Learning to be more Frugal

So we are on an extremely tight budget. I have never been very good at planning menus, sticking to a grocery shopping list, etc. However, I am being forced to be better about it. I find it kind of a fun challenge at times. Last week, I spent $50 on groceries for a family of 7, granted, we had some existing food in the pantry. I thought I would write about some of the things I am learning on my journey to be more frugal.
#1 there are certain things that you should always have on hand.... Flour, sugar, brown sugar, oils/fats/butter, herbs & spices, bouillion cubes... These will go a long way to making a dreary week better.... When I tell the kids, "we are out of fruit until Thursday" they are bummer, but I make them feel better by baking some cookies. No, that isn't as healthy as fruit. However, when you run out of money, there is only so much you can buy. I try to make sure my kdis have at least 1 fruit a day when we are "broke"... when we feel a little more like we are rolling in the dough, they have much more. We LOVE fruit & veggies in our house.
#2 there are more things you should always have in the house: carrots.... these are cheap & a healthy snack. I have 2 kids who love them. 2 kids who don't. 1 who is too little. When we run out of fruit, my 2 who love them are thrilled because my rule on carrots is: you can ALWAYS have a carrot.... "mom, can I have a snack?" me "no, it's bedtime" kid: "how about a carrot?" me"um, ok"...
#3 and more: Onions! you know, those value bags of onions & preferably some dried onion flakes too. The thing about onions, even for folks who do not like onions, they make food taste GREAT! So let's look at something I made last week 1 or 2 days before payday when we were just about out of everything.... I made some soup. I used bouillion cubes (which I prefer to buy the stock/broth, but I was out...), ONION, the tail end of a jar of spagetti sauce, a can or two of tomato sause, some herbs... hmmmm... can't remember, i think i put in just a teeny bit of white wine that I had left (more on wine in a minute). Then I added what veggies we had left & some pasta to it. It was really, really tasty@@@@@ onions helped. and helped a lot of meals last week.
#4: wine.... ok, so when you are on a tight budget, spendign money on things like wine & beer seem like a waste. For that reason, I am SO thankful for Trader Joe's being 5 minutes from my house. Trader Joe's sells wine that is ACTUALLY GOOD that costs $2.99 per bottle... for that, i can buy some to drink AND cook with.... This is coming from someone who knows good wine... No, this will not compare with Terrabianca Campaccio Reserve (my favorite wine of all time).... but it IS drinkable even to the wine snobs out there. And honestly, adding a little wine to any sauce, soup, makes it taste just a little better.
#5: Beans... beans, beans, the musical fruit, the more you eat, the more you... ok, you all know that song right? well, beans are cheap. period. and if you take the time to make the dried beans, you never have to starve.... i admit, sometimes i am lazy and buy canned beans. but then when i make some dried, i kick myself when i see how much more you get for your money. you can do so much with beans & they are cheaper than meat.
#6 that brings me to meat/protein.... everyone things they have to have so much meat in their meals... we do NOT need that much meat people!!!! buy what is on sale. period.
#7: whole chickens.... something that my frugal journey has taught me is to buy a whole chicken either every week or every other. i can buy a whole chicken for approx $5. roast it in the crockpot & we have meat for 3-5 meals depending what I make with it.
ok, that's all I have time for right now... we are heading to a fun park day & I have no make up on. But I plan to post more about frugal living later. ciao!