I'm back in school picking up a 2nd undergraduate degree right now so I can feel you pain CTS.
My suggestions to you are this.
1. start with boxed things like
Knorr (formerly Lipton) pasta or rice sides pouches, also tuna, chicken, or hamburger helper, or things like Zatteran's Red or Black beans & rice and doctor them up with additional seasonings or better cuts of meat basically the boxed stuff is filler and makes the meat go further.
2. Find a local butcher
See if they sell short run meat; this is the stuff that is going to go bad soon that they need to get rid of it before they can't sell it. Grocery stores usually won't do this because if they have stuff that is no good to sell anymore they just return it for credit, doesn't work that way for the small guy. The meat is still good just make sure you cook it up soon. You can also usually get a better price on cheap cuts of meat to throw in a crock-pot at local butcher shops cause they need to make as much as they can from what they have. So they will sell scraps that you might not find in your chain grocery stores; and as long as you slow cook it it will be nice and tender. Plus it benefits the local economy.
3. Try to find local farming co-ops that you can buy into.
Basically how this works is you pay a membership fee and then every month you get a nice basket of fresh produce. The great thing about this is its always cheaper than the grocery store, its usually organic, you know where your food is coming from, and again benefits the local economy.
4. Get a membership to a bulk discount club nuff said there.
5.As boring or lame as it sounds clip coupons.
My better half and I just went grocery shopping Sunday and thanks to her and her coupons a $130 grocery bill went down to $108.
This next tip isn't about money but time. During the weekend make up a couple nights worth of meals in one day and then freeze them. That way during the week when you have tons of homework or studying and not a lot of time to cook just pop one of the pre-cooked frozen meal in the microwave and you've got a good meal in a couple of minutes.
Hope this helped and best of luck to you two.
My suggestions to you are this.
1. start with boxed things like
Knorr (formerly Lipton) pasta or rice sides pouches, also tuna, chicken, or hamburger helper, or things like Zatteran's Red or Black beans & rice and doctor them up with additional seasonings or better cuts of meat basically the boxed stuff is filler and makes the meat go further.
2. Find a local butcher
See if they sell short run meat; this is the stuff that is going to go bad soon that they need to get rid of it before they can't sell it. Grocery stores usually won't do this because if they have stuff that is no good to sell anymore they just return it for credit, doesn't work that way for the small guy. The meat is still good just make sure you cook it up soon. You can also usually get a better price on cheap cuts of meat to throw in a crock-pot at local butcher shops cause they need to make as much as they can from what they have. So they will sell scraps that you might not find in your chain grocery stores; and as long as you slow cook it it will be nice and tender. Plus it benefits the local economy.
3. Try to find local farming co-ops that you can buy into.
Basically how this works is you pay a membership fee and then every month you get a nice basket of fresh produce. The great thing about this is its always cheaper than the grocery store, its usually organic, you know where your food is coming from, and again benefits the local economy.
4. Get a membership to a bulk discount club nuff said there.
5.As boring or lame as it sounds clip coupons.
My better half and I just went grocery shopping Sunday and thanks to her and her coupons a $130 grocery bill went down to $108.
This next tip isn't about money but time. During the weekend make up a couple nights worth of meals in one day and then freeze them. That way during the week when you have tons of homework or studying and not a lot of time to cook just pop one of the pre-cooked frozen meal in the microwave and you've got a good meal in a couple of minutes.
Hope this helped and best of luck to you two.
