You’ve heard me talk a lot about the importance of keeping your family’s food budget in check. We’ve explored many different tips to use while you’re shopping to make sure that you’re getting most out of your food dollars. Did you know, thought, that there are other things you can do to keep your food budget in check? Although frugal shopping is a good start, these easy tips will help you save on food while you’re out of the grocery store, too.
Eat at home. No matter which restaurant you frequent, eating at home is always going to be less expensive than dining out. Twenty dollars can easily feed a family of four a full dinner at home, but at a restaurant you may spend as much as eighty dollars feeding the same family. That’s a lot of groceries!
Create meals that convert to leftovers. Save on lunches by focusing on dinners that can be transformed into lunches the next day. Baked chicken can be used to make chicken salad sandwiches. Leftover mashed potatoes can be turned into potato cakes. You may even be able to get two dinners out of one by working your leftovers into a warm casserole.
Have a meatless meal day. Once in a while, we try to have a meal that doesn’t include meat. You can substitute beans for beef in a Mexican dish (like enchiladas) or treat your family to a favorite pasta dish. Your family may never even realize that you’re avoiding meat due to a budget concern. They’ll just know that they are having a great dinner.
Make meals in bulk. While you may be thinking that making meals ahead of time doesn’t necessarily save money, I have to say that it does. I try to make doubles whenever I make labor intensive meals. I freeze the second batch until I’m ready to prepare it again. Then, all I have to do is heat it and serve it. The strongest drive to eating fast food for dinner is often convenience. If I have something ready at home, I’m not nearly as tempted to visit a local drive-thru.
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I agree wholeheartedly with everything in the post–all great tips.
I could also add the following:
On the items you use a lot of, when they are on sale–stock up!! Chicken breasts, canned veggies, anything really.
Use generics if at all possible. I basically converted about 30% of my food shopping to store brands. There is a little bit of a taste difference, but nothing that you can’t get used to, and the savings are well worth it.
Find a farmer’s market! If you can find one at all close to you, go and check it out. Their prices are tremendous, and a lot of times the quality and the selection are superior to your local grocer. I don’t know what I would do without mine.