With the price of milk rising (with all the other grocery prices) and my need to purchase a minimum of 2 gallons of milk each week, I have been watching for milk deals. Unfortunately, I have not found any great sales.

My family of 5 drinks whole milk. My 17-month old needs the fat in the milk, and I prefer to purchase one type rather than remember “who gets what milk” first thing in the morning. In our household, we currently get the “red milk” because the cap on whole milk is red. We used to purchase “blue milk” since the cap on the 2% is blue. (Yea, we keep it simple.)

While still searching for sales, I continue to purchase our milk (for drinking) at Aldi for around $2.89 per gallon which is the least expensive price in our area.

Besides drinking milk, our family uses milk for cooking. Here is where I can stretch my grocery budget because I can find sales on fat free milk and other varieties. My current milk of choice for cooking is Smart Balance.

Recently, I purchased Smart Balance: Fat Free Milk and Calcium at Publix. The half gallon containers were on sale 2 for $5. Combining this sale with the $1.50 and $1 off coupons from the June 5, Smart Source insert in the newspaper, I was able to purchase 2 half gallon cartons totaling $2.50. The savings was $.38, but the Smart Balance has a much longer shelf life than the whole milk.

Thus far, my family has not noticed a change in the baked chicken, pork chop sauce, stroganoff, macaroni and cheese, tomato soup, or pudding – where I have replaced the whole milk with the Smart Balance milk. Without coupons and a sale, I would have by-passed the Smart Balance. However, if I can get milk below the $2.89 price, then I will purchase it and use it for cooking.

Have you considered using one milk for drinking and another for cooking? Without the sale, I would not have considered it. Now, I like the idea. The next time I can nab a gallon of milk below my rock bottom price of $2.89, I will not hesitate to try it. Happy savings!