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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Random Money Saving Tip Of The Day


We go through so much milk that I have tried to convince my husband to just buy us a cow.

He wasn't to keen on that idea.

Since a cow is out, I had to come up with some way to save on milk. The kiddos especially go through milk with a vengeance. Here's what we came up with:

Buy smaller cups. I went on down to the Dollar Tree (love them) and picked up a four pack of small sippy cups (yes, for only a $1) and they are great! Half the size of a regular sippy cup, I can fill it up and the babes don't know any difference.

So, there you have it, my simple and easy random money-saving tip - buy smaller sippy cups!

Do you have any ideas on saving on milk?


28 comments:

Sarah R said...

Use powdered milk for baking unless it's a major ingredient, like tres leche cake. If it's just a minor ingredient, then no one will ever notice.

Stacey @ The Blessed Nest said...

I'm with you on this one!! I noticed one of my kids never finished her drink, so I just started pouring less to begin with for the kids. If they want more, then they may ask. We also were told by the pediatrician that kids only need so much milk per day, so we give water for lunch both at home and in packed lunches, and water for snacks.

Decor To Adore said...

We began substituting a glass of water with one meal instead. There were cries at first, but now my son often requests water during the day.

I am enjoying your blog. Be blessed.

Anonymous said...

My kids have to drink soy milk which gets a bit pricey. They were the same way and wanted it constantly. We just started offering more water instead of the milk. Of course they get the needed amount each day but it ends there!

I bought a big water jug that has a pull spout on it, filled it with filtered water and put it in the fridge. They can get the water themselves which really makes them excited and reach for water instead of milk!

B. said...

Make some powdered milk and mix it half and half with regular milk.

B. said...

Also... you can find cheap milk at the funniest of places... like Walgreens. They have the best price on milk.

Amanda Jo said...

Now this is something I've heard of people doing but I've never done myself...

Buy extra gallons of milk, when it's on sale and freeze it in a deep freeze until you need it.

Has anybody ever done this? Cause if it's works I'm going back to Tom Thumb to buy some more milk!

Gina said...

What a great idea-my kids always like to have the glass full (eternal optimists!) but it usually leads to waste. I may have to pick up some smaller cups. I also love the idea from Mirinda about water in the fridge-I never thought of that. We do drink soy and it sure adds up! I may have to try that too!

Anonymous said...

Yes we buy milk on sale and freeze it! Just let it defrost on the counter not in the fridge, or it will defrost funny. :) It takese fresh and yummy and saves money!

Jaime said...

Add ice!!! A cup full of ice to keep the milk cold. The ice takes up room in the cup and the kids don't notice that they are getting less milk and actually the water is good for them too. If the milk sits it is kept cold and the watered down milk tastes just as good.

Conny said...

Don't so much have a problem w/ milk ... but my kids LOVE "real" chocolate milk (that comes premade in jugs) instead of the powder or syrup added to white. So, occasionally we buy the "real" choc. milk. When they pour their milk, they know to do 1/2 chocolate milk & 1/2 white milk to make their treat last.
I do the same w/ juice - 1/2 cup juice, 1/2 cup water.

Pretty Organizer said...

Okay, promise me you won't think I'm gross... or at least don't tell me that I am.

I water it down with Powdered milk. If you mix the two in half proportions and it's cold you can't tell. I promise because I'm a milk snob. Some milks are better than others but I've done this and the kids are fooled every time. Of course, with sale prices of milk right now, it may not be any cheaper to do.

I make bread and came to realize that I was better off doing smaller loaves. The kids would cut a slice of bread and with the smaller loaves, they eat the whole piece instead of leaving chunks of the bigger loaf.

Thanks lady! What a fun blog you have:)
Pretty Organizer

Jacquelyn said...

When I was a kid powdered milk was for cooking and for reconstituting and pouring on cereal. When I got married my husband noticed that I always shook the milk before pouring it on my cereal. We shared a laugh because I was so used to either having to shake it because it had been frozen and thawed or because it had been reconstituted from powdered!

The Equipped Life said...

Sorry - no tips on saving on milk, here. I'm a bonafide milk lover. I'm a scarred adult because of having to drink powdered milk, 1/2 powdered & 1/2 real milk or frozen milk as a child LOL!! My mom tried it all ~

To me, powdered milk tastes absolutely nasty, 1/2 and 1/2 tastes strange and frozen tastes watered down. I WILL use 2% now - but only from Braums.

I HAVE used powdered as an ingredient in recipes, but I was blown away, recently, by how much a box of powdered milk costs when I was using it to make homemade hot chocolate!

Sandee said...

My kiddos go through 3 gallons a week. and I moved to organic milk, which is even more costly. As I was debating the organic milk....I realized, their week's milk supply was three of my Starbuck latte's! So I could afford the organic. {Don't get started on 'can I afford the starbucks?" :)}

But I DO notice the only half-empty milk cups around. hmmmmm.

The Peacock Pearl said...

i'm no help. our kids drink goat milk which costs about $12/gallon at the store. luckily i have a friend who sells her fresh goat milk for $7 a gallon.
however the kids only drink milk with cereal twice a week and i use very little for cooking. we are water drinkers all around so the milk lasts a while. on the days we dont have milk, we try to have yogurt or cheese for calcium.

Reborn said...

My mom used to try to fool us into drinkig 1/2 powdered milk or frozen milk that had been defrosted, but I could always tell the difference. Frozen milk had a yellow tint to it and tasted watery.

I'm sure powdered and frozen milk would work fine in cooking, though.

Since I'll only buy organic milk, my only money-saving tip for milk is just not to drink it as a beverage. We only use it in cereal and cooking. We drink frozen/canned juice, water, and tea instead.

Heathahlee said...

I don't do this because we don't drink that much milk, but if I needed to, I'd mix up a gallon of powdered milk to use for cooking and save the "real stuff" for drinking.

Kristy K said...

My tip is... marry a guy who works in a dairy lab :). We don't have to pay for our milk because my husband works in a lab that tests milk. The distributors send in so many gallons a week (of the name brand milk) and the employees are free to take them home :). The sad thing is, we don't usually drink much milk, so we're not taking advantage of this perk as much as we could!

I love all the ideas though! We water down juice and that helps it stretch.

Kristy

Anonymous said...

Around here powdered milk is not much different in price than regular milk. I just put limits on how much they can drink. I tell them "this is your last cup of milk" then they know to drink water or tea afterward. I also keep water in a dispenser in the fridge that the kids can get themselves. I tried to get my kids used to drinking water from the time they start solid foods, so they like it, especially if it is really cold.

I recently found your blog and I've enjoyed it!

Unknown said...

Have you checked out grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com? She's got tons of money-saving ideas and I know she posted about milk a while back.

Have a wonderful day my friend!!

Alicia The Snowflake said...

What a great idea! I'm a milk drinker myself, but hubby & son aren't. So that makes it easier.

Anonymous said...

When we were growing up, we had milk monsters too. My brothers drank milk like it was going out of style. My mom started mixing 1/2 reconstituted powdered milk with 1/2 regular milk - and we could always tell the difference, too. Until she started adding a dash of vanilla extract. Somehow that gave it a richer flavor and we really never noticed it after that...

For our girls, we started giving them milk once in the mornings and then before naps or bedtime - not any other time. That really helps stretch our milk out, too, and saves the other benefits of milk drinking for sleep times. =)

Jenni said...

Ok, we most definately freeze milk. And I agree defrost on the counter not in the fridge.
I have a friend who is a pediatrician. She says milk with meals, one cup of juice a day and water any other time. I love this advice and for any milk lovers (like my daughter) she can't wait for meals.
Wal-Mart has pretty good milk prices at least they beat the grocery stores.

Joy @ SAH Missionary said...

I am just a repeat of what many others have already said....half powdered milk and half regular. We can't get any regular milk here, so it's all powdered. My husband grew up on the mission field, and actually prefers powdered milk! I guess it's what you're used to....
Blessings,
Joy

Anonymous said...

We grew up on a farm, there were 5 of us kids. Dad thought it would be cheaper and easier to buy a Holstein dairy cow he could milk every day so we could save some money. It worked, till winter came and the cow wasn't as cooperative as dad would have liked her to be. Yes, Shortcake (that was her name) became just another cow in dads herd.

CJ said...

I don't believe that cow's milk is for humans. I think cow's milk is for calves. We dont' drink it and so save money on that. We do have some soy milk for cereal or baking but not much of it is used for just drinking.

Joy said...

Well, knowing that I chance winning 1st place for the "yuck" award, I'll share ... disclaimer: I didn't make this up, read it on a blog months ago when I first entered the blogging world and I honestly don't remember which blog or I would definitely give credit (or blame).

We purchase a gallon of whole milk and divide it w/ water. An instant milk BOGO!! Prior to this we used skim milk, so the taste and consistency is not much different. I have no idea about the nutritional value, so those with small kiddos will want to research a little more if this sounds like an option for your family.

For us ~ including teen boys that I can't keep full!! ~ milk is primarily used for cooking and getting the cereal wet before it is inhaled. :)

...told you it might sound yuck ~ but, it works for us! Gotta love the savings!!!!