This is just a quick tip, but I have found this practice to save me upwards of $4 every week!
Lettuce
Saving money with lettuce? What?
We eat a good bit of salad in this household. Thinking I was making my life easier, I used to buy the bags of pre-cut/pre-mixed lettuce bags (aka bagged salad mix). Where I shop, there is usually atleast one brand on sale 2 for $5. I used to think this was a good deal. But once I got home, the lettuce went SO. QUICKLY. When you really look at the bag, it's maybe half full. If memory serves correct (and don't quote me, as it's 8am, and I am only halfway done my coffee). there are 2.5 servings in each bag. So, after one dinner wherein both Hubby and I ate salad, it was practically gone.
Then I noticed that a head of lettuce (Note: I usually buy Iceburg. I know, I know. It's not as nutritious as Romaine, but it's cheaper) was about $1.25 ($1 on sale!). Hmm. Interesting. So one day I bought one. When I got home, I washed it and cut it into chunks similiar to the lettuce in the bagged salad mixes I previously bought.
I was AMAZED at how much further this lettuce stretched. First off, after I cut it, I threw it into a gallon sized Ziplock bag. Can I tell you IT WAS FILLED TO THE BRIM!? BUSTING at the SEAMS! I could BARELY close it. That bag of lettuce lasted us the entire week (as opposed to...an entire meal). It has been AWESOME!
Here's the breakdown, per week:
Before: Bagged Salad Mix - 2/$5
After: Single head of lettuce (chopped at home) - $1.25, not on sale
So that means we are saving roughly $15 per month.
Now, I know it may not seem like much, but think of what you can do with $15:
* Get coffee with a friend
* Lunch with your significant other
* Monthly Subscription to Netflix
* A date to the movies
* Start a college savings account for kids
See? Now imagine if you begin to make several small changes ($15 here, $10 there, $5 over there) every month. With the right mindset, you can be saving $100 a month of more!
And it all started with a head of lettuce.
What are your money saving ideas? Share your tips, and let's see how we can trim our budgets together!
moderndaydonnareed@gmail.com
Good Stuff - girlfriend!! Think about it though if you bought large leaf - red or GREEN lettuce, even if it was just Romaine hearts... you would be so much more the healthier.;) love the list of what to do with the savings.
ReplyDeleteCheap is not always better.
I am learning that the hard way- JUST TODAY!- but we won't go there. That is a whole `nother subject, a whole `nother day.
awhh, I feel better. Oh, and Steph, thank you for your encouraging words on my post from yesterday. I needed to heart that... and I actually left a comment in response to yours - on there. Check back, if you'd like, please.
Steph - here's a thing that will make that home-chopped lettuce last a bit longer.... don't chop it with a knife. Rip it by hand. Something to do with the metal knife reacting with the leaves turns them brown.
ReplyDelete