you |
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12:39:39 |
Lelia |
that gets expensive |
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12:39:47 |
Lelia |
ok, thanks |
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12:39:52 |
ourwiefamily |
and the underground" natural people who have relatives
on farms far away or who have really done their
detective work on your local area. So it's finding the
right people!" |
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12:40:08 |
mamasara |
Yes, Lelia, how big is your family and how much is the
food budget? |
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12:40:11 |
Lelia |
I actually joined one this year but the harvest hasn't
been good this year. |
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12:40:27 |
ourwiefamily |
undergrounders" tend to be very generous and just want
to share the good life, so they don't tend to be as
expensive as the more obvious routes" |
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12:41:03 |
Lelia |
3 of us. we actually don't have an official budget |
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12:41:12 |
ourwiefamily |
I'm trying to figure our food budget for the month ...
it's a little complicated. We have a family of 8. We
receive two WIC checks per month (two eligible children)
so that is about $110 at least |
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12:41:19 |
ourwiefamily |
Then we get $400 in food stamps |
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12:41:29 |
mamasara |
I wanted to get some ideas on how to reduce our grocery
bills right now. Some ideas I came up with are: |
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12:41:35 |
ourwiefamily |
Then we usually pay at least another $100 over that |
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12:41:37 |
kaylasmama |
I wish I could get my hubby to do food stamps |
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12:41:45 |
mamasara |
1. Eliminate Junk Food |
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12:42:01 |
mamasara |
2. Drink water or skim milk |
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12:42:13 |
mamasara |
3. Limit Juice intake to 1/2 c serving / day |
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12:42:25 |
mamasara |
4. Buy Whole Fruit instead of sweets |
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12:42:53 |
mamasara |
5. Buy Bulk and freeze (like buy a package of potatoes,
cook what you need and freeze the rest) |
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12:43:18 |
mamasara |
6. Pick your own farmers -- this is good excercise and
family time plus saves money |
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12:43:56 |
mamasara |
7. Switch from packaged cereals to Oatmeal Saves almost
$4.00 just add some fresh fruit of 100% fruit jam for
sweetner |
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12:44:22 |
mamasara |
8. Eat fresh veggies or grow your own (containers local
community garden etc) |
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12:44:59 |
mamasara |
9. Save on meat by paying attention to serving size (an
active adult only needs about 7 ounces spread out over 3
meals) |
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12:45:13 |
mamasara |
10. Don't cook more than you need |
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12:45:30 |
mamasara |
11. Use peanut butter or another nut butter instead of
luncheon meats |
