Cutting Down on Food Spending

So they raised our rent, again. Took away amenities as they also charged extra fees. Rent is the sole thing sucking away at our finances. But next is food. We spend $900 a month for 2 adults and 1 toddler. Thats about $3.33 per meal per person. This is already with me trying to consciously save and budget, use coupons, shop seasonally, cut back on portion sizes, etc. So I am starting to feel at a loss. We really need to get it to $2.50 per person per serving. Any big meals that go a long way? Or any meals that are absolutely delicious while being cheap/few ingredients? Problem is I feed DD organic and stuff... I probably feed her way to much food per sitting. I mean her meals are enough for an adult-- so I could cut back by stretching her stuff out more. But I feel like it is hard to maintain a healthy and delicious diet for less than $3 per person per serving.

Re: Cutting Down on Food Spending

We're on a tight budget with food too. Our first few trips were a lot because we had to get the basics but now I'd rather save whatever I can for other things.

The food store by our apartment is all organic also, which is more expensive but I like it better because I only buy free-range, hormone free chicken. I usually buy 3 breasts (with the bones) and roast it or boil it on Sunday. When you peel off all of the white meat chicken after roasting or boiling, you'd be surprised how much you have to work with. A few weeks ago we made it last for four different meals:

Chicken Fajitas (we don't buy the sets, just the seasoning packets and the wraps)

Chicken salad

Baked whole wheat penne with chicken and mozz.

Chicken francaise pizza

I also have a tendency to look at the circulars and make recipes that revolve around what's on sale instead of deciding what I want to make and then being forced to pay full price for it if it's not.

I strongly recommend looking into some crockpot recipes. I find that every time I cook with it, I have a significant amount left over. Those meals can be frozen and used the next week so you're not repeating it more than once in the same rotation. The crockpot mac n' cheese recipe doesn't require a lot of ingredients, it's child friendly and you'll have plenty!!

Hope that helps!

Re: Cutting Down on Food Spending

Actually, I was just reading a few blogs about people who took a challenge to eat "real" organic foods (not processed) on a limited budget.

This one was interesting:

She had a weekly budget of $125 for a family of 4 (husband, wife, and 2 young girls, ages 3 and 5).

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/100-days-on-a-budget/

I would say I average about $150/week for me, Dh, and DS (age 5). But that includes some non-food items. It's more when I am entertaining (bbqs, holidays). But I am always trying to cut down, too.

I think a few strategies that help are:

1) Using non-meat, relatively inexpensive sources of protein like eggs, beans, nut butters, etc.

2) Using leftovers - Not just eating the same things over and over, but maybe repurposing leftovers. (If you have a roast chicken one night, have chicken soup or chicken tacos or something with the leftovers, use leftover veggies in a frittata or quiche, etc.) I love to cook, but I only plan to cook 3 dinner or so a week, and then I use leftovers or do a "refrigerator/pantry potluck" kind of things some other nights (where we all eat what we want based on what we have in the house... could be a tuna sandwich and fruit, could be scrambled eggs, could be leftovers or something out of the freezer (like a veggie burger), etc. I think this cuts down costs because there's less waste and also you are not buying things for a ton of different dinner recipes.

3) Using what you have - I always try to build some meals around what I have. We are a small family, so if meat is on sale (buy 1 get 1 free, or something), I throw one in the freezer. But I try to remember to use it the following week, so it doesn't go to waste. But even pantry staples -- if I have rice and a lot of Asian sauces open, I will try to find a recipe to use them up. Or if I have a bunch of beans and canned tomatoes, maybe I'll find a chili recipe to try. Things like salads, soups, quiches/frittatas are good ways to use up odds and ends.

4) Not being afraid to make substitutions. I know I used to get EVERYTHING that was called for in every recipe I wanted to make. Now I am more liberal in that if it calls for parsley but I have basil, I use basil. Same with honey versus maple syrup, cayenne versus hot sauce, different spice, types of stock/broth, beans, low fat v. skim milk, etc. If something is the "star" ingredient of the recipe, then of course I get it. But if I have cheddar cheese and the recipe calls for Monterey jack or something, it just makes sense to use what's on hand (especially if it's just a weeknight meal for our immediate family). It's more cost-effective to be less precise, and it usually doesn't effect the outcome of what I am making.


These are things that you may already do, but they may be helpful to you if there are some you haven't thought of!

Re: Cutting Down on Food Spending

Cutting Down on Food Spending

I am down to about $50/week for a family of 3 (2 adults, 1- 3 yo). It's tough. And in that budget is about 4 gallons of milk/week. I use lots of coupons and always pay attention to sales. I also allot $25/week for stocking up, but don't always do it. With that allotment, if there are any good prices on meat I will buy extra to freeze. But I do not buy organic. I was in Shoprite the other day and bought $150 worth of groceries for $49.76. I had lots of coupons. I usually send my husband to work with leftovers from the night before. I don't have to worry about lunch for DS, he gets it at the sitter, though I do send him to school with snack. I also bring lunch to work. DS usually has cereal before school (which I make sure to stock up on when I have coupons and it is on sale - Got 4 boxes of cinnamon toast crunch for $1 total). We have pasta 1 night a week. And we do not eat out through the week. Also I usually buy my milk at Aldi or BJ's/Costco because it is cheaper.

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Re: Cutting Down on Food Spending

Re: Cutting Down on Food Spending

Also, I think it's cheaper to make more things on your own versus buying prepared items. Simpler is always cheaper (and usually healthier).

Of course, it costs more TIME to do more prep work and more "from scratch" meals/snacks. But when I changed careers, I had to be more mindful of budget (and luckily had more time to spend on food shopping and prep than when I was working long hours in the city!).

Some examples of things I do now -

Buy plain oats instead of instant or flavored ones. I add my own flavorings and fruit, or make up a big batch of "baked oatmeal" (Skinny Taste has some good recipes to use as a base recipe... I like her banana and blueberry one) to reheat throughout the week.

Buy plain yogurt (or ok, sometimes vanilla) and or cottage cheese and add fruits, flavorings, etc. I try to buy a larger container versus a lot of little packs.

Make my own muffins (and other baked goods) from scratch. There are a lot of healthy muffin recipes out there. I freeze them and then just take one to go (and it defrosts at room temp) or defrost it in the microwave.

Make soups and sauces and salad dressings from scratch when I can.

Cut up my own fruits and veggies versus buying precut. Much cheaper to buy a whole melon or pineapple and cut it up versus buying tiny pre-cut containers.

Of course, I probably have an 80/20 rule. Sometimes I do buy things for convenience. It's still healthier and cheaper to buy convenience items at the grocery store than do takeout or something. (For example, I will buy things like broccoli slaw versus shredding broccoli myself!). And sometimes I will get single serve items to take on the go for lunch or snacks (or just for portion control). And I don't bake my own bread or anything like that, which hardcore budget bloggers do. But I try to make more stuff at home (which also helps me keep my weight in check).

Re: Milk - One tip I saw online, and haven't done it/tried it because my DS is the only one who really drinks milk in my house, so I don't have to buy that much: Buying whole organic milk, but watering it down to stretch it. Posters online said it becomes like 2% or 1% milk then, but you get twice as much milk from one carton. So they say buy whole milk and water it down versus buying reduced fat or low fat to start with.

Re: Cutting Down on Food Spending

Cutting Down on Food Spending

We spend $150 (or less - never less than $100 though) per week. I buy all organic for me, DH and DS. We eat minimal processed food, mainly some snacks for DS. It's hard and I have to be very focused on meal planning and sticking to a shopping list. I was spending upwards of $150 a week and it was getting crazy, so I changed the way I meal plan. I significantly cut down the bill by only buying one meat for a protein for the week. (If meats on sale I will buy 2) So I will buy chicken or meat that is enough meat for 2 meals. Then I have a pasta and veggie dish or rice and veggie and a bean dish every week. I usually try to make enough of each dish so there is leftovers for lunch and/or another dinner. I also cut back on dairy - we LOVE cheese but I was spending $20-30 a week just on dairy products so we cut back on that. Veggies / fruit can be very expensive so I buy a lot of organic frozen because its cheaper than fresh.

Cutting Down on Food Spending

I also agree about it being cheaper to make things at home than buy prepackaged items. I don't buy anything that is prepackaged really. I do almost everything at home - especially snacks and baked goods. I'll usually buy chicken breasts when they go on sale. Break them down and freeze in individual meals sizes. I have a food saver and it is so helpful. Just go into the freezer and grab a pack. Sundays I'll do my baking for the week. I've recently started making my own jams and jellies as well, so that's something I can cross off the list. I also do make bread from scratch. But we don't eat a lot of bread. If something is on sale I'll always buy 2 or more if I can during the sale . That way I have extra. I'll buy a big package of chop meat and spend an hour making meatballs. I pre bake and then freeze so I have them when I need them. It's cheaper and healthier than the ones frozen in the store. I have a large veggie garden and I preserve as much as I can when I harvest.

Friends and family joke that I do all of this. But then they see how much money I save. And they want to do it too. I never thought i would be doing any of this. But to me it's worth it.

Forgot to say I also buy spices in bulk and make my own blends. I make dressings and things like that as well.

Message edited 6/2/2014 6:00:41 PM.

Re: Cutting Down on Food Spending

Just reading this about meal planning, thought it might be of interest:

Link

ETA: the link to 17 meals using 1 roast chicken is something I am definitely going to try next week!! I think portion control is our problem most of the time.

Message edited 6/3/2014 1:00:56 PM.

Re: Cutting Down on Food Spending

What's worked for us in the past few months:

- Do the main food shopping every other week, instead of every week. If there's things I need as extras, I'll pick just that up.
- Look for sales on items I know we'll use - i.e. at Fairway, their organic chicken breast goes on sale sometimes, when it does, I buy a big package and break it out into portions and freeze. Then just take it out the day we want to use it. Will also do this with pastas and tomato sauce, rice, etc. Any of the key staples that I can just keep in our pantry
- Majority of our meals are made from scratch which helps instead of buying pre-made which I find is more expensive
- Certain meals will last us longer throughout - so I try to fill up the time with some of these - i.e. pasta salad, pasta with bolognese sauce will give us dinner, lunch and then some leftovers for fairly inexpesnive amount.
- I'll buy a roasted chicken (pre-made because it's just cheaper and quicker from Fairway) and we'll use that for sandwiches, soup, and one more use out of it. It's just two of us for now, so this comes a long way

As others have said, skipping a week here or there really helps.

Fruits and veggies is the thing that usually costs the most because I get tons of those, as well as the organic milk and eggs, but certain things it is what it is and I try to save on other things. We rarely eat out - maybe two, three times a month.

In total, we spend just under $400 for two adults but that includes a lot of breakfast and leftover for lunch too.

Message edited 6/3/2014 3:00:09 PM.

Re: Cutting Down on Food Spending

$900 per month for just 2 adults and 1 child is a LOT.

We were spending that for 3 adults and 3 children and recently cut back to $700/month.

We did have to make some adjustments to do so.

We do a LOT more meatless meals now.
1 night chicken
1 night meat
2 nights pasta
1 night homemade pizza
1 night sandwiches
1 night "other" (meatless, fish or pork)

I try not to really buy any processed foods and I make a lot from scratch. Every week I will make one breakfast item, 2 snacks and 1-2 desserts. For example, this week we did blueberry muffins, homemade granola bars, apple pie cake and cookies.

We have limited snacks to homemade items, fruit (fresh or dried), cheese or yogurt.

I started doing monthly meal planning instead of weekly as well. We do organic where we can but we just can't afford much right now so we have to cut back where we can.

We add more side dishes and do less meat as well. I know you're aiming for $2.50-$3 per person but I never even think of it that way. I think of it just as a monthly budget. I have started doing a bulk shop 1x/month for all of the meat, chicken, etc. Then weekly items are produce, cheese, yogurt, etc. Some of our meals are definitely less than $2.50/pp. We have 3 adults and 3 kids that we feed and so far are doing well with $700/month after making the changes above.

For example, you can buy 1 lb of pasta and 1 can of crushed tomatoes and use things you already have at home like onions, garlic, tomato paste & seasonings and that will be way under $9 for the meal for the 3 of you and you'll have leftovers for another night too. You can make a homemade garlic bread or focaccia or garlic knots to go along with it if you need something extra or add a simple salad or veggie.

Cutting Down on Food Spending

I recently been shopping at Aldi's after a recent posting and it has saved a lot of money. Some of the generic stuff is just as good or even better then name brand. The meat has been good and a lot more affordable. Also buy bulk stuff that I know I will use at BJs.

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Re: Cutting Down on Food Spending

do you use your slow cooker? That can make you enough for leftovers. Also, where are you shopping? I find I get the most for my money shopping at a combo of trader joes and fairway. I went to waldbaums last weekend and I could see produce was more expensive there. And its a LOT more at Stop and Shop and King Kullen. I would buy some bulk items at BJ's but my apartment is too small to store stuff. But if you have the room, also consider doing that.
So maybe you need to switch up your stores to get more for your money?

Message edited 6/5/2014 11:37:48 AM.

Re: Cutting Down on Food Spending

Re: Cutting Down on Food Spending

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Re: Cutting Down on Food Spending

Do you have any independent supermarkets near you? We switched from a chain to an independent shop and are able to get more for our money. I spend about $400 for two people per month (that includes all cleaning supplies). I buy the least expensive brand of whatever I am getting. I don't buy organic and don't care about brands...except for a few specific items that I think taste better in brand name (ketchup, for example). To us, everything else is the same.

Re: Cutting Down on Food Spending

If you use a lot of beans (we cook mostly vegetarian meals and go through a TON of beans each week), you can buy dried beans, either in bags or bulk at Fairway or Whole Foods, and cook them yourself. I get a pound of organic beans for the price of one or two cans. Cooking them takes time, but almost no effort, and they can be frozen and used later.

I also buy some veggies frozen, because sometimes the price is the same or similar and with frozen you're less likely to have it go bad and be tossed out.

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I don't really do organic, but my issue is I end up shopping every week out of habit....not that we NEED anything.

And I always end up buying stuff just in case too, instead of focusing on what I already have on hand to use up.

I've wasted a lot of produce this way.

We also probably do take out way too much which adds up and isn't healthy.

My budget is more like $50 a week for a family of 3 but have noticed I spend about twice that not sticking to a list or going to Target.

Re: Cutting Down on Food Spending