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The New AmericasCheapestFamily.com

America's Cheapest Family — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:33:00 GMT

We have been working like crazy for the past four months to get our new web site up. We migrated it to it's final location earlier this week to get the bugs out. Our official launch date is Thursday, January 28. If you are a HomeEconomiser Newsletter subscriber, you will be receiving your email instructions next week.

Click here and take a look around. We are in the midst of putting up more content and de-bugging the site. So if you find a dead link or something else doesn't work, please contact us.

2010 is going to be a great year for bargain hunters — let's start saving money now!

S&A

Thanksgiving on a budget

America's Cheapest Family — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:16:00 GMT

Question: Help! We’ve been married 4 years and this will be the first time I’m hosting Thanksgiving. We’ve got relatives coming from out of town. I’m panicked over the cost!

Answer: Don’t panic — Thanksgiving dinner is one of the least expensive meals to prepare because everything is on sale the week before. Frozen turkeys will be around 40 cents per pound, so a 20-pound bird will cost only $8. And you’ll even have some leftovers for turkey sandwiches and other meals. Keep your eyes open and you’ll find bargain prices on potatoes, yams, cranberry sauce, green beans and all the fixin’s.

This year the grocery stores are fighting for market share and dropping prices like crazy. In the past week, we've seen frozen Turkey prices drop from a high of 47 cents a pound all the way down to 29 cents! It's time to fill your freezer full of inexpensive birds!

Have a great Thanksgiving!!!!

Wal-mart and Black Friday

America's Cheapest Family — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:09:00 GMT

This is big money saving news.

We were just waking up this morning and heard a commercial stating that Walmart is expanding their nationwide price match policy to include any and all Black Friday deals. This could mean avoiding huge lines of bargain shoppers and being able to do a lot of shopping at one store.

We've used price match on groceries lots of times, but seldom on other merchandise.

Make your list, grab the competitors ads and head to the stores! This could be really good!

Here's what Walmart's web site says:

http://walmartstores.com/FactsNews/NewsRoom/8818.aspx

Walmart Confirms Three Days of Black Friday Savings

Retailer Officially Unveils Black Friday Specials and
Walmart.com Introduces Unbelievable Thanksgiving Day Online Specials

BENTONVILLE, Ark., Nov. 24, 2008 – Continuing its commitment to bring the best prices to customers through Operation Main Street, Walmart today posts online at Walmart.com (www.walmart.com) its entire Black Friday advertising circular with incredible savings on hundreds of items to help its customers cut the cost of Christmas. In addition, Walmart.com today announces it will offer online specials on Thanksgiving Day.

In addition to its Black Friday specials, Walmart is guaranteeing customers the best prices with its Ad Match program, whereby its stores will match the price of any local competitor's printed ad for an identical product.

“Walmart is dedicated to being a low price advocate for our customers throughout the entire year, and our Black Friday specials are no exception,” said John Fleming, chief merchandising officer for Walmart. “Our associates will be working hard all week to make sure our stores are ready to welcome shoppers seeking our unbeatable Black Friday prices.”

Three Days of Black Friday, Starting …

Online Thursday: On Thanksgiving Day, customers can visit Walmart.com (www.walmart.com) to find online specials on many of the season’s hottest items in electronics, toys and video games, with free shipping through its Site to Store program. While on the site Thursday, shoppers also can see Walmart’s Black Friday specials available in stores the next day.

A few examples of the dozens of online only specials available Thanksgiving Day on Walmart.com include a Motorola Bluetooth Headset for less than $20 and the Playhut High School Musical Star Stage for $30.

In Stores Friday Morning: The biggest savings begin 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. Nov. 28. Walmart customers will find Black Friday only products, as advertised, across the store from $4 and $8 jeans, jackets and sleepwear to a Magnovox Blu-ray disc player at $128. The full list of savings that stretch across the store is available at Walmart.com (www.walmart.com).

2-Day Friday and Saturday Savings: Walmart’s Black Friday circular also includes incredible savings storewide that begin Friday and are available through Saturday.

“With our in store and online specials, we’re providing our customers the opportunity for a few Black Friday moments," said Fleming. "And throughout the weekend, our customers can count on us to continue to deliver amazing every day prices, whether shopping for Christmas gifts or checking off the weekly grocery list.”

Walmart’s Black Friday circular can be found in its entirety at www.walmart.com.

Freezing limits

America's Cheapest Family — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:02:00 GMT

Question: I took your advice and bought a couple of sale turkeys beforeThanksgiving. How long can a frozen turkey be stored without going bad?

Answer: We stock up on a large number of turkeys at Thanksgiving, too. Itprovides us with the least expensive poultry price of the year. About once eachmonth (except during the hotter summer months), we cook a turkey. We eat someof the meat that night and save the rest to be used in recipes made on ouronce-a-month cooking day.

We regularly store frozen turkeys for up toone year and notice no difference in taste or quality from the birds that areeaten right away. We talked to a former Navy chef, now working as a butcher,who said that while in the military, they would routinely ship out for 18months. Sometimes they stowed two years’ worth of Thanksgiving turkeys onboardin deep freezers. Turkey that is vacuum-sealed in heavy plastic and then frozencan be stored indefinitely. This same rule applies to other vacuum-sealedmeats. Meat frozen in Styrofoam trays with thin plastic wrap should either berepackaged or eaten much sooner.

Paying off a house quickly

America's Cheapest Family — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:33:00 GMT

Question: Explain how you paid off your house so quickly.

 Answer: There are three things we did to pay off our first home in nine years:

1) Think small. We bought a small (1,458-square-foot) repossessed house and financed less than the bank said we could. Many people think that buying a bigger house is better. Larger houses cost more to heat, cool, insure and maintain, and you pay more in property taxes. Don’t buy a larger house to impress your friends and family — they aren’t the ones who will lie awake at night worrying about making the payment. Thinking small helped keep our payments manageable and allowed us to pay extra each month.

2) Have a budget. Having a way to control your saving and spending is the key to reaching your financial goals. Our budget allowed us to save in advance of all anticipated expenses. It also revealed when we had extra money, which we used to pay off the house.

 3) Hate debt. We avoid debt like the plague. It’s an attitude we share. So paying off our house was more of a priority to us than buying new cars or taking fancy vacations. We bought gently used cars when needed and took enjoyable annual vacations, spending only the money we had saved for that specific purpose.

 As we watched our house’s principal balance plummet, we experienced a feeling of euphoria. This led us to find more ways to save money on other expenses such as groceries, home repairs, clothing and car insurance.

And the best part was the day we paid it off! Whew, what a great feeling. Give it a try — it’s fantastic!

Animal Adoptions

America's Cheapest Family — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:52:00 GMT

We just adopted a dog through Central Arizona Animal Rescue http://www.caaronline.org/ — they are really great people. About 2 months ago we had to "put down" Lucky, our 12 year old shepherd. His hips were failing him and he couldn't stand anymore. It was so sad. He was a great family dog. Our second dog, Alaska, has been really lonely and in need of a companion.

Our new pup is a nine month old purebred German Shepherd who appears to have been abused. He was rescued out of a county pound where he was dropped off by his owner and immediately put on the euthanize list. He is super wary of anyone coming near him. It's taken 3 days for him to trust us. We're going slow and his trust level is growing. Just yesterday he licked Annette's hand and gave his tail a little wag. Things are looking good! His name is Bandit.

If you're looking for a pet, please go to the pound or contact an animal rescue service in your area. We found that some of the rescue services were charging exorbitant fees - some as high as $400! We understand that there are costs associated with caring for abandoned and abused animals, but in this market, with the economy where it is, charging that much is going to be prohibitive. Check multiple sources and you're sure to find an animal who will be a great addition to your family.

Medical crisis and car payments

America's Cheapest Family — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:13:00 GMT

Question: I have a chronic illness and don’t know when I’ll be able to return to work. My husband works a weekend job in addition to his weekly job. We have two car payments. One is $500 a month with 18 months left to pay off the car. Would we be better off trading it in to get our payments down to $300? We tried to refinance it, but the company said no. I’m not sure we can afford this payment on one income. We need two cars because our son just started college. We have canceled our cell phones and have gotten rid of other expenses to make ends meet.

Answer: Before we address trading your car, let’s talk about your son. We all want to help our kids, but when you’re in a budget crisis, you need to make changes. It’s time to assess how much of the cost of the second car your son can carry. We require our kids to pay for their own auto insurance and some of the gas they use. If they want to own a car, they buy it themselves (with cash; we don’t co-sign). While this policy may seem harsh, hard work, delayed gratification and planning never hurt anyone. It’s a great dose of reality and will benefit them much more than giving them things. If your son wants to drive, he should pay. If he doesn’t want to pay, then sell the car.

Reducing your $500-per-month car payment will require a lot of research and probably some good, old-fashioned haggling. Start by figuring out what kind of car you could get for $300 per month. Also research the Consumer Reports Used Car Buying Guide for reliability information on various models. Then call several dealerships and see how willing they are to work a deal. Go in dealerships knowing what terms you want (total cost, length of the loan and total monthly payment) and be prepared to walk away if they don’t meet your terms.

You also should research insurance (we like to use InsWeb.com to gather several quotes easily and quickly) and registration costs before you buy. Impulsive decisions usually land people in debt. This is time for analysis, research, planning and patience.

Coupon Facts / Trivia Question / Request

America's Cheapest Family — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:26:00 GMT

We're working on the coupon chapter of our next book and need your input. But first, we've got a little trivia for you

Do you know how many coupons are distributed in a year?

Try about 361 billion.

Guess how many are of those coupons get redeemed . . . about 4.3 billion.

Okay, one more trivia question . . . what company was the first to use a coupon to promote their product.

Hints: The company is still around today and its product every grocery store. The first coupon was distributed in 1887.

Send us your guesses.

Coupon Organization: No two people organize their coupons alike. We we want to include several ideas for coupons organization in the Coupon chapter of our book. Let us know how you do it.

Post it here or send us an email at ideas[at]homeeconomiser[dot]com

Grocery shopping and wasting money

America's Cheapest Family — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:30:00 GMT

Question: What is the singlebiggest money waster when shopping for groceries?

Answer: Cheetos! Well,they're our downfall.

Seriously,impulsiveness is the most costly habit out there. An extensive researchstudy of grocery-buying habits showed that 60 percent of the items put in agrocery cart are unplanned purchases — they are impulse buys. If you go to thestore for 10 items you'll come home with 16.

Bydoing some simple planning — a weekly menu based on sale items and creating(and sticking to) a shopping list — most consumers could cut a huge amount ofimpulse buys from their grocery expenses.

Ifyou want to read the study, Where the Rubber Meets the Road, A Model of InStore Consumer Decision Making, by J. Jeffrey Inman, RosellinaFerraro, Russell S. Winer which was published on April 30, 2004go here: Inman Study

(Justbe aware that this is a statistical survey and you may have to wade throughtechnical terms you might not understand to get to the usable information)

Thisis the most extensive study of consumer buying habits ever created. It's afascinating look what we buy and why. They tracked over

50,000purchases made by 4000 consumers. The study shows that what you intend to buywhen you go to the store is NOT what you come home with . . . not by a longshot.

Inour next book (we're working on it right now) we're going to give readers theammunition they need to beat this survey and walk away from the grocery storespending less money than ever before.

Grocery / Cooking Tips for Singles and Empty Nesters

America's Cheapest Family — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:43:00 GMT

We're working on two new books!

The first one has a working title of "Cut Your Grocery Bill In Half."

It is going to be one of the most comprehensive manuals on how to maximize your savings in the grocery arena that has ever been written. We'll write more about the second book later.

To make the book even better, we want to include input from other frugal friends.

Over the years, we've noticed that singles and empty nesters struggle with shopping and cooking. They tend to loose their enthusiasm about saving money because they're only cooking for one or two people. Yet there are some super savers out there who really know how to stretch their grocery dollars.

If you are a single or empty nester and still have a passion for saving money on groceries and cooking, we want to include what you are doing in this next book so we can encourage others to keep on saving.

You can post your tips and comments here or send us an email . . . Ideas[at}HomeEconomiser[dot]com

Of course, we need to include some legal copy to keep our lawyer friends employed:

By submitting your ideas, you agree to allow the publication of that idea and your name or initials and city in print and on-line. All submissions become the property of Economiser Publications, LLC.

Managing on one income

America's Cheapest Family — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:03:00 GMT

Question: My husband and I have five kids and he is the only one working. We can’t seem to get out of debt and have money left to go out and do anything fun. What would be your advice?

 Answer: First off, any family that has five kids and a stay-at-home mom does have both parents working — and working very hard. We know — we’ve been there. It’s tough, but the rewards never end.

 We won’t lie to you. Eliminating debt requires self-evaluation and discipline. But the more you practice new habits, the more success you’ll have and the more addicting debt-reduction will become.

 First, you need to establish a realistic budget for your lifestyle and update it regularly (read about this in our book).

 Second, you’ve got to get the whole family on board. Even young kids can be involved with new money-saving habits if their parents lead by example.

 Third, sell off anything you don’t really need and use the proceeds to pay off debt.

 You can have fun as a family without spending money — kids do it all the time. Borrow movies from the library, play a board game, go to a park and throw a Frisbee, take a hike, go to the Heard Museum on a free day or go to a free concert at Arizona State University, a community college or a high school near your home. Visit deals.azcentral.com for more ideas. If you want a little romance, plan a candlelight dinner at home without the kids. Use your creativity, not credit.

 By the way, we don’t mean to pick on you, but you sent this question from a BlackBerry. If money is tight, do you need this high-tech gizmo or would a prepaid cell phone serve your needs? Question every expense and watch your debt evaporate.

Freezing limits

America's Cheapest Family — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:13:00 GMT

Question: I took your advice and bought a couple of sale turkeys before Thanksgiving. How long can a frozen turkey be stored without going bad?

Answer: We stock up on a large number of turkeys at Thanksgiving, too. It provides us with the least expensive poultry price of the year. About once each month (except during the hotter summer months), we cook a turkey. We eat some of the meat that night and save the rest to be used in recipes made on our once-a-month cooking day.

We regularly store frozen turkeys for up to one year and notice no difference in taste or quality from the birds that are eaten right away. We talked to a former Navy chef, now working as a butcher, who said that while in the military, they would routinely ship out for 18 months. Sometimes they stowed two years’ worth of Thanksgiving turkeys onboard in deep freezers. Turkey that is vacuum-sealed in heavy plastic and then frozen can be stored indefinitely. This same rule applies to other vacuum-sealed meats. Meat frozen in Styrofoam trays with thin plastic wrap should either be repackaged or eaten much sooner.

One income or two?

America's Cheapest Family — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:03:00 GMT

Question: My wife makes $45,000 per year and I recently accepted a promotion that pays $60,000 per year. We have four children at home, ages 4-19. My new position will leave me little time and even less energy for my family and our worship.

For years my wife and I have been terrible money managers. We lost a home and filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which was converted to a Chapter 7. I have always believed that with a little sacrifice and a lot of creativity, we can live on one full-time income or perhaps two part-time incomes.

My dilemma is this: How can I convince my wife that this is possible? She thinks the idea of living on one income is unreasonable. We tried it before and failed miserably, I believe, because we were uneducated and unprepared.

 Answer: We feel for your situation. But given your financial past, it’s unlikely you’ll soon convince your wife to live on one income. It will take time to establish new, sound financial habits in your home before she’ll feel secure in your decisions.

Develop and maintain a working budget for at least six months, build some savings (at least three months of living expenses) and become totally debt-free before you consider reducing to one salary. It may take a year to prove your commitment. Check the library for books by Larry Burkett, Dave Ramsey and us.We've got these books available in our Amazon Bookstore also.

Hook up with someone to help you walk through these changes and help you both deal with your emotional and financial issues. Check out Crown Financial Ministries' Web site. They have personal budget coaches and their small-group study course teaches sound financial principles and a very practical budgeting system.

You’re right, it will take education and determination, but we know you can do it. By investing your time you will ensure your family a firm financial future.

Now is the time to get a great deal on vitamins and supplements

America's Cheapest Family — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:11:00 GMT

Ben Franklin said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

We believe that 100% especially when it comes to our health. We eat healthy food, get exercise, drink a lot of water, wash our hands often and take vitamins and herbs to maintain our health and fight off any sickness that might come our way.

We buy most of our vitamins and herbs from Puritan's Pride because they regularly have great sales and their prices beat everyone else. We've compared prices to Sam's Club, Costco, Walgreens and CVS.

Each summer they have an absolutely killer sale — BUY 1 GET 2 FREE.

Here are a few of their prices on items we're buying:

ITEM	MG	QTY	$	TOTAL QTY / 3 FOR 1	FINAL PER PILL COST
Vitamin C	1000	250	$22.99	750 caplets	1.6 cents each
Echinacea	400	200	$ 9.99	600 capsules	1.66 cents each
Grapeseed Extract	50	200	$ 7.66	600 capsules	1.2 cents each

Last week we sent in our largest order ever.

What we do is list what vitamins or herbs we take on a regular basis and calculate how may we use in a year. Then we order that amount. It saves so much money and really keeps us healthy for less.

Last year we miscalculated what we needed and had to place an order in the middle of the year when they were running a Buy 1 Get 1 Free offer— yup it was more expensive. So now is the time to check out their sale prices.

Be smart though. Compare prices at Sam's Club and Costco online, you'll find that some of their prices may be close to the deal you'll get at Puritan's Pride, but they don't have the same variety and quantities of vitamins and herbs.

Two more great things about Puritan's Pride is that you pay no sales tax unless you live in IL, NY or ND (that saves us 8% in Arizona) and there are always online coupon codes to save even more — we paid no shipping because we Googled "Puritans Pride Coupon Codes" and found a coupon code that saved us $5 (it paid for the $4.95 shipping). That particular coupon is gone, but now they are offering free shipping on orders of $50 or more.

Order a catalog by calling 1-800-645-1030 or get to their web site, but don't wait too long. Search for vitamins and herbs now!

Let us know how much you saved!

Managing after retirement

America's Cheapest Family — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:31:00 GMT

Question: After 32 years of teaching, I am retiring at the end of this school year. We’ve been married for 23 years and have three boys. Our oldest son is a college sophomore, and our twins are 12. I’m looking for ways to make extra money after I retire. I could substitute teach but I’m ready to do something different. I live in a rural area of Arizona. I want to stay close to home to be here for my younger kids. What do you suggest?

  Answer: Focusing on managing your home can save more money than going out and working part-time. By driving less, you can eliminate a car or reduce your insurance. You’ll have more time to cook from scratch and you’ll be less frazzled at the end of the day. Your income will be lower, so you’ll pay less in taxes. By planning ahead, you’ll spend less money. You’re already an expert at developing and implementing lesson plans — now you can become an expert at implementing a spending-and-savings plan.   You could start a home-based business. But working from home requires you to become a sales person and business owner with discipline and a marketing mindset. Consider becoming a virtual assistant (do a Google search) or a proofreader or editor for a small magazine, Web site or publisher.

If you’re tenacious and willing to learn the ins and outs of medical billing, you could become a medical billing advocate. We recently interviewed Nora Johnson, the spokesperson for Medical Billing Advocates of America, and learned that this is a growth field. Consultants work from home and help others by contesting overcharges or erroneous bills from insurance companies and medical providers. The association provides ongoing training, support and referrals. For more information visit billadvocates.com.You can read more about Medical Billing Advocates by purchasing the May/June 2008 edition of the HomeEconomiser Newsletter here: homeeconomiser.com/BackIssueIndex.html.

Going green for less

America's Cheapest Family — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:16:00 GMT

Question: What about “green”-conscious families, like mine, who are on organic/nonprocessed diets with recycled paper/plastic products, and nontoxic cleaners? They don’t have coupons for this stuff or carry it at warehouses. Do you have ideas to save money yet live healthy and environmentally-friendly?

 Answer: We’ve seen several organic products and some environmentally friendly cleaning products at our local Costco. When buying “green,” the principles of establishing a buy price and stocking up still apply. Know your prices for items you purchase. Over time and through research, you’ll find sources for what you want. Then when you find a better price, stock up.

 Minimize use of paper products. Disposable products are wasteful and costly. We use cloth napkins, cloth dishtowels and old shirts for rags. We use very few disposable products.

 Consider making some of your own cleaning products. Visit makeyourown.net; they have recipes for everything from air fresheners to homemade soap.

 The best way to guarantee organic produce is by growing your own vegetables or planting fruit trees in your yard. Look for organic produce at farmers markets or join a co-op. Greg Peterson, a local “green” expert, is owner of the Urban Farm in Phoenix. Learn about his ideas here: YourGuideToGreen.com.

Going green is more expensive. So decide what the non-negotiables of your lifestyle are, find the best prices and work on saving money in other areas.

How do I cut my budget even more?

America's Cheapest Family — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:30:00 GMT

Question: In the seven years we’ve been married we have paid off both of our student loans and paid $40,000 extra principal on mortgage. We have one $7,500 loan left before my husband can drop back to one job — he currently works two. We plan to pay that loan off in 12 months.

I feel like I need to reduce our expenses more so we can make that transition. I ran across your book and filled out the household budget worksheet . . . I became very discouraged. It seems that if I fund our all of our budget categories, he will never get to drop to one job. We have already found cheaper home and auto insurance, increased our health insurance deductible and saved $8,000 for emergencies. Our house payment takes 40 percent of our income, we have two in diapers, and in the last month, all three of our cars have broken down.

What should I do? My husband is really tired.

 Answer: First of all, congratulate yourselves for what you have accomplished in paying off loans, decreasing insurance premiums and setting up an emergency fund. Our budget worksheet helps you plan for all of your usual household expenses; you may have to eliminate some categories to make your budget balance.

 Here are three things you could do.

 1. Sell one or two of your cars – you’ll save on insurance and maintenance. It may be inconvenient, but you’ll have fewer financial headaches.

 2. Consider selling or swapping your house for something smaller and less expensive. Or rent out a room — maybe to someone who pays reduced rent in exchange for helping with your kids.

 3. Work at reducing your grocery expenses by evaluating your diet, planning your shopping trips more carefully, eliminating non-essential food items, and cooking from scratch.

 It sounds like you both are really weary and need someone to encourage you and help you evaluate. See if there is someone at your church, mosque or synagogue who manages their household finances well and could review yours. If not, contact Crown Financial Ministries (crown.org) or Money Management International (MoneyManagement.org) they’ll help get you on track.

Where do I find more coupons?

America's Cheapest Family — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:14:00 GMT

Question: How do I find more coupons for the groceries and other things I need?

Answer: Network with friends and relatives to share or trade coupons for things you use. We used to exchange unused coupons with a group of friends every Sunday at church. It was convenient and beneficial because we all used different products.

Visit online coupon sites and even your local grocers' Web sites. Some sites include: coolsavings.com,coupons.com, couponmom.com, couponmountain.com, deallocker.com and smartsource.com.

Just be careful that your pursuit of coupon savings doesn't cause you to spend more money on products you wouldn't normally purchase and more time than you can afford. Coupons are only one of many ways to trim your grocery budget.

Should I pay off my mortgage with 401(k) funds?

America's Cheapest Family — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:28:00 GMT

Question: I have been paying an extra $560 on my mortgage since July 2007. Recently I began paying an extra $1,000 each month. We owe $l55,000 on our house — our original loan was for $l86,000. Our house payment is $l,427. We have $200,000 in a 401(k) plan (maybe less now).

Should we pay off the house with the money in our 401(k) or keep paying as much extra as we can? We also pay (depending on interest rates) between $700 and $l,500 per month in interest on a home equity line of credit. I thought that once I paid off the house, I could work at paying off the line of credit. What would you do?

 Answer: We would never raid a 401(k) plan. You’d not only have to pay a penalty for early withdrawal, but also have to report the money as income and pay taxes on it. Plus, you would have nothing for the future.

Instead, stop using the home equity line of credit (HELOC) and focus on paying it off as soon as possible. Once that’s done, start paying off your mortgage with a vengeance. You’ll save more in interest by eliminating the HELOC first than by paying down your mortgage.

Consider temporarily reducing the amount you contribute to your 401(k) to maximize your debt reduction. You’re on the right track — destroying debt will produce incredible freedom

Creating storage space for groceries

America's Cheapest Family — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:15:00 GMT

Question: How can I shop only once a month if I don’t have the storage space? I would like to be able to do this, but only have one refrigerator/freezer.

 Answer: It’s time to get creative and “invent” storage space.

 Some ideas include:

Put cardboard boxes or plastic bins in available spaces. Store canned foods under a bed. Convert unused closet space to food storage shelves.
Build mini-shelves under your bathroom sinks to store more toilet paper and personal care items.
Stack wooden crates on their sides to store canned goods, and cover them with a table cloth to make an end table.
Freezer space is a little tougher. Repackage prepackaged foods to take up less space. We slice and repackage bulk meat so it is more compact and easier to use.

 In our first apartment, we had a small 9 cubic-foot chest freezer that also provided extra counter space.

 If efficiency isn’t one of your strengths, ask an organized friend to come over and evaluate options with you.

 If these ideas don’t provide enough space, you may need to make a mid-month supplemental shopping trip for perishable items. With some planning, you’ll be stocking your pantry from floor to ceiling and saving “big time” at the grocery store.

Learn more about our many grocery / money saving strategies in our audio CD: Stretching Your Grocery Dollars Without Becoming a Coupon Queen