Tips for saving money on milk as suggested by the ThriftyFun community.
If you don't use much milk, try paying extra for organic. The shelf life is incredibly long!
By Chris
For me here, we just go to the farm, and pull a five gallon pail out of the bulk tank. We pay the farmer once a year and just keep record of what we take.
It is MUCH better than any store milk. And if the dairy is clean, there is little or no danger of getting sick. Much less danger than getting powdered, watered down and tainted with Melamine.
By Damian
This money saving tip saves me so much money. My family doesn't like drinking powdered milk. So to save money. I have a big freezer and when milk is on sale. I buy a LOT. I pour a little off each gallon into the milk bottle in the fridge and then I freeze the rest. when the milk in the fridge is getting low I just go to the freezer and pull out what I need. It takes about 24 hours for it to thaw. I just set the bottles in the sink and when they are almost completely thawed I put them in the fridge. I am never out of milk this way. Try it, you'll save lots of money on milk.
By Suzanne
We rarely use milk, it usually goes sour so now I freeze 2 cups in freezer bags, so I have it when needed. The milk is fine, not watery at all and I buy the 2% in the least expensive brand.
By Annette
I was raised on frozen milk. The plastic jug expands. You do not have to open it and pour any out. Just freeze it, set it in the sink until it starts to thaw. Be sure to shake well and don't drink until completely thawed. ENJOY!
By Pinkribbonfloris
I do the same with Fat Free Half and Half. I buy about 10 at a time from Target, who has it the cheapest, and freeze. It takes 48 hours to defrost in the fridge and then you have to shake it up but it is fine.
By Dorothy
When you eat cereal, put less little milk in it! To make it wet, stir the cereal around to get it wet!
By Lydia
I use dry non-fat powdered milk in my baking and cooking and save the expensive stuff for the family. I really have saved a lot since I have been able to buy the dry in bulk now.
Use instant milk for such things as scrambled eggs, casseroles, scalloped potatoes, white gravy, mashed potatoes and anything else which you need milk. Mix it up with a little water, stir and add it as you would store bought. It actually tastes better to us here because it can be made as strong or thick as you want or need it.
You could try making soy milk. The machines are about $100.00, and sacks of soybeans are not too expensive. The machine does most of the work. You are left with fibrous stuff you can throw into your compost.
By Janet
When my children were small, I always froze the milk, and it was never watery later. I always cook with powdered milk and also pour a little hot water onto weetbix or breakfast cereal to soften it before adding milk. That way, I do not use as much milk. Over a year, that saves a surprising amount!
By Sohuru
My picky husband won't drink milk once it's been frozen and rarely will drink powdered. We just tend to shop at places like Save-a-Lot and Wal-mart where milk is cheaper. He drinks so much anyway, it never spoils!
If you take one half gallon of whole milk and mix it with one half gallon of water, it will save money and taste like 2 percent milk. The difference is not recognizable.
By Lucyaaa
Do you have any more tips to share? Feel free to post them below.
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I buy milk at Sam's, and I promise you it is only 2.99 a gallon. ONE GALLON!! That is TWO DOLLARS cheaper than my neighborhood grocery.
Buy a goat and feed her rolled barley and the best hay you can find. I have more milk than I need, but in California we can't sell it unless we're a licensed dairy (big business). The law is to protect consumers from disease caused by unsanitary conditions, which of course never exist in big commercial dairies, right?
Aldi has had milk for $2.49 a gallon.
www.savingspotpourri.blogspot.com/
Buying directly from a farmer would only be ok if the milk has been pasturized.......and I dont think they do that on the farm.....check into health problems associated with unpasturized milk, especially for young children.
Listeria, E.Coli 0157:H7, salmonella, to name 3 of the disease causing bacteria associated with unpasturized milk or also known as raw milk.....
Those at risk:
Young Children, The Elderly, Pregnant women, Ill persons, and those with compromised immune systems.
Better to be safe than sick....
When you open a container of milk. Put in a couple shakes of salt from your salt shaker. This prevents it from spoiling.
I also use a lot of flavored creamers. My youngest daughter has added these to her hot and cold cereals, and we have even used them in shakes. You can freeze these to, and the expiration date is much better than milk.
I use powdered milk, we rarely ever drink it I also mix it a little more watery then needed. I water it down more for cereal.
Risaking, where do you live? We are in Tx and it runs 3.50-to 3.85 a gallon at our Sam's. You are lucky!
We get our milk in plastic bags here in Ontario.You buy 4 liters of milk packaged in 3 bags to equal 4 liters all put into a large plastic bag.This is how it's sold in the grocery stores or you can get it in 1 or 2 liter cartons, but that's more expensive.In Canadian funds, it usually is over $5 for the bags which I think is expensive.I use powdered for baking needs;powdered is cheaper.We used to be able to buy milk in plastic jugs, but that was about 30 years ago.
I have found that freezing milk is fine sometimes, but a lot of time milk is just too expensive to buy when raising 4 teenagers who love milk! I buy 2-3 cans of canned evaporated milk every month (sometimes more when I can get coupons or they're on sale) and I use the canned milk in gravies and in cooking. It makes thing taste a lot richer. My kids won't drink it, but what they don't know is in the dinner, it doesn't hurt! At Christmas time, I really stock up on the canned milk.
I get it pretty cheap at save-a-lot! I also use powered milk in cooking.
They help things to taste better too! My mom always did this so I naturally picked up the habit.
People talk about freezing milk, & then thawing in the sink, this is NOT safe. ALL meat. milk, or potentionly hazardous foods are to be thawed in the refrigerator, or under cold running water, or while cooking for those foods that are cooked before eating. VERY dangerous practice to do otherwise, because the thawed parts, the corners, or whatever are sitting at room temperature. Food is my business, but if you don't believe me, look it up on the internet. Also dangerous practice to drink it unpasturized.
To save I just add about a 1/2 cup to each gallon of skim milk, (that I buy on sale, freeze after pouring about 1/2 a cup out so you don't have a round bottle). Doesn't save much to add a half cup of water, but it is easy, & no one notices the difference.
Actually raw milk bought from the farm is VERY safe and much better for you than pasteurized milk. Pasteurization actually destroys a lot of the benefits of milk. But, my opinion is milk sucks. See www.milksucks.com
Milk is only good for infants and then only when it comes from the same animal that the infant is. To save money on milk don't buy it at all. Don't drink it, don't use it on cereal. Cereal is not good for you either. Have eggs and meat for breakfast. randysgrandma
I love all your ideals but however my hubby is Lactose intolerant and I admit picky and his milk is expensive so I buy my milk which is skim and use it in the cooking and stuff. My hubby and his family are milk and cookie freaks that is their favorite a big glass of milk and cookies. Well gotta love him.
I buy my milk at Braums. It is cheaper and it stays fresh longer. I also think it tastes better. No human growth hormones either.
RE: Saving Money on Milk
I use to do that too years ago - Freeze Milk - after my folks quit Milking cows, It was a huge adjustment to drinking cooked milk ie: pasteurized - I went back to getting milk direct from the source THE FARM - whole milk - costs half of what it cost in the store and keeps a whole lot longer - plus when it gets sour which it rarely ever does, It is still usable. I make keifer from it, yogurt, cheese... all of which can not be done when milk has been pasteurized. Also make butter several times a year as well. Teach classes on making butter -
Great book to read is the "untold story of milk"
I get about 8 gallons every two weeks, for just my self now, But when my 5 kids were small I would buy 13 -15 gallons every two weeks - in the cardboard half gallon size (they stack better) and kept them in the old 1950 fridge in the basement - the setting at the coldest without freezing - That was when we had WIC - and of course they would frown on drinking RAW milk.... heaven forbid --- but then they were being paid by the government --- programs.
One thing I would NEVER EVER do - is dilute Milk -by adding water. Milk is just to much of a nutritious food source to cheat our kids out of. use Whole milk - the fats are good for you and they help to fill you up as well-
I have earned my title as "the Milk lady" around my northern Minnesota woods, as I always have my bottle of milk with me - in lue of bottled water - oh and my cholesterol is 151 -
I really suggest going to the Weston A Price Foundation - if we all got back to our traditional diets - food would be better and healthier - and cheaper in the long run! It is the PROCESSING of foods that hurt us and cost so much!
A wonderful list of books and resources are available at WAPF
www.westonaprice.org/
And yes I still on occasion freeze milk - when I forget to bring it in from outside, it freezes can't but help it when it gets to -30 at times up here - and it is fine when thawed and mixed up really well as it does separate the milk solids from the sugars - No worries tho -
I would also be very very leary about substituting SOY milk - Please people do your research! another link
to start with - www.westonaprice.org/
The push is on - to let our local farmers sell their products - and Milk being one of them!
Freezing milk will change the texture but it's still fine for cooking. However, running a freezer is NOT cheap and you need to really calculate (not just guess) what you're paying to drink frozen milk with an off texture. You need to see what the cost of this convenience to avoid better planning really is.
After you defrost the milk, make sure you shake it well to mix the butter fat in.
Watering down milk is the worst. The others are not much better. Isn't there some other place you can save money and leave the milk alone? How about cutting out soft drinks entirely? And absolutely no smoking. And by the way there is no such thing as fat free half and half. They can call it that but half and half is half milk and half cream. It cannot be fat free. It is a synthetic product containing artificial ingredients.
Milk mixed half with water will have half the nutrients. Maybe ok to do so for baking, atho this might not work at all, but a pretty poor idea for drinking.
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