Laura's Laws of Thrifty Cooking #6

BUY IN BULK - GET SOME FRIENDS!

This is important. I hear people say all the time - well, I just don't use that much flour, beef, pork, whatever. Get some friends then! We split a pig with my in-laws every year which is much cheaper than us each buying a half. It is also much, much cheaper than buying all of those cuts in the grocery store. I have also learned to cook a lot of cuts of meat that I wouldn't have otherwise and not only have these become some of our favorite meals - they are often some of the cheapest cuts of meat! I never knew what a Boston butt cut of pork was before, but now I love it. Of course, the pork chops, hams and bacon are absolutely fabulous, but my cooking repertoire has increased dramatically and I like it that we only have a certain amount of everything. We honestly enjoy our ham roasts so much more because we know that we only have a few. We look forward to eating them and spread them out more. Of course, I could buy more bacon, or hams, and sometimes I do, but I have found that limiting ourselves this way helps us discover even more favorites.

I use a lot of flour. A lot. But I still don't use enough to get wholesale prices. - Hello friends. - I was able to organize a bunch of my friends so that we were able to get wholesale prices on local, organic flour. Honestly, I would have never have been able to afford this flour otherwise - their retail prices make me swoon. You can do this on a number of things, and it doesn't even have to be something that you use a lot of. Maybe you know someone who does. Maybe you can't eat even a quarter of a beef - split it with someone, split it with a couple of people! Save some money! Get some friends! :o)