Saving Dough on Dough

At my house, five of us are currently bread eaters (I don't foresee a reason Quatro will be any different, which puts us at 6 people, sooner than later) and I don't anticipate that changing any time soon. I am all about getting bread from the bakery at my local store(s), but I refuse to pay $2-3 for a stinkin' loaf of bread, that my family will devour in about 15 seconds. Did I mention we eat at least a half a loaf of french bread about every other night?  I would love to say I get my jollies making my own bread, but I don't.  So what's the answer? Day old bread!

By now, you've probably discovered that I will eat just about anything-- just about. If you are a bread connoisseur, the thought of day old bread probably makes you want to wretch. Not me, said the flea! :)

Are you familiar with "bread stores"? Granted, not all towns have a day old bread store. Locally, we have one run by the Sara Lee company. I have lived in other communities where the closest one was run by Colonial Bread. Regardless, they are run on the same premise of picking up bread from grocery stores and taking it to a central location (the local "bread store") to sell. This often means you can pick up high dollar, brand name breads and rolls for a fraction of the price. Staple items, like buns and sandwich bread, are almost always a given. Other items like french bread, bagels, and english muffins may fly off the shelves. Given that I never know what they will have in stock, when I find things like french bread, I will often buy enough to last us 2 weeks (when I'll shop again), or as much as I can get during that trip.

If you live in an area where a bread store isn't convenient, or is non-existent, consider buying day old bread at your grocery. Many stores offer "Oops" racks, where they accidentally baked too much the day before. Financial Guy and the young'uns love donuts-- the only way I'll buy them is off the day old rack. Let's face it, unless your family (or office) gobbles an entire box in one morning, you're going to have them left over anyway!

Most stores that have them position them away from the bakery, for obvious reasons-- they'd rather you buy fresh because it's more expensive. That said, items on the day old rack are at least 40% off, sometimes up to 75%!

If you don't see a day old or "oops" rack at your store, ask the bakery manager if they have a section where it's kept. It's not always in an obvious location. At our Walmart, it's often near the refrigerated section, at our Kroger, it's near the pharmacy... go figure.

So what, pray tell, do I do with all this discounted dough? Freeze it! The bread in this picture will be enough for my family (and a couple of meals I've signed up to take to friends) for about 2 weeks.

If your family motors through as much bread as mine, consider buying it day old! You'll save a heap of dough on your dough! :)