How do you save money on your food bill?

[Katrina-Sisu]

Would anyone like to share their ideas or tips on this?

I always buy storebrand since I've never tasted a difference. Sometimes we can catch namebrand sales cheaper and I'll get those.

We cut out all extras minus the occasional candy bar and bag of cheese poofs (my secret addiction).

Kat

[Shamrock1121]

1. I budget $50 for groceries per week for 2 adults. I take $50 in cash to the grocery store, and a calculator to figure costs. By setting an amount for the food budget FIRST, that's one of the best ways to reduce your food budget - PERIOD.

I usually spend $30-45. Any extra $$$ is accumulated and spent for grass-fed beef/free-range chickens or large purchases of grains. I also use a whey-based milk substitute - Morning Moo's. I use the extra $$$ for purchasing a years supply of that at a time.

Even on this budget, I have plenty of basic food items in storage - about a years worth.

2. The food budget is FOR FOOD, and nothing else. Toothpaste, toilet paper, etc. is a separate budget item.

3. I make a grocery list based on general needs, and sales ads. I stick to whole foods and avoid highly processed foods. Junk food, pop, and empty-calorie foods will destroy a small food budget. Whole foods are generally more nutritious, quick and easy to fix, and you don't have to pay extra for a can, bag, or a box that's only half full of food....

4. I keep a small loose-leaf price book so that I can track prices. I know the lowest price for foods that way. I don't have to try and remember is something is really cheap, or not. Are (on sale) 39 cent Van Camp Pork and Beans cheaper than the brand at Aldi's? Check the book ...

On each page.... (Food Name) Peanut Butter
Date purchased:
Store:
Brand
Size/Price
Unit Price

Because I keep a price book, when peanut butter was on sale in August (school starting), and it was .05 cents per ounce for the 18 oz. Kroger brand, it was a bargain and I stocked up. That's the lowest price for peanut butter I've found. Aldi's is .071 cents/oz. Large sizes don't always equal low price. When Kroger brand 28 oz. peanut butter was on sale, it was .088 cents per ounce. That's why you need to know unit price.

5. Grow something. Even if it's some lettuce and herbs in flower pots.

6. I make all our breads, cookies, English Muffins, hamburger/hot dog buns, etc. I use grains/seeds/beans I mill myself.

I recently found Wheat Montana Prairie Gold Wheat at Wal-Mart. It was $5 for 25 pounds of wheat, which is a great price for excellent (chemical-free) wheat, and NO shipping costs..... I have purchased several hundred pounds of this wheat and put it into storage. The price of 25# of wheat is about the same price as 2 loaves of commercial bread. I can make a loaf of high-quality, multi-grain bread for 25-50 cents per loaf (depending on ingredients). Even less, when I bake it in my solar oven.

Even if you don't have a mill to make flour, there are other ways to use whole grains. I can make pancake/waffle batter in a blender using whole wheat (see: www.suegregg.com)

7. Snack foods are homemade. Popcorn is VERY cheap once a year at one of the farm supply stores. If you didn't grow zucchini, everyone is giving it away right now, and it makes great "chips" when sliced thin and dried in a dehydrator. I also dehydrate apples, usually Jonathan's, as soon as they are available at the store, for a years supply of dehydrated apples, that are used for cooking and snacking. Nuts and sunflower seeds are also a great snack item around our house.

8. Learn what a serving size is, and how much you require per day. Overeating is a great way to break a small grocery budget.

For instance, a serving of spaghetti or pasta is 1/2 a cup, not a huge bowl full...

A serving of orange juice is 3/4 c. (6 oz.), not a 16 oz. iced tea tumbler full.

-Karen

[JAK]

When dieting, I avoid diet foods. I simply make my oatmeal more a watery, and fill up on simple homemade soups at supper that are filling and high in vitamins and fibre but not all that high in calories. So half the calories becomes half the price, or less, instead of twice the price.

[Lillie]

This may not be that great a money saving idea, but it does keep food from going to waste. About once a week, sometimes more during cold weather, I make some kind of soup out of whatever is in the refrigerator that needs to be used.

Example, right now I have just a few carrots, a few stalks of celery, a few potatoes that are just starting to show those tiny green eye sprouts, a single ear of corn, and some hamburger that will soon be freezer burnt if I don't cook it. So I will take those things and some frozen tomatoes and make soup. I always keep barley, noodles, and macaroni to add to the soup as extras and extenders. The same thing with chicken. Any leftover chicken meat scraps and bones are boiled down and made into soup. You don't always have to have everything that normally goes in a soup. I sometimes make chicken noodle soup without the celery and carrots, adding dried celery seed or something similar, and plenty of noodles.

[Katrina-Sisu]

Wonderful ideas and tips! Thanks! :)

Kat

[RangerRick]

Sweetie and I usually do the shopping together. She is the brains and I just push the basket around and go fetch things at the farthest recesses of the store at her every beck and call. She whistles I run, we're a team. However, I do know the drill as it has been drilled into my head on a routine basis over the past 35 years. Shamrock has an excellent list so I'll pass over those already mentioned.

1. The obvious one that everyone knows but doesn't always do and can save a fortune, eat a full meal BEFORE you shop.

2. Cash only budget but if an opportunity arises on a good sale/discount we will go over budget however it averages out on the next shopping date or so.

3. As already stated but too important to not say again. Make a list make a list make a list.

4. If and where possible buy in quantity especially in toiletries and things that have an indefinite shelf life.

5. Sweetie is serious about couponing and the way she does it, it is a money making business.

6. Date and rotate can goods in a big organized pantry.

7. Garden and can fruits and veggies for the winter months.

8. I'll usually put several a hundred or so pounds of fish with trout line and 3 or so deer in the freezers each year which takes care of a lot of our meat needs.
:)

Rick

[bookwormom]

I cook and bake everything from scratch, especially flat bread for pocket sandwhiches and breakfast buns. In summer we try to eat a lot out of the garden, I have a vita mix so for breakfast I make juice, it has been a bit hard this year but I still manage. Carrots, tomatoes and peppers right now, when I have it I add greens, anything I have in the garden, add some watermelon, cucumber. I must admit it does not always taste very good, but it does not bother us, we seem to crave it. in winter I make lots of soups and stews, I use a lot of legumes and grains. Drink water, it really hits the spot and is a real money saver. If you are not used to drinking soda and then you drink one it tastes icky sweet . I have not had one in a long time.
I am lucky that we have an Amish salvage grocery store on the other side of "town". It is the best salvage store I have seen, but no use going there with a list, you never know what you will find. I keep my eyes open for coffee,($1.75) I admit it, I am addicted to my morning cup of java. when it is something I will use I stock up, like lately I got Fleischmans rapid rise yeast for 10 cents a threepack. I got sugar for 69 cents for two pounds, pasta for 35 cents a box, tuna for 35 cents a can, all kinds of fancy mustards for 35 cents. (Husband checks the expiration date)I must admit I splurge when opportunity knocks. last time I was there they had Lindt chocolate for 50 cents, raisins for 75 cents, pasta sauce in mason jars for 50 cents, I got some as it costs more to buy the jars empty and I use the sauce when I make pizza.
I don't use coupons, most of the time it is for stuff I would not buy anyway and I hate shopping. God bless the salvage store and my garden. I hope husband will get a deer this fall. we have turkey and chicken that we raised. occasionally I buy some beef. This fall some billy goats will be sent to freezer camp. I try to cook as healthy as I can, health is wealth. so many pay a high price for junk food and then a high price for sickness.

[rideaway]

Unfortunately, we live in a small town w/ only two grocery stores and so unless I can save enough money to do a really big shopping trip (like $300-400-which almost never happens) it is not worth the hour drive to the walmart and canned food outlet. I do try to buy quantity when it's on sale, and I buy store brand (except Dawn dishsoap, Miracle Whip and Best Foods Mayo). We also hunt and raise our own hog. We have a garden and I can alot, tho w/ prices around here for lids, sugar for jams and jellies, pectin, etc. if I sat and figured it out, I might not save that much.

With working full-time and having animals to take care of, I find it hard to cook from scratch. Maybe this winter when we get indoors more, I'll have time to make up some mixes and easy menus. I like to eat by 6 pm, and we get home at 5:15 pm and the animals eat before us. This summer we haven't been eating til 8 pm or so...I hate it.

[flatwater]

Buy in bulk once a month or every 2 months(CostCo) Make from scratch what you can. Stay away from breads unless you make your own. Can what you can. But don't get so stingy with your grocery money that you don't get a treat now and then..
Flatwater

[annabella1]

I work about 70 hours a week so I don't have a lot of time. Luckily my weekend site(I'm a security guard) has a full kitchen that I have access too. I usually cook all my food for the week at that site and freeze it on individual plates, so I can just grab a meal when I need one. I also eat a lot of eggs (cheap protein). It's a lot cheaper than being tempted to grab something at a fast food place or a convenience store. Making it from scratch gives a lot more flavor than buying a pre-made dinner. You can get a lot of variety from one or two meats depending on how you prepare. This week I roasted chicken made 2 meals of chicken breast with brown rice and vegetables. 4 meals of chicken ala king. 3 meals of chicken vegetable soup. I also had some Turkey breast tenders that were on sale made 3 meals of turkey medallions in honey mustard sauce, and 3 meals of Turkey gyro-style sandwiches. And plenty left for chef salads.

[Katrina-Sisu]

Great ideas! Thanks for the replies!

Kat

[Penny_Plinker]

I try to cook as healthy as I can, health is wealth. *so many pay a high price for junk food and then a high price for sickness.

So very true! Eat junk food sparingly or it'll take a high toll on your health. Being sick is the highest price to pay...diabetes, mainly because the food industry loads everything up with sugar. High blood pressure because they load everything with salt. Homemade is usually cheaper AND healthier.

Penny

[MYellowRose]

Since I absolutely LOVE good whole wheat bread I've learned to hit up the Mrs.Baird's thrift store near the house. Got a coupon that is good for one free loaf of bread with every loaf you buy, up to 4 free loaves. Since there's only me, and I don't eat a lot of bread unless I'm making sandwiches, and I don't have extra space in the freezer to store it, I'll only get four loaves, two of which will be free. Then there's also a 15% off your total purchase coupon that I can use at a later date.
My sister has a friend who buys big bags of bread, rolls, etc. from their thrift store that people are supposed to use to feed their pigs, etc. for $2.00 a bag. They go through it and pick out what they want to use as food and if necessary package it in sandwich bags before freezing it. Most of it is just outdated and still good for people to eat but the store can't sell it for such.

[Katrina-Sisu]

Great ideas! Thanks!

Katrina

[Lillie]

I have been thinking about what I have read on other forums, and that is to not neglect trying to forage for what is available in your area. There are lots of areas where at least something edible grows that can be foraged in decent quantity.

Blackberries, raspberries, dewberries, crab apples, wild apple cultivars (some of the best I ever tasted were found in West Virginia growing alongside a road beside the ditch, about the size of a jumbo egg, misshapen, but sweet and crisp and complex flavored) native plums, persimmons, black walnuts, hickory and hazel nuts, the small native pecans, chokecherries, pin cherries, elderberries, wolfberry vines, prickly pear fruit (if you like the musty taste). If you know what to look for or learn to carefully identify, you can dig jerusalem artichokes or look for mushrooms and edible fungi. There are at the least a few kinds of edible greens, and even more if you are open to different, odd flavors, which I never learned to acquire a taste for.

Learn to fish, catch crab, to hunt for deer or squirrel or pheasant. If you are overrun with feral hogs, hunt those (clean shot, aim at the ear!)

Sasafrass grows wild and is very easy to identify, and learn to harvest the roots to make teas from. Same with the plant called 'Labrador tea'. You can also use clean, healthy leaves from raspberry or blackberry plants.

If you only find one wild edible in your area, you could likely harvest enough to provide a decent amount of food for nothing except your labor and work in preserving it. That would help save money.

[crunchycon]

My DH worked his way through college in grocery stores. One thing he taught me was never to buy non-food items in the grocery store. I don't coupon much any more, but I do get those items (health and beauty stuff, cleaning products, pet food) much more inexpensively elsewhere (dollar stores, Walgreen's, Big Lots, etc.)

[annabella1]

You are right about foraging I always get dandelion greens in the spring, and asparagus spears, are always growing along the old railroad right of way. I like mulberries, and most people think they are a nuisance so I pick a lot and eat a lot of them.

[Katrina-Sisu]

Great ideas again! :)

The wild berries and mushrooms in Finland still have higher radiation levels due to Chernobyl so I avoid them. MIL thinks they're good still..I wonder if she'll start to glow at night LOL.

Kat