WEBVTT - Cutting Your Grocery Bill Like Crazy #034 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.000 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt, 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:25.840 and today we're talking about cutting your grocery bills. Like crazy, Yedjuel, 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:28.480 what are we talking about food? What do you eat today? 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:31.720 All right? So I had I asked, because we're talking 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:34.440 about groceries and trying to catch me off guard, like 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:36.600 I caught you off guard last episode. I see that 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:39.400 totally stumbled over my words. Yeah, the fourth of America 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:42.560 are referred to that. I was listening to that and 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:44.239 when we're kind of proofing that, and I was like, 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:46.720 it sounds like a freaking idiot, Like what what was 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:49.559 I thinking? That's pretty funny. Sometimes it just happens. So, 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:53.120 you know, today it was a random day. I almost 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:55.960 never skipp breakfast. Usually I have two eggs for breakfast, 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:58.320 but I skip breakfast today. Weird, just kind of busy. 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:00.400 That's weird because I look up this morning not feeling 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:03.040 hungry either, and I normally have a couple of eggs, 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:04.920 couple of fried eggs. Before getting the girls up, actually 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:06.640 ran into the kitchen. I told Kate. I was like, hey, 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:08.240 could you only cook me one egg? Because I'm just 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:11.399 not hungry this morning. Weird, that is weird, dude. And 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:14.240 then for lunch, I had very little too. I pretty 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:16.319 much just had some pistachios for lunch, and then I 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:20.120 had a full fledged dinner this evening. Um, we grilled salmon, 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:23.800 zucchinia zu kinian squash and the potatoes. So that was 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:26.640 like that salmon swimming up stream right Heck yeah, man, 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:30.800 always dude, that sounds delicious. Yeah. I actually had a 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:35.120 full dinner with the family at home. But uh, for lunch, 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:39.080 I had pie toth Uh. Yeah. So I'm a wedding 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:42.720 photographer and sometimes I get good ease on the weekends 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:45.360 after the reception is all said and done. And I 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:46.760 knew the planner at this one, and they were just 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:49.040 going to be getting rid of all of this pie. 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:53.840 And so I got multiple pies, dude, like caramel, chocolate, pecan, buttermilk, 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:58.840 and then tons of peach and apple slices as well. Yeah, 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:02.400 a ridiculous amount of pie. Share the wealth, buddy, dude, 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:04.400 you want to check? Yeah, I do. What are you 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:07.560 into that? Don't? Buttermilk sounds interesting? Is a good? Actually 0:02:07.600 --> 0:02:12.080 gave that to our smiths. Thanks, Sorry, I just remembered. 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:14.360 We'll get that to the smiths. I'll pick your slice 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:16.200 out later. But it's not like he said, yeah, I said. 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:18.560 The reception was at a local brewery Three Taverns, which 0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:21.200 is a great brewery, and the groom is nice enough. 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:22.400 At the end of the night, dude, he picked me 0:02:22.480 --> 0:02:25.320 up a growler and he got me a hat. There 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:27.760 we go. Yeah, how sweet is that? Dude? Look at that? Yeah, 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:29.640 I got me a snap back hat. I think this 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:31.560 might be the first cap I owned that might fit 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:34.919 my huge head. Yeah, you don't wear hats because they're 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:36.600 too small. Ka. It always makes fun of me because 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:38.600 I put them on and she's just like, you can't. 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:40.919 You can't rock the dad cap, you know, like the 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:44.400 flimsy dad cap or whatever. But yeah, it's one of 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:47.000 the perks of being a wedding photographers, you know. I 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:49.720 guess getting a growler of beer every now and then. Yeah, 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:53.480 for real, dude, Speaking of job parks, So my perks 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:56.040 on the job, My boss uh like one of the 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:58.960 greatest perks of all time takes the entire staff on 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:03.560 a trip every year. So your perk is better the No. 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:06.519 I mean, your hat's really nice, buddy, wait till you 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:08.600 see it. So we just booked our staff trip for 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:11.079 next year. We usually, you know, when you go wherever's 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:13.760 on sale, and we kind of have a predetermined week. 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:16.320 And so, like we talked about on our episode Matt 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:19.440 traveling with Purpose on the Cheap, Yeah, that was a 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:21.080 good episode. It was a fun one, at least it 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:23.120 was in my mind. And so the same thing applies, right, Like, 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:26.400 that's what we do when we're booking travel as a staff. 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:30.160 And so we booked a four hundred and six dollar 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:34.120 round trip flight to Ireland at the end of April 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:36.960 next year. So uh man, yeah, it's gonna be really fun. 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:39.040 You and I actually at the only time we've ever 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:42.280 traveled internationally. Yeah, we took our wives to Ireland like 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:44.400 six years ago and we had a blast. Yeah, that 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:47.000 was a fantastic trip. That was actually right after Kate 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:50.480 and I came back from France for work, and I 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:52.160 think we kind of had the travel bug. This is 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:54.800 pre kids, and I specifically remember sitting on the front 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:57.640 porch with you guys. We're either drinking wine because I 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:00.040 think Kate was wanting to be fancy or more and 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:02.480 likely beer though, and yeah, we got to talk and 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:03.520 we're like, you know, what we need to do we 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:06.400 need to travel together internationally. And then a few weeks 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:08.640 later a deal popped up. I forgot. Do you remember 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:10.760 how much we paid then for that one. I think 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:14.560 we paid just over, which is awesome. It's amazing considering 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:17.200 inflation and stuff, that it's a hundred dollars cheaper. That's 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:20.680 so now. So yeah, flights to Europe have never been cheaper. 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:23.440 And so if you didn't get to listen to that 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:26.279 episode about traveling with purpose on the cheap, you should 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:29.440 check that out. But also quick tip, uh, sign up 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:32.120 for the emails from Scott's Cheap Flights. That's how we 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:33.760 find out on the crew about so many of the 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:37.200 good airfare sales going on, and that's how I personally, 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:39.240 you know, look for air fair deals to pretty much. 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:42.159 That gets me started, you know, to at least know 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:44.520 what's on sale and when, and then I can kind 0:04:44.520 --> 0:04:47.560 of start digging from there. Nice tip man, that's right. Yeah, 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:50.400 So let's get into the beer for today's episode, Matt 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:54.360 uh it is again. We teased last week this awesome 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:57.200 listener Mike from Minnesota sent us a few different beers, 0:04:57.360 --> 0:04:58.839 and so we wanted to drink two of them on 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:05.440 the show and to day's beer is Surly Brewing Company Darkness. Yeah, 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:08.000 and this is a beer, uh that we both have 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:11.000 had before, and I'm so looking forward to having this whole, 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:14.520 this old Russian Imperial stout. It's a huge beer, lots 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:17.560 of flavor. Yes, we have this beer a long time ago, 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:21.680 but I'm excited to try it again because it's been like, 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.039 for real, many many years since since we get to 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:26.200 try that together. What do you think about wax on 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:28.640 these bigger bottles like this. It looks really cool, but 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:30.280 it's kind of annoying. Yeah, it's kind of it's it's 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:32.560 a pain. So lately you've been doing all the all 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:36.200 the pouring. Do you enjoy point the beer? It's meaningful 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:40.920 to me. Have you ever been a waiter? No? Never, 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:42.760 but I've always wanted to be. That's interesting that you 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:45.000 say that, because I I've totally said the same thing. 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:47.320 Back when Kate and I first got married, I told 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:48.400 her I was like that, I wish that at some 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:50.679 point in college I would have had a weight service job, 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:53.320 or you know, just being a waiter. I think there's 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:56.320 a lot of lessons you learn and certain qualities that 0:05:56.360 --> 0:06:01.360 you pick up, mostly probably on how to treat waiters. Yeah, 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:04.240 I think I've always thought that like perfect job for me, that, uh, 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:07.800 if income didn't matter at all, was probably a bartender 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:10.800 because I love beer. I love talking to people about beer, 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:13.320 and I love talking to people in general, and the 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:15.400 bartender is kind of that person that you're able to 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:19.880 just have a conversation with, especially about beer. Right, So 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:21.480 for me, it always just seems like that would be 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:23.719 the perfect gig. But also, you know, the late nights, 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:26.560 being away from family, just that kind of whole in 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:29.240 the industry vibe and stuff. Maybe I don't know how 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:31.600 much I would enjoy that, but yeah, I guess I 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:34.080 get to talk about beer on the podcast right and 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:36.159 right now, so that kind of actually gives me a 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:38.240 lot of what I was what I think would be 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:42.000 awesome about being a bartender. Certainly, all right, so quickly, Yeah, 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:46.799 this is surly darkness Russian Imperial stout. It contains notes 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:50.159 of chocolate, coffee, dry tart, cherries and raisins, and it 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:53.400 finishes suite with a piny, resinous hop character is what 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:55.599 it says, which you don't always find in a stout. 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:58.600 So it's gonna be interesting. Yeah, man, it's thurarly as 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:01.599 you know, this isn't a read that distributes in Georgia, 0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:05.160 and so this is us a really rare treat for us, 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:07.960 and and this one in particular, Yeah, darkness stuff to 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:10.480 get ahold of the labels pretty gnarly. It's got like 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.200 a three headed dog on it. It's like Fluffy from 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:19.400 Harry Potter. Let's have a taste, bottoms up a great beer. 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:22.760 And I would completely recommend this if you like flavor. Yeah, 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:25.200 all the fans of flavor out there, it really does. 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:27.600 Like the flavor is so good. The flavor profile I 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:31.680 read off the label, it's got all that yeah, yeah, 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:35.160 And it's as dark as night, as thick as motor 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:38.440 oil and um, but just has like for a Russian 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:41.360 Imperial stout. Sometimes they can be just pure bitter dark chocolate, 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:43.160 and this has like a lot more notes going on. 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:45.120 It's really interesting. And you do get that kind of 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:47.520 hot finish at the end, which is kind of rare 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:49.520 for a stout, which is that resume resume finished. I 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:52.000 completely agree, man, you should take as motor oil, though 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:53.680 I don't think this is I don't think the body 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:55.840 is too heavy. Sometimes you get some of those milkstouts 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:57.400 and some of those other styles where it really does 0:07:57.520 --> 0:07:59.880 feel like it's just too thick. I feel like this 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:02.360 is right right there where I want it. Still drinkable 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:05.240 enough for sure, but but it's a beast. So yeah, 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:07.960 if you can pick up a bottle of Surly Brewing 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:10.080 Companies of Darkness where you live, man, grab you some. 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:11.800 This is going to be especially great in the winter, 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:13.680 but it's definitely not bad here in the middle of 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:16.560 the summer to switch it up. Agreed, Thanks again the 0:08:16.720 --> 0:08:19.400 listener Mike for sending these beers are away man these 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:23.080 Minnesota Beer Week for us. It's an amazing If you're 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:25.120 interested in the beers that we're drinking and you don't 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:27.000 want to send us a message, necessarily look us up 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:30.240 on untapped. Uh not Poor Joel and not Poor Matt. 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:32.360 You can see what we're drinking, what we're rating them, 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:34.520 and uh keep in touch there. And it's just a 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:36.480 kind of fun app to be on so you can 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:38.640 log your own beers. That's kind of why I started. 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:39.840 And then it's just kind of fun to see what 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:42.720 your friends are drinking too. So alright, Matt, onto the 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:46.400 topic of hand cutting your grocery bills like crazy and 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:49.320 let's talk about what the problem is first, right, The 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:52.560 problem is that the average American family spends way too 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:56.480 much every week on groceries. Every week, the average American family, 0:08:56.840 --> 0:08:59.080 and this stat is from five years ago. I couldn't 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:01.480 find like the most current that, but five years ago, 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:04.439 the average American family spent between a hundred and forty 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:08.080 six and two nine dollars a week. That's a family 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:11.480 of four with two grade school kids. So you're talking 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:13.360 if you extrapolate that out at the higher end, I mean, 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:15.440 you're talking about a thousand dollars a month on groceries 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:17.440 for a family of four. Yeah, that's a lot, which 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:21.320 is overkill, right, Um, So that's the problem. And you 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:24.800 teased a couple of weeks ago about how your family 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:28.480 of five has gotten it down to one dollar per 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:32.000 meal per person, and so, uh, you and Kate kind 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:34.400 of worked through the outline for this episode, and I'm 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:36.679 really interested to hear some of the takeaways that you 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:39.560 have for us, um, because you know, I have some 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:41.160 thoughts on this too, and I'm going to chime in, 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:44.800 but really, this is kind of your pet project. Your 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:47.760 family has really taken to this and has acts your 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:51.600 grocery bills because your family has taken some actionable steps 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:55.240 that I think everyone out there listening can follow. That's right, man. 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:57.319 And before we even start, I want to give all 0:09:57.360 --> 0:10:00.719 credit to Kate because even though I help set the 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:04.160 budget and do the shopping with Kate as well, she 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:08.120 does virtually the cooking in her house, and so much 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:10.199 of it kind of comes down to that, like she 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:12.360 you know, she kind of runs the ship when it 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:16.080 comes to our food, uh, and definitely our grocery budget. 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:18.160 So we recorded your dining room table and we were 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:19.880 in your kitchen for a minute before the show began, 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:24.079 and there's this kind of interesting looking loaf of bread. 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:25.839 Just smell it, like right when you walked in the house. 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:27.679 Is that the first thing that I didn't even smell 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:30.520 really smell the bread. No, it didn't hit me. Sorry, 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:33.800 maybe you got signus issues maybe maybe so. But so 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:37.000 she had just made this, um we're talking about how 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:39.199 you know, she had just made this loaf of bread, 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:41.560 this whole wheat loafer bread with all this like you know, 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:44.040 fancy flax seed and stuff like that in it. And 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:46.760 she said that that loafer bread costs roughly a dollar. 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:49.320 And my wife had just gone to the farmer's market 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:51.720 and bought a loaf of bread that was, you know, 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:55.480 similar in fashion, but was saw the seeds and stuff. Yeah, 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:58.359 but was a little bit smaller even, and cost five dollars. 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:00.960 So I mean, you, you know, the rubber really does 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:03.120 meet the road when it comes to saving money on 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.880 groceries for your family. So yeah, let's get into it 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:08.439 and start talking about how you guys actually do it. Yeah, man, 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:10.560 that's right. So the whole reason this discussion came up 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:12.440 a couple of weeks ago is because I was just 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:15.480 updating our budget. And if you don't keep up with 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:17.720 your spending, and if you don't know what you're actually 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:20.560 spending on your groceries, like you, you don't know how 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:23.079 much you spend per day, right, And so so much 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:25.480 of this comes down to tracking what you're actually spending, 0:11:25.520 --> 0:11:28.440 to be aware, to have your eyes opened in a 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:31.040 in a sense, to to see what you are spending, 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:33.520 whether it be weekly or monthly, however it is that 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:36.480 you want to budget for groceries. First step first s 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.120 up right there, And it's interesting is actually, in preparation 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:41.440 for this episode, I looked up what we were spending 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:44.600 when we first got married, which was over ten years ago, 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:47.920 which is insane. We were still spending one dollar a 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:51.640 person a day, Isn't that crazy? Like it hasn't changed 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:54.160 because we just kept doing what we did back then, 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:55.839 Like we've always sort of been in the mindset of, 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:58.720 you know, living frugally. You used to add more mouth 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:01.439 to feed. Yeah, right now, our monthly budget is for 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:04.800 fifty and that's for five of us, and you divide 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:08.120 it out and that's one dollar per meal per person. Yeah, 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:10.720 our grocery budget back in two thousand seven, two eight, 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:14.880 so ten years ago, one eight, Like on the nose man, 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:18.679 I was shocked to see that it accurately reflected the 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:21.000 same dollar per meal. And so this is something that 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:23.400 we've kind of always done, and for us, it's it's 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:24.880 not a stretch. I think for a lot of people 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:27.559 it might be a challenge. But don't be discouraged. You know, 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:29.400 this is something that at least for us, that we've 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:32.040 been doing for ten years now, and so honestly it's 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:34.040 a lot of what we do just kind of comes naturally. 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:36.560 But yeah, this might come as a shock for a 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:40.560 lot of people, and but it's definitely something worth considering doing, Uh, 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:43.320 especially considering how much money you can save. Yes, so 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:46.040 it may seem unattainable, right, but we're going to kind 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:47.880 of go through some of the strategies that Matt and 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:50.360 his family like go through in order to get those 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:54.240 grocery bills down to a dollar day and that budget. Right, 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:56.120 that's that is a key aspect, and we talked about 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:58.959 that back in our Budgets episode. But knowing what you're 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:01.679 actually spending is kind of the first key, right, looking 0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:03.680 at dead in the eye and seeing what you're actually 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:07.160 spending gives you that ability then to attack that bill. 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:10.199 And so that is, you know, the first rule here 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:13.520 of saving money under grocery bill is to actually know 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:15.760 what you're spending every month. And so once you start 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:18.640 tracking that, then you have the ability to work and 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:21.880 go about actually slashing that bill and cutting your grocery 0:13:21.920 --> 0:13:24.480 bill by by a large margin. That's right. It's it's 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:27.120 that wake up call, you know. All right. So first, 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:31.160 we buy very few processed foods, and so what we're 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:35.320 talking about are like snack foods, fancy juices, dessert. That 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:37.880 being said, we've we've got pine in the fridge and 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:41.840 I got that for free. Um. But like we don't 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:44.160 buy those things. That's just not something at all that 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:45.800 registers in our mind when we when we go to 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:49.400 the store. Um. And so the more machines and labor 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:52.559 that are involved and making a food before we buy 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:55.559 it at the store, the more expensive it's going to be. Um. 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.479 And honestly those things are going to be less nutritious 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:00.959 as well. There's more preservatives than just more sodium to 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:02.760 just to help it to last longer on the shelf. 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:04.800 And not to mention that that they're they're just way 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:07.120 more expensive. Yeah, I mean, I think that's definitely true 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:10.400 anything that's like prepackaged, and especially you know a lot 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:12.839 of the health snacks even that are out there now, 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:15.040 and there's kind of this crazy about those health snacks. 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:19.040 They're really really expensive, um, and they're really good you know. Yeah, 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:22.120 they're tasty and they and they've got nutrition that like 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:24.000 you that you're talking about the health snacks specifically, they've 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:26.320 got like protein and special seeds and stuff in them. Yeah, 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:29.000 but even that they've got a lot of often negative 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:33.160 Well they're they're tasty because there's sugar in there and yeah, yeah, 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:35.800 they're all yeah exactly. And so even like there are 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:37.840 some sports drinks that I kind of like from time 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:39.760 to time or whatever, but even those are filled with 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:41.920 crazy amounts of sugar, and so yeah, maybe they've got 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:44.480 you know, they tout themselves to be healthy, but ultimately 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:46.760 in the end they're they're they're not because they're filled 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:50.280 with so much sugar. Yeah. Man, So essentially, anything that 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:53.080 saves you time, just know that you're paying for it. 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:56.480 You know, if it's something that you can make, I 0:14:56.560 --> 0:14:58.960 consider not buying it. That's honestly, that's kind of Kate's 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:01.720 sort of rule of thumb. And granted she's a homemaker. 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:04.800 You know, she's at home. She isn't employed outside of 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:06.560 the home. She takes care of the girls, she takes 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:09.200 care of the house, she takes care of all of 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.680 the food, and so she has that flexibility and that's 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:15.080 something that we just are able to do. It's it's 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:17.920 sort of like one of the advantages of having a stay, 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:20.440 stay at home parent. But she's willing to put in 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:22.280 that time and she enjoys it. Right, It's not like 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:24.760 something that she doesn't look forward to or something that 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:28.240 she's just like, I've got to make bread, dude. She's 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:29.800 making bread like crazy right now. She's kind of going 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:31.920 through a phase where she's trying to make like the 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:36.720 most healthy, affordable bread and kind of like cone it 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:38.480 down to it not just an art but like a science. 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:40.200 Like she wants to know that she can make measure 0:15:40.200 --> 0:15:42.680 it to the tea and make like a perfect loaf 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:44.280 of bread and it's something that the girls will like 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:46.720 and something that is affordable and at the same time 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:49.840 is super healthy. Having that time, it's a luxury. But 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:51.280 just like all things where we have to make decisions 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:53.360 and there's trade offs, right, Like she doesn't work outside 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:55.160 of the home. You know, we maybe make a little 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:57.840 bit less than were she employed, but because of that, 0:15:57.920 --> 0:15:59.520 she has a little more time and is able to 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:02.520 do something she enjoys but also saves us some money. 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:04.920 So what would you say where to a couple, let's 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:07.560 say where they both work and maybe you know, there's 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:10.800 not enough time to uh hone in that bread recipe 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:14.560 right over over over a few days or weeks even. Um, 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:17.600 so people that don't have for a lifetime or lifetime, yeah, 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:20.320 maybe it doesn't happen that quickly. I'm sorry, um, but 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:21.840 so yeah, what would you say to people if they 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:23.520 don't quite have as much time to play with when 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:26.640 it comes to, you know, making their own foods from scratch. Yeah, 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:28.560 well that to that, I would say, there's a lot 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:31.440 of things that you can do um specifically, and this 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:33.000 is something that we do is we don't eat a 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:36.040 lot of meat. Um. Most of our protein comes from 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:40.080 like eggs and like nuts and beans and stuff like that. 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:42.800 We only buy meat when it's on sale, and then 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:44.800 Kate takes it and she kind of chops it up 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:46.560 and portions it because she knows how much she'll use 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:48.920 for a specific meal that she's gotten mine like later 0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:51.720 that month, and then she freezes it so there's no 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:54.840 chance of it going bad. And we're also using it 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:56.960 just very sparingly, you know, like she uses almost more 0:16:57.000 --> 0:16:59.120 like a garnish instead of it sort of being like 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:01.320 the centerpiece of a meal. It's sort of like this 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:04.800 sort of added bonus. Obviously, meat as flavor. You know, 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:07.720 there's there's flavor there, there's fat. That's a good thing 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:10.600 when it comes to flavor here. But yeah, I mean 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:12.399 that's that's something that I think a lot of people 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:15.240 can consider, is just toning down how much meat they're 0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:17.240 eating on a day to day basis. There's weeks that 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:19.359 will go where we don't even have meat all week, 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:22.720 which I know you might have, you might have a 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:25.720 beef with sounds like a frightening week in my book 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:28.560 right there, because I'm, yeah, we do eat a lot 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:30.679 more meat. And for me, I grew up kind of 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:33.520 eating meat around as kind of the centerpiece of every meal. 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:36.560 And and so I'm taking taters, right, So I'm just 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:39.120 kind of used to it. Uh, And and so yeah, 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:43.359 that is something though that for breakfast and lunch, you know, 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:46.760 I pretty much try to avoid meat, but for dinner 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:48.520 it is still kind of the centerpiece of what we 0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:51.600 have for dinner most evenings. But I like what you're doing, 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:53.240 and I think it makes sense for us to probably 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:55.400 try to, you know, to cut back. And then there's 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:58.280 also to write eat cheaper cuts of meat that are 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:02.040 less used. So, for instance, if you're eating chicken, boneless, 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:03.960 skinless chicken breasts are kind of the thing that people 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:07.080 gravitate towards, right, So you essentially get the most expensive 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:09.520 cut of chicken you can. You pay steak prices for 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:13.160 freaking chicken, and it doesn't have any flavor, yeah, exactly, Yeah, 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:15.720 the bones are out of it. And so uh instead 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:18.160 of getting opting for that cut of chicken. Yeah, maybe 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:21.159 go for a boat bone in dark meat, bone in 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:23.920 fine leg combo. Oh my gosh. And you eat that 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:26.960 stuff for like sixty nine cents a pound, so much cheaper, 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:29.680 and it's so much tastier. I think buying those cheaper 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:31.199 cuts of meat if you're into meat, is like a 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:33.720 really worthwhile way to go. But at the same time, 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:36.639