After speaking today in church about lowering your grocery bill, I realized there is more that I need to share. Here are some essential key points you need to know in order to become a savvy consumer & chef:
- Have a budget
- Make a weekly menu
- Get everyone involved (if you don't teach your children, you'll be sending them $ later)
- Use what you have
- Grow your own
I like to cook (duh!) and I also like meals to be special, so I grow my own. I grow my own herbs - that is. It only takes a couple of pots or a square foot of ground to have a nice, healthy herb garden. I planted a teeny tiny rosemary plant about five years ago. Today, it is a ginormous, beautiful mound - which we cut from on a weekly basis. This year, I claimed about five square feet of ground and planted onions, basil, sweet basil, lavender, and catnip (for the meow meows). I'm already reaping (har har) the benefits of my forethought.
Last thing - get everyone involved. My husband never thought about buying us bread from a bakery near his work until he saw how expensive artisan breads were at the grocery store. Now that he knows how much our family loves a good Sourdough and 9 Grain, he picks up a couple loaves a week and saves us around $4/week. Good job! The kids also pack their own lunch. They love it, they have control over what they eat, and they are learning time management. We save roughly $15/week due to their good habits. That amounts to $540 per school year!! Wow! I bet they'll love having more money to apply toward college!
Cooking for your family and teaching your children about meal preparation and budgeting is an act of love. We all need to eat. Nourishing your families' bodies can save you time, money, and heartache while enjoying the feeling of a job well-done and assuring yourself that you are doing all you can to keep your family healthy - both physically and fiscally.
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