Thursday, August 7, 2014

Saving Money On Milk


A funny thing happened a couple weeks ago.  I bought a gallon of 2% milk and brought it home and my girls didn't like it.  They used to drink it all the time.  Not anymore.

A couple years ago, after seeing an interview on TV, I tried an experiment.  A family of six had found out they were saving a bundle of money every year by purchasing a gallon of whole milk and cutting it 50/50 with water instead of buying the 1% gallons they used to.  I was buying 2% for the girls and skim for myself at the time and decided to try the 50/50, or "Half Milk" as we've come to call it, out on the girls.  If it could pass muster with them then I knew I was good to go.


They noticed immediately the milk was different but not bad different.  They actually liked it.  They said it tasted better.  As far as nutrition goes I don't worry at all about that because my girls rarely just drink an 8 ounce glass of milk, which constitutes a serving.  Almost always they drink a glass twice that size and quite often two of them.

Since switching over to Half Milk I never feel the need to tell the girls to slow down on the milk or worry that they are drinking too much and yes, it has definitely helped the grocery budget.  I've had a lot of feedback from others that have tried this too and it has all been positive. 

Now that we tried to go back to 2% and failed I guess we'll continue to mix our whole milk and enjoy it.  I really like it on my cereal. 

Would you ever consider doing this?  Or do you do it already?

8 comments:

  1. After reading about you doing this a little while back I tried it, and so far, so good! I can't quite go 50/50... I do 2 parts whole milk to 1.5 parts water, but it's saving a lot on milk money in our budget!

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    1. I'm glad you tried it and are having success with it. If you go through a lot of milk it saves in the long run. :)

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  2. We're pretty flexible about milk around here. For years I preferred UHT skimmed milk in boxes because, besides being lowfat, it kept for so long until you were ready to open it and even then it took forever to go off (but when it does go, it is really awful!) Then one day when the price had jumped I looked again and found fresh 2% milk on sale - so I bought quite a bit and froze most of it. Another blog (http://agirlcalledjack.com/) pointed out the low cost of powdered skimmed milk and we decided that for half the price of UHT this was worth stocking and using. I've tried fresh skimmed milk and find it tastes quite watery. I might try adding some powdered skimmed milk to it, but am more inclined to do your 50/50 with powdered and fresh. All these options taste a bit different, but - as you said - not bad different. I think it's important to keep an open mind about these things in order to find the best deals. Thawing milk does take a bit of advanced planning, though, as the different components don't seem to thaw at the same rate even in homogenized milk.

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    1. I have frozen milk plenty of times and found with whole milk the fat would get lumpy and not redistribute very well. Lower fat milks do better when frozen I think. Here the powdered milk is quite expensive and I can't stand the taste or how thin it is. Like you I try to keep an open mind about it though.

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  3. I remember reading that you do this and I meant to try it out on my kids but I forgot about it. I just bought a gallon of whole milk today so I think tomorrow I will cut it with water and see what happens. If I don't say anything I have a hunch that they will never even notice the difference- Ssshhh! Don't tell! ;)
    Thank you for the tip!!!

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    1. Your secret is safe with me. Good luck. I hope it works for you!

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    2. Update: :)
      It is now the next day and I did it! I halved the milk and nobody noticed! (Hee Hee) I feel so sneaky- it is making me giggle! :)
      Thanks for the advice- this is gonna save us a lot of money!

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