Cut the Clutter
Page 12
Save money on
grocery
shopping
For most families, the food budget is the most elastic entry in the household budget.
The rent is the rent, electricity costs may not change much from bill to bill, but smart shopping can reduce the cost of food—and cut the time and energy it takes to shop.
Try these tips for frugal, efficient grocery shopping.
1Never shop hungry.
Hunger pangs make it easier for snack food and
impulse purchases to jump into the shopping cart.
2Shop less, save more.
A quick stop for some milk usually turns into an
hour’s trip and a dozen grocery bags. Avoid
small shopping trips.
3Shop at home first.
When making menu plans, assess the contents
of your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry before
buying new foodstuffs.
4Make a list, and live by it.
Grocery store marketers depend on the impulse
buy. Protect your budget by shopping from a list.
5Time trips for best savings.
Plan shopping trips for the day meat and produce
managers mark down soon-to-expire items. You
can save up to 50 percent on those purchases if you
time it right.
◀ Take charge of your shopping and trips to the stores become an exciting challenge—but travel alone. With kids in tow, you’ll be distracted and may be persuaded to buy more than you intended.
FOOD
97
Cutting costs with a
Even at the supermarket, knowledge is
6Be fickle and shop around.
Those who have a “favorite store” usually pay
a price for their loyalty. Peruse supermarket ads
power—but how do you track prices and
and shop in two or three stores in order to make the stay informed? With a price book.
greatest savings.
A price book is a product-by-product
record that tracks prices, sales, and buying
opportunities for foods. Over time, you’ll
discover the “target price” for any item: the
7Love those brand names? Get over it!
Private store labels offer equivalent quality at a
lower price than “nationally advertised” products.
rock-bottom low price goal for purchases.
Second, the price book illustrates each
product’s sales cycle: the number of weeks
between sales offering that target price. If
8Do the math on unit pricing.
Big boxes don’t always mean big savings.
Rely on the “unit price”—the item’s cost per
canned tuna is offered for sale at a 4 for $1
ounce/gram. It’ll show you the carton with the best
target price every six weeks, smart shoppers
price book
price, regardless of size.
will buy six weeks’ worth of tuna—and
they’ll avoid this product during those high-
price weeks where it sells for 59 cents.
To make your price book, use a small
9Shop with the season.
Citrus in winter and strawberries in summer
are much less expensive than the out-of-season
notebook or printable price book form from
reverse. Eat in season for freshness—and savings.
OrganizedHome.com. Assign one page to
each staple product on your shopping list.
On each page, list the date, store location,
brand, item price, and unit price. As you shop,
10Buy in bulk …
but only if large sizes boast a lower unit price,
note each new “low price” for each product.
and if your family can consume the product
without waste.
Product: TOMATO SAUCE
Date
Store brand Size/price
Unit price
11Love those “loss leaders.”
They’re the sales items in the weekly food
ads, offered below cost to lure shoppers to
12/15 ALB
8oz
(226g)/
$.04
the store. Take the bait, but pass on higher-priced items.
Hunts $.32
1/5 COS
28oz
(3.5kg)/ $.0128
Del
Monte
$1.65
2/28 ALB
8oz
(226g)/ $.0225
12Support local growers.
Farmers’ markets and CSA farm shares offer
fresh, local produce at competitive prices. “Eat
Hunts $.10
local” to reduce transportation costs and energy use.
Hint: Supermarket receipts make it easy to
add entries to the price book. In the store,
shelf labels often list unit prices for goods.
13Equip the trunk.
For easy shopping, put an ice chest in your
car’s trunk for dairy products and frozen
foods, and boxes to support plastic sacks.
98
CYCLES OF AN ORGANIZED HOME
FRESH FOOD STORAGE GUIDELINES
Food
Time
Temperature
Packaging and tips
DAIRY
Eggs
Refrigerator
Keep fresh eggs in the original carton; throw away any cracked Raw in shell
3–5 weeks
(38°F/4°C)
or leaking eggs.
Hard-cooked
1 week
Milk
7 days
Refrigerator
Always buy milk and dairy products at the end of your shopping (38°F/4°C)
trip to keep them cold and fresh.
Butter
1–3 months
Refrigerator
Butter is very susceptible to picking up flavors from other foods.
(38°F/4°C)
Store in original carton or covered container to prevent flavor loss.
Yogurt
7–14 days
Refrigerator
Store yogurt in the original container.
(38°F/4°C)
Sour cream
7–21 days
Refrigerator
Once opened, use sour cream within 7–10 days.
(38°F/4°C)
Cheese
Hard (Cheddar, Swiss)
6 months unopened
Refrigerator
Wrap cheese tightly in original wrapping or plastic food storage (38°F/4°C)
wrap to protect against mold, flavor loss.
Soft (Brie)
3-4 weeks opened
Shredded cheese
1 week
Cottage cheese,
7–14 days
Refrigerator
Keep cottage or ricotta cheese tightly covered in the original ricotta cheese
(38°F/4°C)
container. Store the container upside-down to seal out air and preserve freshness.
MEAT, POULTRY, AND FISH
Beef
Refrigerator
Store meats in coldest part of the refrigerator. Store raw meat Ground
1–2 days
(38°F/4°C)
in original airtight packaging or plastic food storage bags.
Roast
3–5 days
Steaks
3–5 days
Cooked beef (leftovers)
3–4 days
Gravy and meat broth
1–2 days
Poultry
Refrigerator
Juices can contaminate other foods. Store chicken and turkey Whole chicken or turkey
1–2 days
(3
8°F/4°C)
in sealed packaging in lowest part of refrigerator.
Chicken parts
1–2 days
Giblets
1–2 days
Fish
Refrigerator
To prevent odor, store fresh fish in sealed packaging away Lean fish (cod, sole)
1–2 days
(38°F/4°C)
from other foods.
Fatty fish (salmon, halibut) 1 –2 days
Cooked fish
3–4 days
Shellfish
Refrigerator
Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water after handling Shrimp, scallops, shucked 1–2 days
(38°F/4°C)
raw shellfish.
clams or mussels
Live clams or lobsters
2–3 days
Cooked shellfish
3–4 days
FOOD
99
Food
Time
Temperature
Packaging and tips
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
Fruits
Refrigerator
Keep fruit juices tightly covered. Wrap melons and cantaloupes
(cold storage):
(38°F/4°C)
to prevent flavor transfer to other foods.
Apples
1–3 weeks
Berries and cherries
1–2 days
Citrus fruit (oranges,
3 weeks
lemons, limes, etc)
Grapes
5 days
Fruit juices
6 days
Melons (cantaloupe)
1 week
Fruits
Room temperature Ripen apricots, peaches, and pears at room temperature; store
(room temperature)
in
refrigerator
when
ripe.
Avocados
3–5 days
Bananas
3–5 days
Peaches, pears,
3–5 days
and apricots
Vegetables
Refrigerator
Store asparagus upright in plastic container containing 1–2in (cold storage):
(38°F/4°C)
(2.5–5cm) water. Rinse leaf or shredded lettuce with water and Asparagus
1–2 days
store in sealed plastic storage containers. Add a paper towel Beans (green or wax)
1–2 days
to absorb excess moisture and promote crisping.
Carrots and beets
1–2 weeks
Celery
1–2 weeks
Corn (in husk)
1–2 days
Lettuce (head)
3–5 days
Lettuce (leaf or shredded) 1–2 days
Mushrooms
1–2 days
Spinach
5–7
days
Vegetables
Cool storage
Onions need a dry storage space, so don’t store them with (cool storage)
(45–50°F/7–10°C) potatoes, which release moisture. Don’t store potatoes or Onions
Up to 4 weeks
onions in plastic bags. Better air circulation promotes a Potatoes
2–3 months
longer shelf life.
Sweet potatoes or yams
2–3 weeks
Vegetables
Ripen tomatoes at room temperature away from sunlight.
(room temperature)
Tomatoes
1–3 days
BREAD AND CEREALS
Breads
Room temperature Store sliced breads in original packaging or plastic food storage Sliced sandwich bread
5–7 days
bag. Bread may be stored in the refrigerator for longer shelf life, French bread
but will become stale and dry more quickly.
or baguettes
1 day
Rye or artisan breads
2–3 days
Cereals
Room temperature “Decant” opened boxes of cereal from original packaging into Cold cereal, opened
Up to 2 months
airtight storage containers for longest shelf life. Keep rolled oats Cold cereal, unopened
Up to 18 months
in an airtight container to guard against moisture and insects.
Oatmeal (rolled oats)
Up to 3 months
The frugal
Looking for extra room in the grocery
budget? Try these easy hacks to get the most
value from your food dollar.
▪ Cool savings. Plastic ice-cube trays are
good friends in the frugal kitchen. Use them
to freeze small portions of leftover broth,
kitchen
baby food, chopped fresh herbs, pesto, or
tomato sauce. Pop frozen cubes into labeled
freezer food storage bags. Since two cubes
equal ¼ cup of liquid, they’re pre-measured
for use in soups or casseroles.
▪ Cultivate crumbs. Bread ends and stale
slices get new life—and spark new meals—if
they’re tossed into the oven to dry overnight
after dinner. Use a flat roasting pan or cookie
sheet, and arrange slices singly; place in a
turned-off warm oven overnight. Next day,
toss the crisp slices into a food storage bag
and beat into dry breadcrumbs with a rolling
pin. Store in an airtight container. Use in
recipes or as a coating for chicken or fish.
102
CYCLES OF AN ORGANIZED HOME
The rules of
kitchen
storage
The basic principle that underlies organized kitchens? Use it most, store it closest.
Less used items are reached with a bit of bending or stretching, while specialty or seasonal tools are sent to the kitchen equivalent of the Black Hole of Calcutta.
Assess kitchen contents and storage options according to these three rules.
Ready, rinse, recycle!
1”A” is for every day.
Every kitchen has a few best friends: dishware, tools, and equipment used each and every day. “A” kitchen
Embracing sustainable living means bringing
items include plates and glasses, bowls and mugs, tableware recycling into the kitchen. Try these ideas to reduce and serving spoons, saucepans and skillets, kitchen knives and your family’s impact on the environment.
cutting boards, a can opener, teakettle or coffee pot.
They’ve earned a home in the prime storage spots in the
▪ Take it to the trash. Make recycling as easy as kitchen. “A” storage areas are those easiest to reach: kitchen tossing the trash by replacing the trash bin with a
counters, the front areas of cabinet shelves, top drawers, and recycling organizer. Whether it’s as simple as three small the fronts of lower drawers. Make the match, locating every-trash bins lined up in a row, or a specialty organizer that day kitchen tools in the prime real estate storage areas.
stacks bins for aluminum, plastic, and paper, enlarge the concept of “trash” to make room for recycling.
“It’s easy: choose the most
▪ Treasure compostable materials. Adding a
kitchen compost container makes it easy to recycle
accessible areas in your
vegetable waste as you cook. Whether peeling
potatoes, scraping the salad bowl, or tossing stale
kitchen to store the items
produce, a dedicated compost container turns scraps
you use the most.”
of vegetable matter into garden gold. Don’t garden?
Find a friend who does; they’ll be thrilled to accept your donations on behalf of their plants.
▪ Put coffee grounds to
work. The coffee bean’s 2”B” is for often.
You love your crockery slow cooker—but use it only
natural deodorizing properties give it second life in a once a week or so. It’s a member of the “B” contingent: recycler’s kitchen. After brewing, dry wet grounds in a kitchen items that are used often but not daily. In their ranks mesh strainer. When dry, place them in open containers are items like graters, strainers, roasting pans, and mixing bowls.
to deodorize cupboards or refrigerators; use dry
Assign the “B” brigade to “B” level accommodations:
grounds as a hand scrub to remove food odors after
lowest or highest shelves in the cabinets, or areas in the backs chopping onions or garlic.
of drawers. To reach the land of “B,” you’ll stand on tiptoe or stoop a bit, but storage is reasonably accessible.
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Consign “C” items to the dark reaches at the back of bottom shelves in the cabinets, or if they’re decorative, perch 3”C” is for seldom.
In the kitchen, “C” items are those arcane tools,
seasonal items, or single-use gadgets that just barely them on top of soffits during the off-season. Small cabinets earn house room by being used once or twice a year. These located over the refrigerator or oven, reachable only with a also include small kitchen appliances which, left to multiply, step stool, are a natural home for “C” items. Alternatively you can overtake even the largest kitchen, dangling cords and all.
can outsource them to other household storage areas. Store Give all “C” items a thorough clutter scrutiny before assigning holiday dishes in the attic or basement, along with holiday them storage space in the kitchen—if you have never used decor items. Stack boxes of canning jars in the garage until that pasta maker, donate it to a fettuccine-loving friend. Most time to make jelly, or tumble “C” cooking gadgets into a should be decluttered, but if everything on your shortlist of lidded plastic container in the attic, labeled “kitchen gadgets.”
“C” tools manages to come into use once a year, well and good. This group includes seasonal cookie-cutters, holiday