Andy & I were working on our budget last night and were struck again with the reality of how much money we spend on food. I feel like that guy on the Dave Ramsey video who says, "I figured out where my paycheck was going...I was eating it!"
I cook dinner between 4-6 nights per week. We do date night one night every week and some weeks we may have a church event or someone may have us over for a meal. But most nights, I cook. The top two priorities for us when it comes to food are 1) stay within the budget, and 2) eat healthy. We like lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, which I know can add up.
I would really appreciate some money saving tips from you guys. What secrets do you use to save money at the grocery store?
4 comments:
-Bare minimum packaged food (bulk oatmeal rather than cold cereal for instance).
-Whole organic chickens (costco has small ones for a pretty good price). Eat the breasts one night for dinner and then make healthy enchiladas (I have a recipe I use if you want it)or soup with it the next night.
-Make more than what you need and eat your leftovers.
-Make LOTS of soups. You can throw anything in and you don't even need meat to make them seem very filling and hearty.
-Buy cheaper cuts of meats like a big pork or beef roast and cook it in the crock pot. Use leftovers for enchiladas, lasagna, soup, etc.
-This may seem obvious by I find myself veering from it often - eat more seasonally. Buy the produce that's on sale.
Does that help? I'm still really working on this for us as well, because we spent wayyyyy too much on groceries too.
Staci our newest money saving venture has been home made bread. In fact I am committing to not purchase any more bread from the store at all. I purchased a bread make from Goodwill for $8, whole wheat flour and yeast from the local grocery store. It does not take a lot of work because the bread maker does all and it saves tons-o-$$$. Additionally I can make the bread according to dietary needs of each member. I like white bread, Chris likes wheat, and Zerrin requires super extra fiber I might add flax seed to his. We even make fun desert bread such as cinn. raisin! You can make several loafs at once then sore them in your freezer.
Also, I used to be part of a local produce co-op. Nothing too official, it was just a group of 20 families that presented themselves at as a "group", thus we were getting wholesale prices. For $20.00 every other week we would get an 18 gallon storage bin of fresh produce. It was always way more than we could even finish! Maybe there is one in your area?
And last but not least I subscribe to https://e-mealz.com/amember/member.php (Dave Ramsey endorsed) It sends you a weekly shopping menu as well as the grocery list and line by line item cost organized by department. (meat, deli, produce) I love just to print and go! (after I cross reference the weekly adds for coupons of course. We spend about $75.00 purchasing one weeks worth of groceries, but it lasts our small family about 2 weeks if you include the left overs we eat from the same menu. It has been a huge time and $$$ saver for menu planning and grocery list preparing. The costs is about $5 a month, but well worth it. We have tried some pretty yummy new dishes and it keeps new ideas coming to the dinner table.
Hopes this helps! Love, Mary Lu
THANK YOU, Emily & Mary Lu! I really appreciate your ideas and I'm going to give them a shot. Mary Lu, I'm definitely going to check out that website.
Also forgot, we make our own granola! Cheaper, healthier and tastes better!
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