Every mickle makes a muckle, so the saying goes. But being frugal seems to have fallen from grace in modern day Jamaica - that is until the recent budget and the dive of the dollar.
Ouch!
Well, simmer down and sink your teeth into these penny-pinching ideas and tightwad tips designed to help you reap more from your food dollar. Relax, you won't have to call in the BOJ. Recipes on C3.
We've said this before, but it's worth repeating. Prepare your menu for the week around what you already have, and what's on sale. Not only will it lighten your stress during the week (no sweating over a hot stove after a long day at work) it will help you to save money. For one, you can take advantage of specials and sales. Secondly, it reduces the temptation of grabbing fast food on the way home and, last, you have more control over what you prepare and how you and your family eat.
This plan also lets you how can make use of ingredients from one day to the next. For example, if you have rice one day, the following day you can use the leftover to make fried rice, says Kingston-based nutritionist Dr. Heather Little-White.
Get together with co-workers, neighbours, family or friends and buy at the wholesale. This way you take advantage of the cheaper prices. The unit price of a case of one product can work out to be significantly less than if you buy only one or two units of the product.
Supermarkets also offer wholesale pricing when you buy three or more of the same item. You may also want to consider joining supermarket price clubs to take advantage of their special pricing. Link up with other members to get a break on the price of membership.
How and the extent to which you use up your leftovers is only limited to your imagination. Has your bread gone stale? Not to worry, make bread crumbs for recipes that call for this ingredient or to coat chicken.
What to do with the carcass of your roasted chicken? Use it to make soup stock. Use wilted and softening vegetables to make soups. Use rice, yam, meat and vegetables to make casseroles, one pot meals and more.
Be clever about how you use the oven, save energy and the amount of money you spend and gas (plus time). So, for example, while making a casserole, bake your plantains or potatoes at the same time. In fact, plan your whole menu around the oven, advises Dr. Little-White.
Make use of fruits in season, says our nutritionist. Buy extra fruits - mangoes and othaeite apples, for example - blend and freeze them so you can make juices later on.
Another Heather Little-White special: Liquidised ginger. A tip of ginger in the Summer is expensive. Buy the ginger when prices are less, peel, strip and put it in the blender with water and blend. Keep the liquid ginger in the fridge for use later on.
Fresh fruits can also be frozen in ice cubes and given to children
as healthy snacks.
It's true, From Coronation Market in downtown Kingston, to the market in Savanna-la-Mar there are bargains to be had. Venture out early in the mornings or late in the evenings, advises a market veteran, vendors tend to drop their prices during those times.
If you can't, or don't want to go the market, it may come to you. Dr. Little-White suggests that office workers, for example, can shop from people who bring produce weekly for sale in office complexes. Prices are usually very good and you can customise your order.
Food stalls are another good idea.
Well, this is a no-brainer, but it needs saying. The more prepared the food when you buy it, the more it'll cost you. So season it and make it yourself instead of paying someone else to do it for you. (However, keep in mind good ideas and prices for items like rotisserie chicken that are sold in some supermarkets).
For example, French fries. Cut up the potatoes, brush the pieces with oil and bake at the same time that you're baking other dishes. Make more than one batch and freeze leftovers.
Have pot luck lunches and dinners with friends and family -- especially on Sundays. That way you save money and social. Plus, it breaks the monotony of being in the kitchen each week and it provides more of a variety.
Come together for parties and celebrations, advises Dr. Little-White. Birthdays, for example, that fall in the same time frame can be celebrated together, thereby saving money.
Water down your juices. Yes, it sounds cheap, but real tightwads know that the savings here can add up. Not only will you stretch your dollar, but it may help you to cut down on your children's dental bill - most juices are really too sweet.
Here's another idea. Drink water, we need eight to 10 glasses a day.
Dr. Little-White gives us this idea in parting: While you're at the grocery store or market, remember to pick up an item or two for a friend who may be in need.
"In the whole process of giving you also receive. It comes back when you least expect. So instead of looking at negatives you can look at positives if you embrace that philosophy."
