It seems as if everyone in blogland is recommending meal planning as a cost effective way to strengthen your budget during this economic crisis we seem to be in. You can read more tips here from Stretching a Buck as she goes through step by step how she does it.
One thing that's been buggin me about so many recent posts I've read about meal planning is that it seems like there are tons of families that are scrimping on food that they really enjoy just to save money. I just don't like that -- I want to eat what I want to eat...so I just find a way to do it. For us, if we avoid eating out or buying Starbucks/Caribou often, then there is more money in our budget to buy food products we enjoy and just eat them at home. As I read some food blogs out there, it makes me so grateful to have a husband who will eat leftovers or a bowl of cereal as an add-on to his dinner.
In the Cleveland area, there are tons of places to buy good food and ingredients from and not have to go without. I've found that at the rate I go through flour/butter/eggs/sugar/brown sugar, it's cost effective for me to buy from Costco. Well, actually my mama buys from Costco and I pay her back. (do this with girlfriends who have a wholesale membership) Sometimes my mama and I will buy something together and split it (think spices). Also, I buy all of my spices either from the Mediterranean Imported Foods stand in the Westside Market or from the Berlin Bulk Foods store in Amish Country. The Mediterranean Imported Foods stand has all sorts of exotic spices that you can buy as much as you want (like only 1/2 an ounce) and sells vanilla bean pods for $2 a piece (and they're usually 8 inches long). With those prices, my food budget remains in tact!
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