With stores struggling to keep food on the shelves, we’re finding ways to make food last longer. Try these simple tips at home!
This post began as tips for making it through the pandemic, when grocery store shelves were bare and rationing was in effect.
These days, inflation at the grocery store is a bigger problem.
So if you’re looking for ways to cut costs at the grocery store, check out these ideas.
Each day this week, I’ve tried to come up with something I can do to stretch our resources further.
So here are…
The 5 Things We’ve Done This Week To Reduce Food Waste
Grocery Trip
I went out this week to get some groceries. I was determined not to go back out again any time soon.
So I tried to stock up on enough food to keep our family of 8 going for a month.
(Wondering how we keep stocked up on food for 8 people on one salary? Here’s how.)
I probably saved a few bucks over what I would normally spend on a month’s worth of groceries, but I wouldn’t call it a dramatic savings. It’s mostly about being prepared for us.
It’s going to be a challenge, but we’re going to try hard.
I’ve repeatedly told the kids to ration the food as much as they can. (For some reason they seem to be spilling more food than ever before now. headdesk…but we’re trying.)
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Bread
The stores are limiting everyone to 2 loaves of bread and 2 gallons of milk. That’s a challenge for a big family.
I was able to go to a couple of different stores to get 4 loaves of bread. But that still won’t last us long.
So today I put together a sourdough starter. We’ll keep it going and be able to have bread without using up a ton of yeast.
It’s just a tiny bit fussy, but there are only 3 ingredients!
Originally I was going to make the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day, but decided on sourdough starter instead. Later we might go back to that.
I had almost forgotten about this super easy beer bread recipe! It’s another great way to make bread without using yeast.
Milk
There are shortages in gallons of milk, but I still found dry milk on the shelves. So I bought a few boxes of it.
No, my family probably won’t drink this milk. But it’s great for cooking!
So I can use it to make pancakes and other things that will stretch our pantry out farther.
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Oatmeal
I think oatmeal gets a bad reputation for no good reason.
If you don’t like it, you probably just haven’t found the right recipe for it yet!
Here’s a list of recipes you should be trying. It’s so easy to keep oatmeal on hand, and it’s cheap!
Water
You might know that we have a weird water situation here. We have two giant tanks in our basement, and every drop of water we use has to be hauled in by a water hauler.
There’s not a lot of people who do this work, and right now there is only one guy in our area that’s even willing to haul water to our house in the country.
We are worried, between the quarantine and the potential for him to fall ill, about what will happen with our water situation.
(Dang it, I sure wish I could find someone who would dig a cistern for us.)
So we are being very careful with our water usage.
Every time I think about ordering reusable napkins like these, I have to weigh the idea of having more laundry to do.
It’s really frustrating. But you can bet I’d be jumping right into doing more reusable items if we didn’t have to weigh the water problem against it.
Things like handkerchiefs (since you can’t find tissues in the store).
Or a big pack of washcloths to use for baby wipes.
Hopefully you have a better water situation than we do. If so, I really encourage you to think outside the box and look for more “Little House on the Prairie” ways to do things!
Soap
I’ve heard reports that many stores can’t keep soap in stock right now.
We’re stretching our liquid soap out by adding a rubber band to the top. (Like this:)
That’ll make it last longer.
Also, don’t forget those bars of hotel soap you’ve been hoarding all these years! (Just me??)
Those are 5 of the things we’ve done this week to fight the craziness.
We can get through this!
What are you doing in all of this chaos?
I’d shoot for at least two months, one month is kinda optimistic. I feel for parents with big families. We had one but the kids are grown and gone and fending for themselves in this crisis. I think with your solid values and frugal ways you’ll be totally fine. And your kids will have some great stories, like my greatest generation parents had about the Great Depression. This thing is still sort of surreal here, still not a single case within nearly one hundred miles, but it is coming I know.
Thanks for your kind words. 🙂 We’re definitely trying to stretch our resources to the max! I think surreal is the right word to describe this situation.
Thanks for all of your frugal ideas, I will be putting them into practice! Enjoy reading your blog, keep up the good work!
I cut all of my liquid soaps 1/2 and 1/2 with water – hand, bathing, and dish. I always do that. They are all concentrated and I discovered years ago that I don’t need to use them full-strength.