Ten Specific Ways to Cut Your Food Budget

Since I've started posting about how we're working to save money and live more frugally (i.e. scrape by without a paycheck) I've had quite a few people ask me how I have cut our food budget.

Now I hesitate to talk hard numbers--not only does it seem a little low-class, it's hard to make a valid comparison from one area of the country to the next--but I've gone from spending $230-250 per week for a family of six (gasp) to $100 per week. Of course we had to sell two of the children . . .

Kidding. But though the prices in your area may vary the principles of cutting back are the same. Maybe these will give you a few ideas of your own. If you have a trick that has worked for you by all means let me know, I'm very open to new ideas right now.

1. Get rid of those warehouse memberships.
I've written an entire post on the subject of Costco memberships which I will not rehash here except to say that I have found that I spend GOBS less money if I avoid Costco and the like.

Yes they have things that are cheaper than at other stores but I always buy more than I need, impulse buy and buy food that is nearly always a more expensive brand than I would typically buy.

A good example is the fruit. While I save on bananas because I can get a bunch for $2.25 at Costco and we'll eat them all in a week we can't usually get through a $6 box of kiwi plus a $8 flat of pears too though I tend to buy them when I'm there and I want the variety. If I bought smaller amounts at the regular supermarket I'd have that variety and it would cost a bit less and the fruit wouldn't be wasted.

At Costco I will buy a box of granola bars that will last of for seventeen months which by itself might be okay but no one wants to eat ONLY granola bars for seventeen months so I buy fruit snacks and fruit leather to go with it--again, for variety. Three times what I'd need. Of course if I only went every seventeen months then things would be fine but I'm right back there the next week buying seventeen more months of something else. Where will it all end??

The only thing I really, really do miss is their take-and-bake tortillas which I can't get anywhere else and which really do save us money. But it's not worth the cost of a membership just for those holy tortillas. Though it was a close call on that one.

I would not only suggest that you cut out your warehouse memberships but would say that you should try to make only one stop at one store per week. If I make trips to different stores I might have a list but it's easy to think, "Oh, I'm going to finish up at another store" so it's easy to think that as long as I'm not spending the entire amount at the first stop that I've somehow kept to the budget and I tend to overspend.

If I just make one stop I know that I have to make everything fit into that cart in under $100 and I'm better at it under that kind of pressure. Just a suggestion. Plus you save on gas rather than running all over the place throughout your week.

2. Go through your shopping list and say "Do I absolutely have to have this?"
I find that just cutting things you can live without is a huge help. When Andrew and I were first married and in school I was great at realizing what I did and didn't need. I bought toilet paper but we didn't buy paper napkins, Kleenex, paper towels, paper plates, plastic utensils or Dixie cups for example. While very convenient we simply didn't need those items and we got by just fine.

The only item I absolutely gave into was disposable diapers. So sue me.

But a good example is buying fruit juice. While nice to have around, it isn't something you have to have. Nutritionally it's better to have a piece of fruit with breakfast than a glass of juice. It's better for your teeth and sugar intake to drink milk or water with your meals and it's better for your wallet. If you're living on the edge cut out stuff like that and you'll most likely hardly notice it.

3. Cut out prepared foods entirely.
This is a huge area for cutting back though I warn you that you'll pay for it in time and convenience, at least at first until you're used to it.

For example, I figured we bought three (sometimes more) boxes of cold cereal per week. At approximately $4-5 apiece that's $12-15 a week just on a breakfast item. I read somewhere that cold cereal is the most expensive commonly bought food per ounce but then that could be bunk, who knows?

So what do we do for breakfast? Well first I have to make sure I'm actually out of bed on time rather than waiting until the kids are practically out the door but once that's taken care of we have pancakes, waffles, bread pudding, aebelskivers, baked apples, crepes, muffins, scrambled eggs, fruit, yogurt, toast, oatmeal (the real kind, not instant), breakfast pizza, strata or any number of good things that the kids actually prefer over cold cereal anyway. I made up a huge batch of homemade granola, commandeered one of the boys' unused Lego tubs, washed it out and put a serving-sized scooper in it so if they're really desperate for cereal they can have granola. It's cheaper and healthier anyway.

To make these things yourself is usually as easy as mixing five or six ingredients (I've made homemade pancakes so many times I could write the recipe in my sleep: 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk, 1 tablespoon sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 egg and stir) and it will save you oodles of dollars. Make your own syrup, spaghetti sauce, marinades, salad dressings, jam, bread, breadcrumbs or pudding. It's good for you to learn and it's rather satisfying.

We've cut out Hot Pockets, corn dogs, frozen burritos, Fruit Roll Ups, french fries, macaroni and cheese, cake mixes, canned frosting, hot chocolate mix, instant oatmeal, cold cereal, boxed rice mixes, canned chili, you name it--anything that someone else has cooked is off the list. I do, however, use a bit more flour and baking ingredients (which are relatively inexpensive actually).

4. Cut out junk food completely.
You know that aisle at the supermarket where they sell the chips? Just avoid it completely. If you're struggling financially there's really no reason (except perhaps a vicious caffeine addiction) that you should be buying soda, chips, candy, cookies, crackers, or gum. Yes it might be fun stuff but it's just not something you need to live, in fact without it you'd probably live better.

And not just chips and candy--most of the items I listed in #3 that we've cut out are high in fats and calories. I've really cut back on the prepared, packaged snacks the kids typically go for. Instead I'll make sure we've got carrot sticks, fresh fruit (whatever is on sale) and homemade bread and jam to snack on. I find that if they say they're hungry but turn down healthy stuff, they're really not hungry at all. Thirsty, but not thirsty for water? Then you're not really thirsty my friend.

5. Do not shop hungry, go with a list and go with a menu for the week.
If at all possible avoid shopping at lunch time or on your way home from work when you're starving and thinking of all the glorious things you'd like to eat. Go with a shopping list planned out for the week (saves time) and stick to it. It's deadly to go on an empty stomach because everything looks tasty and I'm tempted to buy more than I should. If you only go once a week it has the added benefit of saving gas and time too.

6. Cook in double or triple batches.
I feed six every night and even I generally cook in double batches. I have done this since we were freshly married and it saves tons of money. If I'm making spaghetti I make enough for two nights, if it's soup the pot is big enough for 12 servings. It's cheaper to buy a larger can of something and make it stretch to feed you twice than it is to buy in smaller amounts for just one night. I love the way it saves me time as well as money, you just can't go wrong with this one.

If the idea of eating the same thing twice in one week turns your stomach look into freezing things so you can throw the extra batch in the freezer for a couple weeks down the road.

7. Focus on grains, fruits and veggies. Forget meat and dairy.
Now this doesn't mean cut out dairy completely, you need your calcium but we typically eat more meat and cheese than is necessary--both being quite expensive. Grains are always one of the cheapest things you can buy (excluding breakfast cereals) so serve lots of rice, pasta, and bread-based recipes. Of course it's healthier to serve whole-grains rather than processed but frankly those can sometimes be more expensive (i.e. whole grain pasta v. regular refined flour pasta) so be careful. But you can buy brown rice, for example, for about the same price as white and it's better for you. Just plan ahead because it takes longer to cook.

We've cut way back on meat though I still use ground beef and chicken--or fish we've caught--and I look for it in the discounted meat bin that they fill around 11 am. Serve meat as an ingredient and not as the star of the meal. Often you can substitute beans for meat in many dishes (think Tex Mex) and dried beans are dirt-cheap.

As for milk I've cut WAY back. I was buying six gallons a week, at $3.50 a pop (at other local stores it's as much as $5/gallon) but I've cut back to 2-3 per week which I save for drinking with meals--one glass a piece. For all my other milk needs (i.e. cooking and baking) I use powdered milk. You really can't tell the difference in most baked goods--I made vanilla pudding with powdered milk and they couldn't tell--and you can even squeeze it in in some other places like with cooked oatmeal. But it's been a huge savings and as long as they're getting a bit with each meal they're not losing out on nutrition.

8. Know how to substitute ingredients.
This requires a bit of experience but you need to know what you can substitute when a recipe calls for a very specific ingredient. Know that you can substitute buttermilk or sour milk with a cup of regular milk mixed with a tablespoon of vinegar or cocoa powder plus oil for baking chocolate, or one cup regular sugar plus 2 tablespoons of molasses for brown sugar.

I have lots of chives in my back yard and I can usually use chives in place of green onions while I've got them on hand. It might require a bit more but you can make it work.

9. Eat soups and breads.
Soup with bread is one of the least expensive meals you can make--and one of the healthiest. With your standard chicken soup or beef stew with a side of bread you get all the basic food groups and cheap things like onions, potatoes, beans, mushrooms, barley, rice, pasta, carrots, celery and water are the main ingredients.

We make soup about once a week and they're some of the easiest, best things you can fix. Throw in a loaf of crusty bread (again, I recommend that Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book for quick, fabulous bread making) and you've got a healthy, inexpensive, tasty meal that will usually feed for two days.

10. Always buy generic brands and ditch the coupons.
This is my gripe with coupons: even if I have a good coupon it is almost always for a brand-name item that I can get cheaper if I just buy generic. Rarely do I see it otherwise because coupons are designed to push you toward those brand names. People get hung up on having a fancy label but my research has told me that most companies producing the brand name products pick up extra cash by selling their products to generic companies such as Kroger or Private Selection which they then label and sell as generic. You're getting the same product from the same place but at a cheaper price.

The only items I've ever tried that I find to be inferior are cheese singles and boxed macaroni and cheese. Of course those are expensive items anyway which I typically don't buy anymore but the generic boxes of mac and cheese are an abomination. Other than that you're safe always buying generic and pocketing the difference.

But at any rate, coupons can be very dangerous. They're rarely for staples like fresh fruits, vegetables, grains and such and instead are usually for prepared foods which we've already established as very, very evil to the budget.

Coupons get lots of buzz nowadays. I saw a piece in our local paper about a woman who makes it her full-time job to get coupons but I don't really see that it's something I'm envying. It said she was spending $1000/month. Fine, that's about what I was spending too. She's cut back to $150, a savings of $850. That's impressive except that with just the things I've mentioned here I've cut back to $400, which means the difference in our savings is now down to $450.

She says she coupons (if that is a verb) for 40 hours a week, the equivalent of a full-time job but one in which she earns a mere $2.85 per hour. In that same amount of time she could actually have a job, even work from home, work as a noon duty, teach piano lessons or whatever, and make much more money without the mess and waste (she admitted to throwing out 50 sticks of deodorant when her cluttered surplus became unbearable and her savings doesn't include the time and gas wasted by running around to every store in town to get items here and there).

Bottom line is, there's nothing wrong with what she's doing, she's got a hobby she likes that saves her family money--great. It just may not work for everyone equally so be aware of what you could be in for, and that you might be able to achieve the same result with less work and fewer hoops to jump through.

And finally, I'm going to give you examples of what we've been eating--I didn't even mention how eating out, buying those lattes or buying hot lunches at school can suck up the cash, I figured that was a given--but here's a sample menu of what we've been eating to prove we're not starving.

Homemade macaroni and cheese
Chicken soup
Banana-wrapped halibut (halibut from the freezer, had the rest of spices on hand, used aluminum foil instead of banana leaves)
Barbecued beef sandwiches
Hummus surprise soup
French onion soup
Broccoli-chicken stir fry
Homemade pizza
Salmon with mango and black beans (used canned peaches as substitute)
Dracula's revenge
Creamy chicken rigatoni
Sour cream coffee cake
Cinnamon Rolls
Chili

You ought to check out Perfectly Provident, a well-designed site that seems to have some good tips on the subject. Also, Alaska Coupon Diva has been one of my recent sponsors and specializes in coupons here in the state, though I think some of their tips and coupons are good anywhere. If you are talented enough to make coupons work for you then you ought to check them out too.

I also noticed that earlier this week Stephanie from Metropolitan Mama happened to be thinking along these same lines and posted about How to Save Money at the Grocery Store. Good tips there too.

Sponsored by Pak Naks--decorate your stuff!