Ideas for saving money on milk. Post your ideas!
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This can be misleading. In our area, a box of store brand powdered milk was nearly $2 more than simply buying the equivelant in regular milk. After all, it is still milk, it is just another step that a company has to make to produce a product.
Published on: 2004-04-30
Have you heard that the price of milk and other dairy products is going "sky high"? Unlike the high price of gas, we consumers can do something about the price of milk. Just don't buy it! Serve water at more meals.
The other way to save money on milk is to gradually wean your family off of regular milk and get them used to the taste, very gradually, of powdered milk. Start by mixing 1/2 gallon of milk with 1/2 gallon of reconstituted powdered milk and gradually increase the amount of powdered milk until it is 100%. You will have better luck if you do not tell your family what you are doing. Let the powdered milk/regular milk mixture sit overnight for the flavors to blend. Even your pickiest eaters will never know the difference!
By Betty
Save money on both milk and gas by adjusting to using powdered milk. We were out of milk, and I happened to have some dry milk that had recently been given to me. I mixed up a couple quarts, and to my surprise, my husband and son actually prefer it to the milk I've been buying.
So we won't be making any special trips to a store to buy milk for a while. I have 40 pounds of the milk powder :-)
Kate in NC
I like my milk really, really cold, so I pour it over ice. It does tend to maximize the gallons!
Can also add a few drops of vanilla. It takes away the powdery taste.""
I buy the large size container of milk and when I get home from the store, I pour part of into an empty smaller container that milk had come in but is now empty and saved for this purpose. The milk does not sour as fast as if you are just using one large container and constantly opening and closing it.
By Judy
We add water to ours. We buy a gallon then dilute it half and half. It tastes cooler than regular milk and half my family likes skin so it went over really well.
Nonfat dry milk is the least expensive way to buy milk. When using it as a beverage, mix it several hours ahead and refrigerate so it can get cold before drinking.
Buy fresh milk in large containers (gallon or 1/2 gallon). These generally cost less than quarts.
Buy fat-free or lowfat milk to cut the amount of fat in your family's meals. Note that children under 2 years of age should be given only whole milk.
Diluting whole milk with 50% water also cuts the nutrition in half. If your family gets enough calcium and Vita D anyway by drinking absolutely glasses and glasses of milk that might be OK, but milk contains important nutrients and diluting it may not be smart.
here's another way to save $ I make my own evaporated milk and condensed sweetened milk from powdered it's much cheaper then buying the canned stuff.
Evaporated Milk
1/3 cup instant nonfat dry milk powder
6 tablespoons water
1. Mix well.
2. Equivalent of 1/3 cup canned, evaporated milk.
*************
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Ingredients:
1 C. nonfat dry milk
2/3 C. sugar (granulated)
1/3 C. boiling water
3 Tbsp. softened butter
Preparation Instructions:
Combine dry milk, sugar, water and butter in blender until smooth. Refrigerate until chilled and slightly thick.
*I use my hand blender for this recipe it's much easier.
If you have any friends or know of any in the military our families get special deals as part of a package for sending our husbands to war and paying us less than the outside world. What this means is we get fantastic deals on food at military run grocery stores called Comissary's. If you know of anyone who has a military ID and can access base priveldges you stand to save a HUGE amount of money.
If you are diluting your milk, you don't have to worry about Vitamin D deficiency if you get five minutes of sun every day. The body synthesizes Vitamin D from this method. Five minutes isn't enough to worry about skin cancer and it is very healthy. If you don't get ANY sun, then you definitely need to supplement your diet with Vitamin D through milk or pills.
I just got 2 1/2 gallons of milk the other day at the commissary for only 50C each ! When I do that - my mind races to the next few meals of bread & white gravy- cold cereal -- I made a big pot of potatoe soup yesterday ! Yum !
When you make instant mashed potatoes use powdered milk ! You can't hardly even tell - to make it a little more rich add some coffee creamer !
When the milks sold the day before the expiration date for 50c a 1/2 or 99c a gal - take advantage of that !
Milk shake time !
Hot cocoa !
WoW !
To make milk go further, buy 1 gallon of whole milk and split the milk up into 2 jugs, add 1/4 of a gallon of water to each jug and you have 1-1/2 gallons of 2% milk.
By Kim
Please do not dilute milk with water that is served to children. As someone already mentioned, you're diluting vital nutrients as well. Whole milk and 2% both have the same amount of protein, vitamins, etc. Whole milk diluted by 50% will only have half the nutrients, regardless if it tastes like 2%. (the percentage refers only to the amount of fat). Also, in northern climents, it takes more than 5 minutes of sunlight daily for the body to synthesize vitamin D (I asked my doctor - he said at least thirty minutes with the sun hitting a larger area than your face. In other words, you would have to wear short sleaves). I'm not belittling anyone for their ideas - I have a genuine concern for the welfare of children. It is better to skimp elsewhere than on nutrition.
Believe it or not, you may want to check out your local gas station! We buy our milk in half gallon bags that came with a free special pitcher to put the bags in and they are cheaper then even Wal-mart milk. A lot of people around here buy their milk that way.
Otherwise, our Wal-mart has a good price for milk, and this a regular Wal-mart, not one with a grocery store.
When money is tight, I mix 1/3 regular 2% milk and 2/3 powdered milk. I always mix it at bedtime, so it can get good and cold overnight. I find you don't need the vanilla this way. But it does end up more "watery" than 2%. More like skim. So next time we buy a new bag (and we get 2%), it always seems thick and indulgent!
Heather
Definitely check the prices per gallon before overstocking the dry milk.(it is good to have some no matter the price for emergencies). I had to search and I did end up finding dry milk at Sams is about .50 less per gallon than the commissary. Just shop around.
We pay 7.00 a gallon for milk in Nova Scotia. You have to think of ways to economize.
Before the price increase on gas and food, I did not really pay attention to the amount of food wasted on a daily basis in my household. Many families encourage their children to drink milk at dinner even when they do not like it. Simply do not serve the milk if it is not wanted, serve water or juice instead. Also, make the servings of milk smaller. I have used this method an no longer do I have half full glasses of milk on the table when dinner is over.
(submitted via email)
I am curious what brand of powdered milk you are using and how much your cost per gallon is hitting at.
Thanks,
Jenny R. (Houston,Tx.)
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