Save Money On Your Grocery Bill – Debt Consolidation
Save Money On Your Grocery Bill
Shannon Jarvies
Weve all heard about certain ways to cut your grocery bill like avoiding the grocery store when youre hungry, using coupons on double coupons day, and buying only the items on your list. These are all good tips and we should keep using them. However, Ive found a few pointers that might help you save even more on your grocery bill.
The first thing you need to do after youve made your grocery list is to try to figure the total cost of your grocery bill. Make sure youve got everything on the list that youll need because after youve made an educated guess youre going to go to your purse or wallet, take out the cash and leave the rest behind. Believe me, this will definitely cut back on the unnecessary extras because you wont have the credit cards to fall back on. And if youre like me, youd rather be hung upside down by your toe nails than be found short at the check out.
Dont be afraid to look on the day-old bread rack or in the "about to expire" section of the meat department. You have to be careful, but youll probably be able to tell whether the item is good. Just make sure to use it right away, dont let it sit in your refrigerator for a week. Who knows, it just might "meat" your expectations and save you money in the process!
Another thing to think about is the time of day, time of week and even time of month that you are shopping. Ive found that early in the morning and in the middle of the week is when the grocery stores are less busy and youll be able to get more efficient shopping done. Be careful not to go on the first day or two of the month. Some stores have been known to raise prices because that is the time that social security and welfare checks go out.
Buy in bulk when it makes sense. If youre shopping at Costco or Sams Club you still need to comparison shop. Ive found that some of the items are just as inexpensive at our local grocery store and there have been times when Costcos or Sams Club prices where higher. So most of the time it makes sense for me to get most of our groceries at my local store because we live two hours away from Sams Club
Look high and low for savings, literally. The grocery stores purposely place the higher-priced name brand items at eye level. The lower priced generic and store brands are usually higher and lower than the brand name items. Remember that the generic brand or store brand isnt always the less expensive. Some stores Ive been to list the cost per ounce, or per item trash bags so be sure to compare these prices when shopping.
Last but not least, if youve got kids at home try to find another mom to trade shopping times with. Its a lot easier to shop without kids, you wont be tempted to buy extras just to keep them quiet and youll have more time to comparison shop. Your chances of having an enjoyable shopping experience will go up as well as their chances for survival!
About The Author
Shannon Jarvies is a work at home mom with five beautiful children and a wonderful husband. Visit her Debt Management Website for debt consolidation, budgeting help and money saving tips and ideas. And join her Money Management Discussion Group
http://consolidationdebtfree.com
shannon@consolidationdebtfree.com
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Save Time in the Kitchen. Cook Pasta the way Restaurant Chefs Do – Food
Save Time in the Kitchen. Cook Pasta the way Restaurant Chefs Do
Skip Lombardi
Have you ever wondered how a restaurant can get a dish of pasta to your table in about four minutes when you know it takes ten minutes just to cook the pasta Does the water on their stoves boil at a higher temperature than the water on yours Do they know a trick that you dont As a matter of fact, they do.
They parboil, or partially pre-cook their pasta; so when an order comes in to the kitchen, a cook can turn out a dish of perfectly al dente pasta in a minute or two. Pre-cooking is a worthwhile technique for home cooks, because it enables them to pull together a great sit-down meal in practically no time, no matter how busy their day may have been.
Its also a great method to use when you plan to serve pasta for a crowd. I once catered a party for fifty, where I had a "pasta bar." With the assistance of one helper, and two propane burners, I served fifty portions of freshly cooked pasta al dente without holding anyone up in the buffet line.
To parboil pasta at home, bring a large pot of salted water at least six quarts to the boil. Add one pound of pasta and stir until the pasta wilts in the case of spaghetti or linguine and becomes submerged. When the water returns to a full, rolling boil, cook the pasta for exactly two minutes, then drain, shock in ice water, and drain again. Note: Strand pasta like spaghetti or linguine will be brittle, so handle them with care.
Place the pasta in a container large enough to hold it, then add enough olive oil to just coat each strand. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Parboiled pasta will keep, refrigerated, for four to six hours.
Note: Coating pasta with olive oil flies in the face of conventional wisdom that says, "Never coat pasta with olive oil. The sauce wont adhere to the pasta." Well, conventional wisdom aside, sauce sticks to parboiled pasta like glue. What else can I say
When its time to cook dinner, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, add the pasta Youll note that the pasta has softened over the time youve had it refrigerated. This is perfectly fine., cook for one or two minutes, then drain in a colander. Be sure to taste after a minute or so. The pasta cooks quickly. Serve as you would any pasta that you had cooked for eight to ten minutes.
Again, this is a great, worthwhile technique to use at home, because you can parboil the pasta at a time of day when youre not juggling three or four other tasks, like preparing a sauce, or a salad. And when its time to prepare the rest of dinner, youll feel more confident in the outcome, because you can focus more of your attention on the other parts of the meal.
Try this technique once, and you could be hooked. You may not be serving fifty or sixty people per night, but youll be cooking just like a chef in a neighborhood Italian restaurant.
About The Author
Skip Lombardi is the author of two cookbooks: "La Cucina dei Poveri: Recipes from my Sicilian Grandparents," and "Almost Italian: Recipes from Americas Little Italys." He has been a Broadway musician, high-school math teacher, software engineer, and a fledgeling blogger. But he has never let any of those pursuits get in the way of his passion for cooking and eating. Visit his Web site to learn more about his cookbooks. http://www.skiplombardi.com or mailto:info@skiplombardi.com.