What a great surprise! Thanks Sydney for joining in on this adventure. I hope Christine continues to have brave people like you to join her in these videos.
Better than bouillon is my secret ingredient to everything. My husband is a chef and I finally told him my secret and he was like man that makes so much sense you’re food has improved so much the last year or two 😂 I buy every flavor and add it to everything.
This is Great Christine. Would you consider doing a follow up video , say, six months later to see how the students of the "frugal fit academy"😃 are faring on. love your content.
Way to go, Sydney! Being on camera and opening your life up for criticism takes courage!! Two suggestions: check the freezer section for frozen asparagus when it's off season, and don't throw away the bones/skin from the chicken thighs!! Even if you cook them with bones in, cook the bones and skin in a crockpot filled with water overnight. Strain out the yuck. Voila! "Free" broth. Let it cool and pour into quart sized ziplocs, freeze flat. Now you have super cheap broth to add to soups, casseroles, etc.
yes! home made bone broth is great, if I just have a few I’ll throw the bones🦴 in a freezer bag with our carrots butts and celery cores and add them to the next batch of broth.
My family is the exact same size, and my kids are almost the exact same ages! We’re doing $500/month right now. We have some food allergies, so I have to make a lot of things from scratch to swap out ingredients. It’s time consuming, but I think we’re definitely saving money by doing that!!
I think it would be so cool if you could do this but go through a whole month with them. I think that would really help reenforce the lessons but also prove your point with us and we could see how much lower the monthly cost was.
I just love Sydney, she's so cute and sweet. She seems natural in front of the camera. I think if I did one of these my personality would not come through and I'd just be super awkward 😂
I always plan my kids pediatrician appointments for Monday mornings because there's a winn Dixie right next to it and they will have a ton of stuff heavily clearenced to make room for trucks. Saves gas since both are 30 minutes away!
I swear... somehow, I just knew she was a military spouse. 😂 Y'all did great! The commissary is awesome for just about everything except produce in my experience. I can still regularly get chicken breast for under $2 a pound.
I've been doing those things for YEARS. I (many years ago) worked with 13 families to get them the best deals and then reimburse me when they had the cash instead of them buying those SAME items at full price. After about a year, all of them were MUCH more self sufficient and were "on their own". Now, a few still call me or text me about specific items, but most are doing great.
We are at 150.19 for the month of October on the 11th. For a family of 5. I have been watching for a year now. This is using clearance and stock pile items from month past.
I don’t think I have any where we live that has much clearance. Our darn Italian bread at Walmart has gone up to $1.48 and the clearance is never below $1.03. So exact, I know! 😆
I’m absolutely loving these “audit” videos! They are great! ❤ Sydney is just too cute and so fun to watch! Thank you Sydney for being a champ and letting us in on your shopping trip with Christine! Can’t wait to see the next one! Btw…my favorite “BUT…it’s for the kids!” **walks away looking shamed**😂
How cool that you got to go to the Commissary! I try to explain to the younger Airmen and their spouses how much you can save. Sure, you have to get bargains everywhere, but don't discount the privilege you earn by being military. Thank you so much Sydney for being brave and having Christine come along with you. I'm sharing this video to our Base Savings page to hopefully help them out.
Those reusable pouches SUCK! I bought them for my grandkids and it was terrible! They don’t even fit enough food in them to satisfy a 12 month old! They are a pain in the tush to clean as well. We ended up sending them back!
Sydney has such a beautiful spirit about her & was so willing to make changes to better her shopping experiences :) very inspiring video Christine! God bless you ladies
Great job! I shop at a Kroger and rarely buy produce that is not on a good sale or is clearance tagged. One thing I would suggest is making your own taco seasoning, especially if tacos are a regular menu item.
Good advice. There are so many seasonings you can prep at home. Added advantage is you can make them without the excess salt, added food color and preservatives.
There are two Kroger stores near me: QFC and Fred Meyer, and boy, are they different. QFC , a half mile away, is food only, and all the produce is way more expensive. Fred Meyer is 3.5 miles, and has everything, clothing, paint, garden etc., has mail and online coupons, and reasonable prices on produce. I guess you know where I go.
I ALWAYS do the grocery pickup not only because I have a 1 year old and a 4 year old bit I also have social anxiety and I get really easily overwhelmed shopping in person.
Way to go Sydney! You did a great thing for so many people in your situation. Thank you for being open to learning in such a public way. You were a joy to meet too! Thank you whoever thought this would be a good series, we are all in.
Thanks, Sydney for being so vulnerable. People are not born knowing how to manage money and a household so they need to be taught. Christine does a great job of showing how to save money. I love her videos!
I wouldn't do salad kits. We don't know what they are putting on those and I can buy a huge package of romaine for salads for days....every clearance salad kit you show looks tiny. Also would never buy that bouillon, MSG is a huge NO. Would splurge on bone broth or just learn to make your own. I have healed up 2 very sick cats feeding them a little chicken in a about a 1/2 cup bone broth a day. It literally helps keep my vet away. If it's healing them imagine what it could do for us! Loved the rest of the tips. I'm going to have to look harder at Kroger for clearance. I usually only find bakery stuff that we don't eat.❤ GREAT JOB SYDNEY!!!!!!!! You go girl!!!!!!
I love what you do, love your videos :) You help so many people. I'd love to see a grocery haul with NO prepackaged or convenience foods. Oh how I wish I could buy things like bouillon (paste or powder or cube), or packets of pre-mixed seasonings. Unfortunately they all have MSG, which is my biggest migraine trigger. So I have to use organic liquid broths or make my own, and just season things myself. Just be careful when you suggest that people use these shortcut ingredients, they are full of so many migraine triggers, and there are a ton of migraine sufferers out there. Not just MSG, but yeast extract, autolyzed yeast extract, hydrolyzed proteins...all of which give me wicked migraines. Many fragranced things. So many migraine sufferers don't realize that these ingredients cause migraines. Cooking from scratch is the way to go, not all this packaged convenience stuff :(
I don't buy taco seasoning packets anymore. I make my own from bulk seasonings from Sam's. You can buy bulk taco seasoning from Sam's and save money, but I prefer to make my own.
Christine, I am totally not judging at all, because different things matter to different people…. But did you know Jimmy Dean’s sausage has corn syrup in it? WHY!? Why do they put stuff like that in our meat? It’s not necessary. I am genuinely saying this to give information, not judge or shame anyone. I wasn’t aware of this until recently, and was so sad when I realized it.
I am vacationing in Utah and trying to shop for my husband and son who are home in Arizona. They did a few Taco Bell trips but doing pretty well. I figure out the sales and text him a shopping list. 😅 Loved this video!
The powedered beef broth is a high salt content item. I sometimes buy canned beef broth -- I don't use it very often. Sometimes, I don't want the high salt itemin whatever i'm cooking.
As a former Army Brat. The Commissary is at cost and no taxes. Then fresh produce has always been bad at the Commissary. You can use coupons. I think you can still use expired coupons too. My mom would double check prices on personal care items between the PX (Post Exchange) and the Commissary. Love these styles of video.👍
As a current commissary shopper, things are not always at cost, but we do get some really great deals. No problem with produce at any of the bases we lived at in the last 20 years. And while technically no tax, all commissaries charge a 5% surcharge that they put back into the stores. So for the customer, it is kind of like a 5% tax. Our state doesn’t tax food, so Walmart can sometimes be better price wise, but for those that do tax food, it may be better at the commissary.
Retired military can go, but veterans cannot, if that makes sense. Like my husband didn't retire from the military but he's a veteran and we cannot.@@CHSwildcats19
It probably varies per commisary but I like to shop the sales! I find it cheaper to shop at Aldi but commisary can be cheaper on certain items than Walmart for any name brand stuff I need. But the sales can be super good, like today I bought 2 boxes of cereal 1.65 each and there was a digital coupon for 1 off 2.
Making veggie soup tomorrow. I found a veggie tray red-tagged at Kroger. I got medley potatoes to add. It is all a big time saver, too. Yes, better than boullion. I live alone so there will be plenty to freeze.
When I was raising my kids all I knew was to buy things on sale plus normal staples to make meals. There wasn’t social media or meal planning. That’s also how we learned to be more creative when coming up with meal ideas. My mom was the queen of casseroles!! Unfortunately we didn’t always know what were in them!! Once I became a mom, I swore off several things from my home, casseroles being one!!
👍. Go Sydney! I know it can be hard to get away from your comfort mode when doing anything but especially when it comes to grocery shopping but you did great!
If you have a child that might be a picky eater, or doesn't like a lot of things or has allergies to things and the only thing they ask you for is asparagus by the asparagus
Back in the '80s/'90s to come out ahead of my gas used...I had to have one or two sale prices off my list to make it worthwhile to justify the gas to take advantage of the other sales at the stores I was going to. I'm lucky that all the stores are quite close to each other though. So if cereal was half price and I needed 4 boxes that savings would cover my gas and make the other 6-10 sale items worth the trip ( had three littles who ate a lot so sale items were always bought in multiples LOL)
What a fun video. Would like to see a bit of what her meal plans are for the week. Didn't even know refillable pouches were available. These would be great for taking more control of what is in the food your children are eating. Great idea for videos. Look forward to seeing more of these.
Love it! Congrats Sydney. I live rural and all we have is a Walmart but two weeks ago I went on a 3 hour round trip journey so I could experience the clearance shopping at Smiths. It blew my mind! I think it was worth the drive.
I used that better than bouillon but it doesn't keep as long as you would hope in the fridge - I now do my own canned bone broth which lasts as long as I need it to, but without that I would opt for something other than the better than bouillon for a more shelf stable option.
I just love these grocery audit videos, keep them coming! Something I struggle with in saving on my grocery budget is dealing with small storage space, particularly freezer space. I live in an apartment with a smallish fridge, so as much as I'd love to stock up and freeze things, it just isn't possible. I'd love to see a video focused on how to stock up with small storage space, focusing more on dried and canned goods storage and making the most of limited freezer space.
good idea. Because I have the same issue I live in an apartment and I have to use the refrigerator. that came with the apartment and the freezer is very small. I think some of the RU-vidrs need to remember that not everybody lives in a house and has appliances their choice.
The Better than Bullion and the Bullion Powders have a very high sodium content. They are great but my husband can't have that much sodium. I order the low sodium when available on Amazon but sometimes I have to used the low sodium canned beef broth.
I use Better Than Bouillon all the time. I never shop at Walmart but use my grocery store pickup. Since I'm single I rarely buy food at Costco and I'm too lazy to go to multiple stores except for going to Sprouts for produce occasionally. Buying for one makes it harder to use some of deals.
Christine, I would love to see a resource created by you for us newer shoppers listing average prices of popular foods. I have such a hard time knowing my prices and I know you say a lot that it's necessary. I'd love to have a quick reference guide on prices.
"Try it." Hahahaha. Truer words!!!! I watch your videos religiously, but this last week, for the very first time, walked into my Smith's and bought chicken on sale. 😂 It's a work in progress, but I'm going to cut the grocery budget!!
I think you need to come visit me in Canada. I think your eyes would pop out of your head with the price of groceries. Your Canadian viewers would love to see how much the grocery bill would be for a family here in Canada. I live in a small town in Alberta,we have a few grocery stores. How about it? Do you want to venture out to Canada?
I struggle to buy the cubes of bullion because of ingredients, there's so many and MSG??!! Tears me up!!! Like in the bathroom for hours. I avoid it as much as I can.
For the 411 Walmart has a fresh frozen asparagus for less than 2 dollars for 12 ounces. Cooks up almost the same as fresh. It is in a steamable bag but I put it on a baking sheet with olive oil and kosher salt. Delicious!
If you do buy out of season produce. Make sure to weight if its per item or bag, instead of per pound. That way she gets more bang for the buck. Also, she would've spent less if it weren't for the special requests for her husband's hunting trip. So I wouldn't even count those in to her total.
I found your Channel two nights ago and I have been binge watching it You have a new subscriber❤ great content i love your pantry and dollar tree videos
Christine, I have learned much from you, and Sydney is adorable and learning too. I learn something new almost every day about life, and Sydney looked exhausted and yet triumphant! Good on you both for adapting, teaching, learning and sharing!
You can chop the peppers and freeze them for later. Then you don't have to use them right away. Peppers do not require any fancy prep-work before freezing, so no blanching or anything like that.
I, too, like to chop and freeze peppers, onions, celery, and carrots. I never use up bunches of celery and carrots before it goes bad so this is a great tip!
