Issue Date: July 19, 2009
Feed a family for $800 a year
Eating healthfully can be tricky when you're on a budget. Veteran blogger Erin Libranda, who chronicles her $800 yearly budget (which includes groceries, health and beauty items and even pet food) for her family of four on her blogspot.com blog, "Jane4girls," offers these tips:
A garden is key to one blogger's low bills.
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START A GARDEN. Libranda's budget allows only about 54 cents per day for each person in her household: "We get a lot of our fresh produce from our garden." Her garden includes tomatoes, blueberries and strawberries.
SHOP SALES. Check the circulars weekly for sale items. Libranda suggests stocking up on staples while they're marked down. When shopping, she says, "You have to be flexible. Don't be brand loyal."
MASTER COUPONS. Collect multiple coupons for sale items and use as many as the store permits. "Don't just take one," she says. "Take six or seven if you really want to get a good deal."
COOK CREATIVELY. Libranda combines non-perishable staples (oats) with fresh produce (blueberries) to make her own crunchy granola. Search "crunchy homemade granola" on her blog for the recipe.
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