4 Ways To Save Money On Food

All of the sudden, it feels like every time I go to the supermarket, I'm spending more and more. The sticker shock at the check-out nearly matches the pain at the pump. I will admit, I hardly ever make a list and I end up shopping throughout the week because I always forget that one thing I should have picked up yesterday. So when Aviva Goldfarb, founder of The Scramble, a weekly dinner menu planner, offered to share some advice on cutting back and organizing, she caught my attention.

She says there are three reasons food prices are escalating at such a frightening pace. "Experts point to more meat eaters and a growing world population, the high and ever growing price of oil, and bad weather and drought in key crop producing countries, exacerbated by global warming," explains Goldfarb, who also authored the cookbook, The Six O'Clock Scramble. Luckily, the Maryland mom of two says there are many ways that families can combat skyrocketing grocery prices and actually save hundreds of dollars on food. You'll also help save the planet by using less gas for those last minute purchases and those take-out delivery drivers.

Here are 4 easy ways to cut back:

1. Eat in. Americans spend some 50% of food dollars on out-of-home meals, snacks and beverages, according to Goldfarb. This budget item, she says, is the first area that can be cut way back. Cooking at home is almost always cheaper than going out to dinner, ordering takeout, or buying prepared foods - and healthier! Plan for a week of meals so you don't waste food.

2. Use up food in your refrigerator, freezer and pantry before shopping. Stretch your budget by making a meal at the end of the week out of ingredients you haven't finished. (Omelets, quesadillas, stir-fries and pasta sauces are flexible options.) Many people are sitting on hundreds of dollars of food that they've forgotten is in their freezer until it's freezer burned beyond use. Defrost and use something each week. Make a list of what's in there and label and date the containers.

3. Shop with a grocery list so you remember to get what you need, and you don't buy things you already have. Goldfarb says you should keep the list on or near the 'fridge so the whole family can add to it-this also avoids wasted gas on extra trips to the store.

4. Use less meat. Cooking with non-meat proteins like beans, tofu and eggs is very economical and healthy. You can often substitute boneless chicken for expensive fresh fish in recipes, or use less expensive frozen or canned fish (canned salmon is a very healthy choice). Check out this popular recipe for a simple and fast meatless meal here.

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Comments

[joebiz]

This may not be a popular post, but I save money by buying cheaper food. The place that I shop is at Wal-Mart. Yes, they're not unionized. But, are the large supermarkets chains (union) really concerned about my pocket book?

One example: Wal-Mart has bread for 98 cents versus similar type of bread at Vons for $1.78, same or similar taste. Other stores that save money because they're cheaper are Food-4-Less, there are stores called Aldi but they aren't in California. Sometimes Target has good deals on food. Other places to shop are farmers market for veggies and fruit. Buying in bulk, and shopping with another family will share costs. Say, you don't need 5 lbs of rice. Well, share the costs through a cooperative, split the costs and the food.

Canned food is cheaper; non-national brands are cheaper; coupons help; day old bread stores have good bargains on pastries, cookies, and pies.

[naschkatze]

I am pro-labor but can tell you that the larger supermarkets also have their problems. I refuse to use U-Scan because one, it eliminates jobs for humans and two, it actually expects the shopper to do some of the corporation's work with no discount for the user. I also resent them making us count our own cans at the bottle return. These may be small things, but I refuse to work for the Kroger Company without remuneration.

[Cathexis]

To further refine Ms Cabot's suggestion to eat in, might I add: Take the time to actually cook.

Back in the 80s, with a hectic lifestyle squeezed by way too much time at the office, I fell into a bad habit of eating a lot of prepared and/or convenience foods. Microwave dinners, boxed side dishes, frozen pre-prepared meat cuts ...

Cutting out the "processing" cuts out expense AND cuts out things like preservatives and chemicals. Now, we get meat/fish at the meat/fish section and broil/grill/bake/etc., ourselves. Yes, we have to decide how to prepare/season, but it costs MUCH less and we end up with greater quantities (leftovers make tasty lunches!). We still do frozen/canned veggies, but have increased our fresh produce shopping and discovered (real) fruits.

When's the last time you baked or fried your own chicken? It tastes better and costs less!

[cktirumalai]

The biggest change in my life during the last 20 years is that whereas I used to eat out all the time, now I eat in, except for lunch. And it does lighten my food budget considerably. Then too you have better nutritional control over what you do eat.
Beans and tofu will help lower LDL ("bad" cholesterol). Eggs are not so helpful, unless they are egg whites, which can be rather expensive.

[Pdubya]

Thank you for the thoughtful article. What you point out as the reasons for higher costs, actually, however, are ancillary compared to the real reason why we have higher prices across the board: inflation.

Visit some of Hale Bonadad's articles, read any Peter Schiff or Jim Rogers economic reasonings or projections, you will see that the Federal Reserve, Wall Street, and the International Bankers, and the equally complicit Congress are the culprits. When you track Oil vs. Gold and compare it to Oil vs. the dollar, you will see how we got inflation. Years ago, agreements were put into place (outside of our constitutional authority) to exit over a period of administrations from the gold standard: "you sell us oil cheap and we'll buy your oil IF you trade on our dollar". But - as the said parties above ran amok with "free money", the fiat dollar devalued and the oil sellers became wary. Now they don't want to trade on our fiat dollar, worsening the inflation.

All of your suggestions will help - somewhat - but here are a few more:

- shop locally. use your farmers' markets. the goods are better, and now are comparable in cost because of the lack of transportation and fuel costs.

- store up. www.efoodsdirect.com is one source

- barter. anything and everything

- carpool

- convert your car to an alternative energy source.

Foremost, call and write your Congressmen and get them to do their jobs!