Surviving the Economy

This post could realistically be subtitled, Why Bananas Matter.

Lately, I am reading other blogs and they have various posts about strategies to help deal with rising prices in a world where incomes don’t seem to be rising much, if at all.  I read these posts hoping to learn a little something more to stretch our income.  That left me wondering why so many folks seem to worry about the big things, but think nothing of bananas.

You may wonder how bananas would matter in the over economic scheme of things for a family that is not involved in banana farming.  Fair question.

If my family is going to enjoy bananas (which have pretty much doubled in price over the last year where we live) and keep on having money for other necessary items, we have to watch the details.  Like the bananas!

So what is my big money saving tip for bananas?  Buy the bags of really bad looking bananas.  Yes, the yucky looking ones with spots and such that are about half price.  Bring them home and let anyone eat fresh those that aren’t really too bad and then peel the remainder and put about 3 whole bananas in a labeled freezer bag, squish the extra air out, and put in the freezer.  Those bags are like gold when my family wants some banana bread!  We make lots of fruit breads, but banana is a regular.  And those bags with 3 bananas in them will thaw out to a more or less mushy consistency, like we need for a recipe of banana bread and in just the right quantity.

Now, this winter when we want banana bread, we won’t waste a fresh banana for baking when what we are making doesn’t need that nice, firm texture.  It’s a win-win situation and we save money.  The peels also go into the compost heap for eventual use in the garden.  Lately, younger son, DS 15, has been using frozen fruit (his favorite is bananas) to make yogurt smoothies.

Then, by making our own banana bread or muffins, we save even more money by putting in the effort to cook it at home than purchase it in a store.  Plus, ours tastes better and we know what is in it (no Frankenfoods!).

See, the pennies take care of themselves when we do this (okay, actually quarters in savings this time).  By taking care of the pennies, the dollars will follow.  There are far more little things to cut back on than big items, so it makes sense to do both.  We watch for good deals on insurance, etc. and we drive older, paid for cars.  And, we freeze bananas.  And shredded zucchini.  And carrots if we have an abundance.  It’s good food for our tummies, good for us (okay, too much sugar, but other than that), and it sneaks veggies and fruits into our oldest son, (who has major texture issues) which is a fantastic thing!

How is your family saving money?

Till next time,

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