Money Management and Learning

There are a number of ways to save money on food. Some families can feed an entire family of 6 with just $400 a month, and then other people will spend $400 a month just on themselves!

There are actually a number of strategies you can implement, which don’t all involve the lame, normal advice on ways to save money that you’re probably tired of hearing about.

For example, one of the best ways to do it is to go shopping less often. This might sound funny, but it can actually lower your monthly groceries bill by a lot! It’s been proven that the more often we shop, the more we spend. This makes sense, because when we’re in “buying mode” it’s easy to walk into a store looking for 2-3 things and walk out with more than 10!

This goes for anything, by the way. Shoes, clothing, CDs, movies, and just about anything else you can think of. The less you’re looking at stuff in the store to buy, the less you’re going to buy- period!

Another neat tip is to use batch cooking. This will not only save you a LOT of time, but is one of the best ways to save money on groceries. The basic idea is that you cook the same meal several times at once. So let’s say you’re making some kind of chicken dish. Instead of making just enough for dinner tonight, you make enough to last you the next 4-5 nights! From there you can either eat it every day (which would get boring), or you can freeze some of it and reheat it in a few weeks. This helps you save money because you will be planning your meals throughout the month better, and buy less food that will go to waste.

One weird tip you may not have thought of is to keep track of all of your leftovers. Think of how many times over the last year you’ve thrown out leftovers that went bad. Ten times? Twenty? More than thirty? If you’re like most American families, I bet it was at least 50 or 100 food items.

By keeping a leftovers list, you can make sure everything gets eaten before it goes bad. Just keep it somewhere you will easily see it (such as on the fridge door), and check it every day. Although it might be hard to get your kids into this habit, some kids love leftovers and may think this is a good idea.

One very powerful way to save money on food and other stuff from the grocery store is by playing the drugstore game. Basically, there are several major drugstore chains that offer great deals each and every month. In fact, these “great deals” often end up with the drug store paying you in store credit to take their stuff! While this usually means you will be changing the brands you use each month, the fact that you’re saving tons of money will make it all worthwhile.

Does your family eat a lot of beef? If so, consider buying a side of beef! We all know that at the grocery store, a major expense is meat and chicken. One way around that is to just buy your meat and chicken in bulk. Not only can this save you a lot of money, but you will probably get much better quality meat as well.

Another option is to forgo eating meat for a while. You can buy enough canned or fresh veggies to feed a family for one or two dollars! If you’re really on a budget, this is a good way to go. For more calories, you can always add in some beans. Beans will help you feel full and provide sufficient calories to keep you going.

One way to save money on food is by shopping at stores such as Sam’s Club or CostCo. Since you are buying the food in bulk, you will usually get the food for much less than you would pay at a normal store. On top of that, if you get the premium membership and shop there a lot throughout the year, they’ll essentially pay you for shopping there from the 2-3 percent that you get back!

by Brandon Lamb