Tips on Saving Money On Food

Use a combination of methods to save on food prices.


Food prices are going up. Blame it on the weather, gas prices, politics, or whatever, prices will always go up - sometimes faster, sometimes slower, prices will always go up. Instead of constantly trying to adjust your budget upwards, take another road... adjust your food skills to make your food budget work.
The only way to truly save on food is to use several different tactics at once. Don't get hung up on coupons or cooking from scratch or sales prices to the exclusion of other methods. The more ways you cut your food bill, the more money you can save.

Usually the first thing to consider is shopping for food. Saving at the time you shop is a priority. You must be aware of sales psychology to win the battle and you must be aware of the little and not so little tricks that food distributors use to get more of your money.


Watch out when they change package design, because they may be changing size and price, too.
If you find a good sale, stock up as much as you can without overdoing it. Don't buy at 10% off then find out it's 25% off the next week. It's hard to see how this works if you don't create a grocery price book . It's essential to your shopping decisions to keep a record of prices and sizes that will help you know if you're getting bargain prices or not.

Only use coupons on food you would buy anyway. You're not saving anything if you buy something you don't normally eat. If you use a coupon on a brand name, be sure it still doesn't cost more than the store brand. Call a spade a spade. If you want to use a coupon on something you seldom or never buy, call it a splurge or an experiment. It's not a savings.

Other places than grocery stores sell food. Look around. Convenience stores sometimes have lower prices on milk or bread cheaper than chain stores, so keep alert. Take advantage of every opportunity you find for getting food cheaply or free. There may be more opportunities than you realize - including the ones you create for yourself!

Grow your own food whenever and however it's possible. You might be pleasantly surprised at how much you really can grow, even if you live in a high rise apartment. A windowsill will grow herbs, garlic and chives... why buy them? If you have just a little room, container gardening can get you lots of cheap food.

Don't forget about the wild (free) food that's abundant almost anywhere - even in a city park. (But be careful of chemicals and animal droppings.)

Getting all that food won't do you much good if you don't store it properly. Even if you can't do a lot, do what you can. Find a way to not waste it.

After a good meal from your cheap or free food, use leftovers - all of them - creatively for even more savings. What you don't throw out is what you don't have to buy. You may even be throwing out some things without realizing they're edible. Don't throw away stems, leaves, parings, or even bones unless you're absolutely sure they're of no value.

Finally, make your own bread. There's nothing magic about it, although the taste sure seems like it! You can save a lot on the price of bread by baking your own. Here's a "never fail" recipe/method for doing it for beginners and old hands alike: Bread Making for Beginners and Others

Then save even more by skipping the commercial yeast. It doesn't have to be an old family secret and it's fine if it's NOT from somewhere else. Using sourdough starter is a little different, but not much. A time or two and you'll be comfortable with the method.

More ways to save:

Use cheapest cuts of meat and tenderize by marinating and/or cooking methods like boiling or slow roasting.
Use cheese, etc., for protein instead of meat.
Buy meat by the serving, not by the pound.
Have a vegetarian meal now and then even if you're not a vegetarian. Meat is usually the most expensive part of a meal. Eggs and peanut butter are cheaper protein than meat.
Never go shopping when you're hungry
Make a list, take a list, buy from a list
Check the sales circulars before you shop
Avoid junk food of any kind
Avoid "convenience food" - don't pay for something you can do yourself
Eat seasonally. No watermelon in January, no apples in July.
Eat regionally. Lobsters don't grow in the Rockies and beef doesn't grow in New York City. Limit the food on which you have to pay shipping.
Using every method, trick and tip you can find, you CAN keep your food budget under control.

Homeschooling on The Cheap

Homeschooling can be an expensive alternative to public schooling. But, its worth it. Right? Well, that depends. If you have extra money that you want to spend on schooling then by all means do it. But if you don't have the extra money don't let that scare you away from homeschooling. In fact, most of the homeschooling we did was done free or at least very cheap.

You can find a ton of textbooks , crafts items, games, and more for very cheap at yardsales and thrift stores.

You can find tons of free info on the internet. They have free printables, free ebooks, worksheets, and even get free items sent to you. I went to google and did searches for free homeschool , free homeschooling, free samples, free printables, and more !! The ideas are endless.

Also utilize your library!! They have tons of books, videos, copy machine, etc. Also if there is a book you need and they do not have it they are able to get it for you.

There is alot of experiments you can do on the cheap, teach kids about math while cooking, teach about money when shopping, and more.

We always had fun going to parks, fishing, going to museums, zoos, and more.

There are ways to make homeschooling cheap. If you use your imagination you and your kids will have more fun and you both will be learning new stuff each day!

Advice on How to Survive the Recession

There are many ways a person can learn survival tools in this economy. One way would be to try conversing with one of those who have lived through the great depression. Such a person will undoubtedly be happy to share their struggles and would welcome a chat about how to make it on little. No matter how bad conditions are now, they pale when compared to then.

Here are some words of wisdom a depression era woman shared with the writer of this article. She was born and raised in Western Washington State and lived on a dairy farm where she and her family ate berries, cheese, milk, butter and the occasional meat and they were able to survive without much intervention from the outside. Her family ate from the produce of their land, trading vegetables with those who had neighboring farms. They canned their own fruits, and learned ways to store their vegetables. Meat was a luxury item and they would kill a chicken or other animal only occasionally and learned to make cakes without proper ingredients. Though it was hard, her family endured and lived to be stronger because of the experience. It really was a matter of adapting for them and living with what they were given. No matter what the circumstances she proved that if a person is willing to he or she can learn to make the best of their situation.

City dwellers practicing basic gardening skills can learn to grow some of their own food in backyard greenhouses or hothouses or even by growing small plants indoors. Chickens are allowed in many cities and eggs can be available without much extensive planning needed, and they eat from a diverse and naturally plentiful supply of food and do not need a lot of store bought feed. Plants can be purchased from plant nurseries and if given the right kind of garden soil and fertilizer are much more hardy once started then plants grown from seeds.

Americans have become much too dependent on grocery stores and banks and virtual money instead of old-fashioned trade. With a bartering system and a little tender loving care people can learn to be responsible for providing at least a little of their own food supply and if Americans would look to their forefathers they can learn to survive and weather the storms of a recession.

Is a Survival Seed Bank Enough For Urban Survival?

Survival seed banks have become increasingly popular over the last year or so. These are kits with seeds in them that can be saved for a few years that can in many cases grow up to an acre of food in times of need. It's kind of the ultimate backup plan for a survivalist when it comes to food. But is something like a survival seed bank enough for urban or city survival?

There is nothing wrong with relying on growing food to have food in a time of need or longer term disaster. But you still need something for today if you are in that situation. A survival seed bank will work appropriately assuming that you are plant and start at the right point of the year.

What you need for today is some food stored away that you can actually eat right now. Make sure that you have two weeks or better yet a thirty day supply of food that you can rely on at any point in time.

For fresh greens growing them from your seed bank is an option but also consider using sprouts. Sprouts like alfalfa, broccoli, wheat, and others can be grown in a jar with just water in about four day to a week's time.

This is a great option because these types of seeds can be stored for a few years as well and don't required soil and sunlight to grow. This can subsidize your diet with fresh greens when your acre of seeds may not be able to be planted or haven't yet produced a crop.

Do you have a plan for natural disasters or pandemics?

Click and learn Urban Survival Skills to properly prepare and be ready for these situations.

Discover Food Storage Secrets that let you have a good supply of food without constant worry about expiration dates.


http://www.urban-survival.info/

Tips For Self Sufficient Living in Urban Locations

A lot of people believe they can't make changes to move toward a more self-sufficient life when they live in an urban area, but that's simply not true. There are plenty of ways to become more self-sufficient, no matter where you live.

One of the best things you can do for yourself is to set up an indoor garden. This could be a hydroponic garden, or it could be a container garden. Either type is fine, as long as you can locate them near a very sunny window or use artificial lighting.

If you don't have a lot of space indoors, you can use a shelf system to do this. Simply buy or create a system of shelf units against a wall, placing the plants in containers on the shelves, with grow lights attached to the shelving units underneath each shelf. If you're going to do this, be very careful when watering your plants, because any water that drips down could short out the lights and cause a fire.

Another way to become more self-sufficient is to set up your own business. The job market is very volatile at the moment, and even people who have been working for the same company for decades are finding themselves unemployed. By setting up your own business, you will be able to control your future a bit more than you could if you relied solely on your job.

You can start your business on a part time basis while working at a regular job. Build it up slowly. Then if you ever find yourself unemployed, you have that to fall back on. It's a lot easier to grow an existing business with an existing base of customers or clients than it is to start one from scratch after finding yourself suddenly unemployed!

Finally, you should start building up a reserve of cash, food, and supplies. You should make it a priority to build up reserves of cash and food to last you for at least three months. If you can save up more, you should definitely do so. It never hurts to be prepared, and if you ever find yourself without a job or facing an emergency, you'll be better prepared to deal with it.

These are just a few ways to move toward self-sufficiency. For more information about Self Sufficient Living, visit http://www.SelfSufficientLiving.net. You'll learn about urban farming, sustainable living, renewable energy, and lots more!