Re: Starting a business. I would sure never do a brick and mortar business again which is what I did and certainly not with someone I did not know well, which again is what I did. He had been a successful business man and I thought partnering with him, I'd partner with success. Little did I know he was dishonest and shady and a crook. Stupid of me, not gutsy. And the business I have now is on the internet, my investment is $40/month and right now I am up to $1,000/month in return. I still have to disintangle myself from business number 1 though.
My shopping tips. First I have a $50/weekly limit period. I shop with a calculator and when I reach $50, I am done. If there is something I just must, must have, then something comes out of the cart. And I have stopped shopping on the big stores and shop at a store called Aldi's. Milk is milk, eggs are eggs, so is celery and apples. If you are hung up on name brands, this is not for you. But if you do your research, you will find that many items are sold under different labels. The only difference is the fancy paper label on the can but the inside is the same. Their frozen green beans are like fresh out of the garden, I have not had such incredible tasting vegies. We do make a lot of sandwiches but I bought a $19 panini maker (at Aldi's when they had a special) and man, a ham sandwich is totally different when you make it in a panini maker. We make spinach frattata every other week which is super cheap to make -- shredded potato crust, fresh spinach, onion, mushrooms sauted in a pan (bake crust first), then add spinach layer, layer of cheese, beat three eggs, a little milk, pour over spinach, bake till done. That can be dinner one night and lunch the next day. Makes eight pie shaped pieces.
I make big batches of homemade soup and freeze them, can usually get three meals out of a big batch of soup. Freeze two tupperware containers of soup, eat one that night. We make iced tea from tea bags and drink a lot of tea, drink water, I buy one container of juice and we just limit a small glass for each morning, just don't guzzle it, we portion it out over the week and everyone gets one small glass with breakfast.
Biggest thing is that I just plan ahead and don't just hit the store and grab stuff to put in my cart. I have a list, I've an idea of what I'm making for the week, and I shop with my calculator and when I hit $50, I'm done. You would not believe the prices at Aldi's, cheap, cheap, cheap. Before unemployment and I wasn't being so careful, I spent about $120 week at one of the big named stores, and that was using coupons. We eat well, we don't go hungry, I could stand to lose some weight but the prices are about a l/2 or more of the cost at Aldi's. I've taken my receipt into the big name store and compared and was absolutely blown away.
Another favorite is fresh pea pods (99 cents) and I make a simple sauce of dry sherry, salt, ginger, cornstarch and sesame oil for the marinade and another seasoning sauce that is chicken broth, cornstarch and oyster sauce. I can buy a pound of shrimp for $3.99 at Aldi's and I add that to the mix. So basically pea pods, sauce and shrimp over brown rice. Super good and probably costs me $6. total.
We cook a lot of chinese type of meals, vegies and chicken over rice. Very cheap to make.
Shepherds pie in a 9 x 13 pan is enough to feed us for three meals. Again, super cheap.
They have great frozen fish -- talapia and I'll make that one night with a vegie and salad.
I buy a bag of potatoes and can use it in my fratatta, the shepherd's pie and we will also have a meal of just a baked potato with sour cream and turkey bacon, shreded cheese.
We make BLT's using turkey bacon.
I'll make a chicken and noodle casserole or a chicken, rice and broccoli casserole and again that will feed us for more than one meal, sometimes three meals over the week.
The $50/week includes if I buy toilet paper, toothpaste, etc.) Aldi's does not have everything and some weeks they have things they don't have other weeks so you have to adjust. I buy popcorn for snacks and they have brownie mix for 99 cents that is great. I probably walk out of the store with 4 big bags of groceries, sometimes five. You have to bring your own bags and I use cloth Eco bags. If you forget, you have to buy their bags or try and find an empty box. The store is certainly not fancy, things on the shelves are not all lined up but are in boxes. They do not have 20 different varieties of the same item -- i.e., 10 different brands of pickles. They have one brand of pickles. Same with diced tomatoes and the like, they have one kind of each item - if you want diced tomatoes you do not have half an aisle of different kinds to choose from, just one kind. Thus, the store is much smaller and I can usually get in and out in less than 25 min which includes bagging my own groceries. I buy flavored coffee creamer in a big container which is a huge treat for me with my morning coffee.
So we eat well and have treats. I do not feel deprived. We just eat apples, popcorn for snacks, I'll make a brownie mix every other week too, so again we are not doing without. We eat well.
