slow cooker

High Beef Prices? Tips on Ways to Save Money

April 13, 2014 By Jeffrey Strain 2 Comments

Beef prices have reached the highest level since 1987, and currently have an average price of $5.28 a pound. Even worse, it doesn’t appear that these prices are going to fall anytime soon. Smaller than normal cattle herds brought on by drought and high feed costs mean that beef prices are likely to remain high for the next couple of years. For anyone who is on a grocery budget, the higher price of beef makes sticking to that budget quite difficult. Below are a number of steps that you can take to help reduce the cost of beef in your grocery budget.

A Slow Cooker is Your Friend

One of the easiest ways to reduce the amount that you spend on beef is to buy less expensive cuts. The problem is that these are often tougher and less tasty than more expensive cuts. The solution to this problem is to take out your slow cooker. Placing inexpensive cuts of beef into a slow cooker with vegetables, and letting it simmer for the entire day, will make the meat tender and juicy. If you have never tried it before, you’ll be amazed.

Discounted Beef

Beef that has not been sold which is nearing its sell date will almost always be heavily discounted by the grocery store. They would rather sell it at a discounted price than have to throw it away and get nothing for it. The meat is still perfectly fine, and can be 50% off or more from its regular price. Many people shy away from this because they don’t think they’ll be able to consume it in time. This is where your freezer is your friend. Get the beef at a great discount, take it home and immediately freeze it into perfect portions for your family. It will be in great shape when you’re ready to eat it, and the perfect sized portion.

Do It Yourself

The more that you’re willing to do yourself with the beef, the less expensive it will be. Think of it the same way as you would a block of cheese and shredded cheese. A block of cheese is much less expensive than shredded cheese, but you have to do a little bit more work if you want shredded cheese. The same applies to beef.

Ground beef will be less expensive than premade beef patties. Purchasing chuck roast when it’s on sale and grinding it yourself will be less expensive than ground beef. Steaks which haven’t been marinated will be less expensive than those that have. The more preparation of the meat you do yourself, the less expensive the beef will be.

Change the Meal Focus

It’s common in the US for meat to be the main focus on the plate for meals. That’s not the case in many countries. In many places around the world, meat is used more as a side to bring extra flavor to the main portion of the meal. Making other foods the focus of your meals, with beef being a tasty side, will allow you to spend less while not completely eliminating it from your diet.

Switch to Less Expensive Meats

Another option is to switch to less expensive meats than beef. Pork and chicken are less expensive than beef, and switching to these in place of beef can help you stay within your grocery budget.

Family Sizes

Even if you don’t have a large family, consider buying the family-size packages. The family-size packages will usually be less expensive per pound then the same beef cuts in smaller packages. Once again, the freezer is your friend, and you can freeze all the extra meat in proper portions to use at a later date.

Go Meatless

If you really want to save money on beef (and all other meats), decide to go meatless. The more days of the week that you can serve meals that don’t have beef in them, the more you’re going to save. It’s best to start off slowly so that your family doesn’t rebel, but even choosing one less day a week to have a meal without beef can be a significant savings to a grocery budget.

Explore Other Options

Purchasing beef from your local grocery store is not the only way that you can buy it. Purchasing it from another source may save you a significant amount of money. Check to see if there are any butcher shops in your area, farmers who raise beef cattle, or meat lockers. One of these alternatives may be able to supply your family with beef at a better price than you can buy at your local grocery store.

Buy Leaner

When you go to buy hamburger, look at how lean the ground beef is as well as the price. Ground beef that is 70% lean will be less expensive than ground beef that is 95% lean, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a better value. When you cook up the hamburger, leaner ground beef will leave you with more meat for your money because less lean ground beef has a lot of fat in it, which cooks away.

Look for Coupons

Most people don’t even realize that beef coupons exists, but they do. They can be a little difficult to find because you won’t find them in your Sunday paper. Beef coupons usually come on products which are related to cooking or eating beef. Some common places you might find beef coupons are on alcoholic drinks such as beer and wine. You might find it on barbecue sauce or on barbecue charcoal. The coupons will usually give you a few dollars off the purchase of the beef of your choice when you buy it in conjunction with the product that is offering the coupon.

Ten Purchases to Help With Frugality

December 7, 2009 By Jennifer Derrick 10 Comments

When I discuss frugality and money saving strategies with those who are just starting down the frugal road, one of the things they always want to know is, “What can I buy that will help me become more frugal?” I always have to swallow a chuckle because buying things to become frugal is oxymoronic. You don’t “buy” to “save.” However, in our culture we’re taught that there is always a way to buy your way into any lifestyle change. Many people approach frugality the same way. They think there are some magical objects that you can buy that will make you frugal. While I don’t agree with the mindset, I’ve come up with a list of things that I’ve bought over the years that have most helped me along my frugal journey. If you just have to buy your way into frugality, try these items:

The Complete Tightwad Gazette: This book, by Amy Dacyczyn, is the bible of frugality. It’s filled with every tip imaginable to save money and cut expenses. It’s even got some recipes and craft projects. Some of the tips might seem a little extreme, but most are very adaptable to your own level of frugality. Used copies abound: I bought mine for $1 at a library used book sale.

A clothesline: If they’re allowed where you live, a clothesline can chop a substantial sum off of your electric bill. We save about $70/month during the spring, summer, and early fall when I can make good use of the line.

High speed Internet: When it comes to saving money, I typically counsel those in dire straits to forego Internet altogether or get cheap/free dial up. However, if you’re not in terrible financial shape, I recommend high speed Internet. The Internet is a valuable resource for the frugal and you don’t have to pay for super speed; we have the “slowest” high speed available in our area. A fast connection makes everything so much easier and quicker (and your time is worth something). The Internet is great for shopping for deals, looking for and printing coupons, looking at sales flyers, making product comparisons, reading money saving/frugality forums, getting recipes, selling your unwanted things, finding free stuff on Craigslist, online bill payment, and many other money saving/making activities. High speed Internet usually pays for itself if you’re using it for money saving/making activities.

A Sunday newspaper subscription: I use it for coupons and the weekly sales flyers. In our area, very few stores take Internet printed coupons so if I want to coupon I have to have the original coupons from the circulars. I save more than enough with coupons to justify the subscription (the subscription is about $30 for three months and I save about $80 in coupons each month, or $240 in three months). Well worth it. I only pay for Sunday, though, and not the whole week since I’m never around to read each day’s paper.

A coupon organizer: If you’re going to coupon, a good organizer is very valuable. Otherwise your coupons will get lost, mixed up, and never used. I use a small accordion file with tabs labeled with categories that make sense to me. Some people use 3-ring binders with baseball-style card pockets. Use whatever works best for you.

Two great cookbooks: Many people find that a big part of being frugal is eating at home rather than eating out. However, it gets boring if you only know how to make three dishes. I recommend buying two great cookbooks. One should have fast, basic, easy to make recipes that are great for everyday use. If it has some instructional techniques, so much the better. I like the Betty Crocker cookbook for this (it’s a classic — your mom probably had one), but there are many more. The second cookbook should contain recipes that you’d want to make for special occasions or that satisfy your love for a certain ethnic cuisine. With these two books you’re always ready to make something great for dinner at home or to serve when company comes. They library has tons of books you can try for free. When you find a couple you love, buy them.

A slow cooker: Also known as a crock pot, this handy kitchen appliance saves me a ton of money and time. I put the ingredients in before I head out for the day and return home to a fully cooked meal. I can make almost any kind of dish in it and it’s easy to clean. (One of my two great cookbooks is a crock pot cook book, just for this appliance.)

A class in something that helps you be more frugal: I spent money on two classes at our local community college: A cooking class and a car care class. Both have saved me tons of money over the years. I now know how to cook and I can change my own oil and do my own routine car maintenance. If there’s something you want to know that will save you money over the long run, invest in a class or some good books on the subject and teach yourself. (Or pay a talented friend to teach you what you need to know.) You can learn a lot by trying things yourself, but sometimes it’s worth getting some professional instruction.

Programmable thermostat: You tell it what time you’ll be in and out of the house and it will raise/lower the temperature accordingly so you’re not paying to heat or cool a house with no one in it. It’s also handy for raising and lowering the temperature at night when people are snuggled under blankets or the hot sun has gone down and there’s less need for the AC.

A good coffee maker and a travel mug: If you have a coffee habit, a good coffee maker can save you hundreds of dollars a year over buying coffee away from home. Get one that makes the kind of coffee you like: espresso, cappuccino, regular coffee, single cups, etc. and use it regularly.

Bonus: Your Money or Your Life: Yes, it’s another book. Written by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez, this book shows you the relationship between money and the time and effort you spend earning it. Every dollar you spend costs you some of your life to earn and the book gets you thinking about what is really worth spending money on when you’re trading your life energy for the purchase. It totally transformed how I think about spending and made me see that a lot of things aren’t worth the piece of my life that I have to give up to own them.

What would you add to this list? What have you purchased that has made you more frugal or made being frugal easier?

Time for a Energy Diet

October 22, 2008 By Jennifer Touchette 7 Comments

As the child of people who lived through the Great Depression, I grew up on an “energy diet.” My parents encouraged us to turn off the lights when leaving the room, put on a sweater instead of turn up the heat, and walk to the store instead of drive.

My parents ingrained these habits into their children, but were rarely able to afford to undertake the more expensive items on the energy diet list. There are a lot of these big-ticket changes being pushed today too: buy a smaller car, insulate your house well, install energy-efficient windows, and buy an efficient furnace.

These are big expenses, but are good to accomplish – if you have the money. In the meantime, here are some other “diet tricks” that help my family broaden our energy diet.

Use a Kill A Watt

Our library has a really cool item to checkout. It’s called the Kill A WattTM. This device connects to your appliances to check their efficiency. You can calculate the kilowatt usage of the appliance by day, week, month or year to get an idea of how much power each appliance uses. You may be shocked with how much energy your water heater, dryer and refrigerator uses! The knowledge you receive from the Kill A Watt could help you consider ways to save money on these appliances.

Unplug unused appliances

If you don’t want to head down to the library to check out the gadget, you can unplug those appliances you aren’t immediately using. I have plugged our television, DVD player, and stereo system into power strips so that I can turn off all of the appliances at once when we’re done using them. The same goes for the computer and all its accessories.

Remember that most appliances operate on “standby power,” which means they are ready to operate in a moment when they are plugged in. For instance, our microwave has a clock and our DVD player has a little red light, both of which let me know the appliance is plugged in a ready to go. However, those clocks and lights use power to run – a small amount of power of course – but nevertheless it adds to the electricity bill.

I also make sure to unplug the toaster and the other appliances on the kitchen countertop. I first did this when the children were small, so the hot toaster, etc., wouldn’t hurt them, and I noticed our kilowatt usage took a nice dive.

Put you computer to sleep

If you must leave your computer on all day, use the energy saving feature to put the monitor and the hard drive to sleep. If you find they fall asleep too quickly, it is easy to adjust for a longer period of time. You can also save energy by turning your computer off at night.

Use a slow cooker

Rather than heat up your oven to cook dinner, why not put it in the slow cooker? If your family eats a lot of one-pot meals, this is a great way to save time and energy. Some estimates say that on average, a slow cooker running for 10 hours uses about 25 cents worth of electricity.

Turn your water heater down

New parents today are reminded to turn the water heater down so the water temperature at the tap is no more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent children from being scalded. This also makes sense for energy savings.

Most water heaters’ thermostats should be easy to check. The thermostat is usually located behind a panel on the front of the appliance. Please check your model’s instruction book for step-by-step instructions on where to find the thermostat and how to adjust it safely.

Don’t turn down the water heater any more than 130 degrees Fahrenheit though. That is the lowest it can go and still kill germs in the water tank.

Reconsider holiday lighting

There is nothing better than the holiday light displays around our town. I especially appreciate them after Daylight Savings Time has reverted to Standard Time and it is dark early in the evening.

However, last year we put up our usual holiday lights on our house, and I noticed an increase of $20 for every month the lights were up (we put them up around Thanksgiving and took them down in the middle of January). That extra electricity use, coupled with the rise in electricity rates that year, made the bill noticeably higher. If you’re really trying to pinch pennies this year, a non-lighted display will save money.

Turn that thermostat down

If you’re lucky enough to have a furnace with a thermostat, turning down the temperature even two degrees can add up to noticeable savings. Make sure and turn the thermostat down even more at night, if possible, and add another blanket if you find it’s too cold. My father tells me he even sleeps wearing a stocking cap on his head at night!

In addition, rather than heat the whole house with the big furnace, consider a space heater. It will warm the room your family is in, while the rest of the house can be kept at a cooler temperature. Space heaters seem much better than they used to be. Many seem safer and will turn off if they tip over.

You can do it

Taking your energy diet to heart is like any lifestyle change. It’s hard at first, but after a bit of practice, it will become ingrained.