I will admit

I have to admit that I am a very cheap person at times around the household.  Now with that being said I got asked today how do I cut down my food bill today at the doctors office and is a grand for groceries way to much for 5 kids in the household.  All I can say is thank goodness I was laying down.  I have got 2 kitchens to support and I know it takes alot of food and sometimes alot of money to feed the household.  I told the girl when you go shopping again I am going with you and we will hit up Aldi for the main bulk of the food for the household.  I can get her bill down to about 500 dollars a month for both the groceries and the cleaners that she needs.  Also to switch the cooking around abit for the household for the poor woman.  I will also admit that I am not a huge rice fan at all around here and I will eat it because it is food.  This is why I tend to jazz up the rice with a can of beef, chicken, turkey, or vegetable broth then I stick some garlic powder in with it also.  I have not found my rice cooker as of yet and I will get there sometime in the coming weeks for the household again.  I was telling the one girl up at the office in what I did on the cheap with 3 kids in one household and the tricks that I learned along the way to make the kids like rice a bit better.  It is called cheese and it helps.  I also kept the same thing going when I babysat all of the time.  So now I will write down some things for the one gal up at the doctors office and tell her to double it for the household.  Also the funny part of it all is that I can make things work and some would never know about it untill it is way to late for dinner and the kids have scarfed down what is on their plates and asking for 2nds.  With all of it there are tricks to saving at the stores.  For alot of like goodies for the 2nd kitchen I will be going to Aldi for.  Ok so they are one of the off brand stores that I go to besides Save A Lot.  I started going to Aldi while I was with my ex hubby to afford alot of the groceries for the household.  It seems wierd that I missed the store when I got here to NY State since I was not about to drive 45 min out of my way to get the groceries from there at all.  Then once the City of Niagara Falls got an Aldi I went there spent 200 dollars and had about 3 months worth of food the new Hubby loved it.  Then there was the Aldi right across the parking lot where I worked in Buffalo I loved it cheap lunches for a week and then some.  So alot of what I get from Aldi's are the flour, bakeing powder, pastas, rice, cat food (the cat is even cheap), canned goods, and frozen goodies for the household.  That does not include the goods for the truck.  It also depends on what you are shopping for in the meat department for the household.  With my household it is like most of the folks do not care as long as it is food in what I make.  As long as you can cook it is not to hard to figure out in what goes with what.  So I have learned over the years to sit there and think of what is for 3 meals a day and write them down on a calender.  Also what has helped with streaching out everything is to write down when you opened something like the cleaners.  When you have a base idea of what is going where and how much you pretty much start to cut back in alot of things.  With that being said I will say something to the one girl at the doctors office to get another calander for the household.  I will get ahold of her tonight and let her know about in what all I do for the household here.  It takes some time to do at first and then you get it down to 5 min for a month for what sounds good for dinner at the time and just fill in when you open the next bottle of laundry or dish soap for the household.  It seems wierd at first also and it does help to notice ok I have to cut this down and this down also and not a huge deal after 6 months in time.  What I am saying is to keep track of what you spend in a way around the household.  Now with the other things I have noticed that I may get one cup of coffee while I am out and about.  I am normally in Amhurst when I get the one cup of coffee as a treat that is out of the household.  Just like the last time I went out to eat here I got heat burn and indigestion at the same time off of one meal.  This is what happends when you really cut back on alot of things.  With my place I do not eat out at places alot of the times at all because it is cheaper to cook and make coffee at home.  I also have a crafe for the coffee and will have hot coffee 95% of the time for the household.  This is what some do not really know about me at all.  I cook all of the time and think of what I can make instead of going out to eat all of the time.