Ask the Readers: Tips To Save Money On Food

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When creating a budget, one of the easiest ways to reduce spending is to reduce your food expenses. Right now, my wife and I are spending $325 on groceries a month, and about $50 a month on eating out. Our biggest tool to keep spending down is using a list. I’ve written about other things you can do to get more out of your grocery dollar, but I’m interested in what you do to save money on food. How do you save money on food? I’m looking for anything. Do you save ketchup packets? Eat ramen? Let us know! Drop a comment with your best money saving tips on food. At the end of the week, I’ll collect all the tips and write them up in a post. Here’s your chance to contribute to creating content on The Frugal Law Student! I’m looking forward to reading your tips!

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21 Comments

1. Emily on 02.10.2007 at 01:52 (Reply)

   I usually spend around $100/month on food for myself, including any restaurant ventures. I keep a spreadsheet of all my expenses, listed by day and category, so that’s a huge motivator to curb my eating out. A bag of groceries or a single meal at the same price? When I do go out for meals, I choose the “value menu” items at most fast-food places, the lunch special, or just a larger appetizer at sit-down restaurants.

   One of the best ideas for students is to get involved with campus organizations. I get a free dinner at least once a week from my various organizations’ meetings. (Free food is one of main points we use when trying to recruit members for the Student Alumni Association.)

   Buying in bulk when items are on sale is also helpful, though it takes some strategy. Sometimes I hold off on buying a $2-$3 jar of spaghetti sauce because I know that eventually (in a week or two), some brand will be 2-for-1 at about $1.94.

   Some of my staples are pasta (buy one, get one free boxes of $0.69 spaghetti), tortilla chips ($1 big bags) and hot sauce (under $2 huge bottle has lasted me over four months…and I use it a lottt), tortillas ($0.98 for 36 small ones), cereal (whichever brand is around $2/box that week), frozen veggies ($1/bag), and 3lb. bags of apples ($2 on sale). Of course I add more than this, but these are the “classic” items I always have on hand.

   And of course, I do save those ketchup packets (it would take me a year to use a bottle; I don’t use it often), Taco Bell sauce packets, sugar/Spelenda packets, etc…just a few here and there are great for items that I don’t use frequently enough to justify buying a larger quantity.

2. shawna on 02.10.2007 at 06:57 (Reply)

   I have found that making a menu for a week or two before going grocery shopping keeps me from spending too much. It means that I am only buying what I need instead of just replacing something that I may not use till next month!

3. Jasi on 02.10.2007 at 07:43 (Reply)

   Get a wok and a rice cooker. Put away all other cookware. Buy a large bag of your favorite rice and make it every day. Shop for veggies, fresh and in season. Be realistic about serving size and you’ll find it’s pretty cheap to eat healthfully. Add meat but not too much. Americans eat too much protein anyway. Make sure to take your vitamins. We exist happily as a family of 3 on $60-$75 a week with one good splurge, like crab or lobster.

4. chitown on 02.10.2007 at 09:03 (Reply)

   People often think Ramen noodles are just for broke people but I happen to love them. I also just take the noodles sometimes and throw them into a stir fry which is awesome.
   For a treat, I will make chicken ramen noodles as a side dish and throw in a few frozen shrimp from Sam’s club. It makes it a little more sophisticated. lol

   Getting extra napkins from fast food places is also a good idea so you don’t have to waste paper towels or buy napkins. I also use cloth hand towels when I am eating which I can just wash. Better for the environment too.

5. Tanya on 02.10.2007 at 10:18 (Reply)

   For those of us trying to go with a healthy lifestyle (hey, save $ on health care costs at least), a big saver is a CSA membership. Frequently, farms near cities will make a once a week dropoff to people who pre-pay, and this gives you fresh, local, frequently organic fruit and veggies at a bargain price (provided, of course, that it’s a decent growing season). Moreover, the one I joined (Jug Bay in MD, which serves the DC region) gives you money off for “sweat equity” if you volunteer to help out at the farm.

6. K-Lo on 02.10.2007 at 18:27 (Reply)

   Don’t drink soft drinks or bottled water! You CAN exist on tap water. You don’t need to buy those crazy filters either. We drink lots of water and then we have a 6-pack of beer on the weekend (2 per night for one person, or 1.5 beers for two people). Also, if you go out to eat - don’t drink any alcohol or soft drinks in the restaurant - drink water. You can usually buy a whole bottle of wine for the cost of a glass at a restaurant!

7. Katie (Mrs. FLS) on 02.10.2007 at 19:23 (Reply)

   Tanya-I’ve always been intrigued by the co-op idea but then I always wonder if I’ll be able to use the stuff they give me. Do you ever have trouble thinking of recipes and ways to put the produce to use? Does it ever go bad before you can think of something to do with it? Do you ever think “hmmm, I got a bunch of spinaach this month and I really don’t like spinach?”

8. Jasi on 02.10.2007 at 21:38 (Reply)

   @Katie: You have to be creative, search recipes online. You have to like veggies or know someone else to swap with. Sometimes co-ops let you split a family share with another family if it’s too much for you. Check out your local to find details on crops and size of shares.

9. Marcia on 02.10.2007 at 22:50 (Reply)

   Find a famer’s market or weekend produce stand and ask the sellers if you can have their leftover produce, whatever won’t keep until the next time they sell. I get literally tons of food every year this way. We eat it fresh and can a lot of it for later use (salsas, jams, pickled asparagus, etc.) I share it with friends and neighbors and others via freecycle. It takes a lot of work, as I have to sort out and compost the rotting/modly stuff, but generally most of it is quite edible. The produce sellers are relieved they don’t have to haul it away and throw it out.

10. FinanceAndFat on 03.10.2007 at 08:19 (Reply)

    This is something I’ve thought a lot about lately. Here are some of the things I’m doing to save money on groceries.

    -Make a list and don’t buy anything that isn’t on it.
    -Go to the websites of your local grocery stores and check out the ads, I typically do this on Sunday and make my big shopping trip on Monday. Find the store that has the best deals on the items like and plan your meals for the week heavily using the items on sale.
    -If food that can be stored a long time without going bad is on sale stock up!

    And…I’ve written a bit about this lately on my site if anyone is interested.

    Cheers!

11. Emily on 03.10.2007 at 09:55 (Reply)

    Don’t go shopping too often. The longer you can go before hitting the store, the less you’ll spend.

    Eat vegetarian meals fairly frequently (we started with once a week and have worked our way up).

    Take the time to do prep work instead of buying convenience. It saves a ton of money, especially if you have one spouse who’s home more than the other. Dried beans instead of canned, whole vegetables instead of frozen stir-fry mixes, etc.

    The other thing–I try to have a cart full of ingredients, instead of a cart full of ready to eat food. Then, I take the time to bake muffins, bread, make granola, etc. instead of buying the packaged versions. It adds up really quickly, especially considering I can buy 25 lbs of flour on sale for less than $5 and 25 lbs of sugar for $8

12. Maggie on 03.10.2007 at 10:52 (Reply)

    (This is repost of a blog I did last month on the same topic)

    I work out a lot–usually 45-60 minutes, 6 days a week, weightlifting and cardio–and eat as well as possible to support that. I also eat 6 meals a day with plenty of lean protein (120-160 g or the equivalent of 6-7 three ounce chicken breast portions a day), a minimum of 5 servings of fruits and veggies, and almost no processed foods.

    My grocery bill to eat twice as often as most people (and a great deal healthier) when I was living by myself was $100-$120/month. My dining out budget was $25/month in case I wanted to splurge on a huge lunch special at the Chinese restaurant near my office once a week. The portions were so huge that I could easily get three meals out of one $5.50 special. (1: Hot and sour soup, 2: 1/2 of entree and rice, 3: 1/2 of entree and rice).

    Now that I’m married and shopping for two of us, the groceries usually run $250/month with another $100/month for dining out.

    This isn’t the lowest I could get the food bill (check out my grocery receipts from last year’s Cheapass Challenge), but I find that I now have to make a few concessions in the name of marital harmony–like boxed cereals, a reasonable variety of foods, the occasional carton of ice cream, box of granola bars, premium cut of steak or seafood or bag of tortilla chips, and a couple of bottles of fruit juice (light/low sugar versions) each week.

    Grocery Strategies
    - Keep a price list of commonly purchased items. (I keep this on my Treo phone, which also has a handy calculator.)
    - Read the grocery ads each week and go for loss leader items ONLY if they are things you would buy anyway.
    - Skip the coupons. They are almost always for processed name brand foods anyway, and the equivalent generic or store brand for the same thing often winds up being cheaper than the discounted coupon price of the name brand.
    - Buy frozen vegetable mixes when fresh isn’t on sale; the Wal-Mart Great Value stir fry mixes are only $1.50 or so for 6 servings and include some premium veggies like asparagus and sugar snap peas
    - Shop for greens at the Asian market
    - Buy only produce that is in season or always cheap (like bananas and iceberg lettuce)
    - Bulk purchase boneless, skinless chicken breast when it drops to $1.99/lb or less and freeze the extra
    - Buy whole chicken (can be as low as $0.50/lb in the Orlando, FL area) when B/S chicken breast is not on sale
    - Buy frozen tilapia filets in bulk for seafood.
    - Buy larger cuts of beef when it is on sale and slice it up yourself. Freeze excess.
    - Use eggs as a protein source. And stock up when they are on sale. Eggs can last weeks in the fridge if you check the expiration dates on the cartons before you buy.
    - Drink filtered tap water instead of soda, alcohol, juice, bottled water, etc.
    - Buy those big canisters of plain oatmeal or bulk steel-cut oats and use them for hot cereal and in lieu of nutritionally-deficient white rice and white flour (grind it up in your blender)
    - Minimize processed foods and liquid calories
    - Buy nuts in large packs from the baking aisle or a warehouse club instead of the snack aisle and roast them yourself in the toaster oven
    - Buy basic seasonings at CVS, Walgreens, or Big Lots. Seriously…these places will often have big bottles of dried herbs that retail for $3.50+ at the grocery store for $0.50-$0.99 each.
    - Learn how to make those restaurant entrees yourself. I guarantee that it’s easier than you think. I really like the Weight Watcher’s Take-Out Tonight cookbook for a variety of healthy versions of traditional ethnic restaurant favorites.
    - Plan meals ahead of time.
    - Amass a small collection of staple recipes that are healthy, filling, and cheap to make in bulk.

    Dining Out Strategies
    - Don’t dine out so much.

    But if you just can’t give up restaurant meals…
    - Divvy up your meal into 2 or 3 portions and box up the extra serving immediately.
    - Split an oversized entree with someone else at your table.
    - Get an Entertainment Book for your town.
    - Visit the web sites of your favorite restaurants (if they have one) to check for printable coupons or an email sign up for specials
    - See if the restaurant is part of the Restaurant.com network. You can often get a $25 dining certificate at Restaurant.com for $3-$5.

    Remember, when it comes to restaurant dining, full price is for chumps!

    - A middle of the road solution I’ve been experimenting with recently is using a meal assembly kitchen like Dream Dinners or Super Suppers every 6 weeks to bulk prep 72 meals in less than 2 hours that I can throw in the freezer and just thaw and cook as needed for lunches and dinners. The entrees are on par with what I’ve had in restaurants or cooked myself from scratch, so the temptation to go out to eat isn’t as strong. I use a local meal assembly store that takes $25 Restaurant.com certificates (that I get for $4 on average), so 72 servings runs about $194. SS and DD will cost $230-$275 for the same amount of food. You can always extend the amount of food you get from these places by purchasing your own (sale priced) meat to add to the bags of ingredients before you toss them in the freezer, too. I still have to pick up fruit, beverages, eggs, and cereal each week, but that’s pretty much it.

    For even more tips on how to save money on food, check out this post at GetRichSlowly:
    Ask the Readers: Tips and Tricks to Save On Food

13. strange bird on 03.10.2007 at 18:12 (Reply)

    Go veggie, without necessarily going soy (many meat imitation soy products are very expensive for what you get). Use canned beans and vegetables and buy non-perishables in bulk. (Curried chickpeas and rice? Still the best, cheapest, most nutritious meal I know.

14. strange bird on 03.10.2007 at 18:13 (Reply)

    Go veggie, without necessarily going soy (many meat imitation soy products are very expensive for what you get). Use canned beans and vegetables and buy non-perishables in bulk. (Curried chickpeas and rice? Still the best, cheapest, most nutritious meal I know.

    Also, ethnic markets. Cheapest and most variety.

15. strange bird on 03.10.2007 at 18:13 (Reply)

    I guess the “stop” button doesn’t help?

16. Betty B on 04.10.2007 at 05:24 (Reply)

    If you eat meat, get the “value pack” of 5-10 lbs and split it into smaller portions. I usually wait until the meat has a “reduced for quick sale” sticker, then freeze it the moment I get it home.

    When you cook, make two extra portions and freeze them. If you have something that’s easy to fix when you don’t feel like cooking, you’re less likely to order pizza.

    If you have an off-brand grocery store (like Aldi) near you, give it a try. The food is very inexpensive, and most of it is the same quality as the name-brand stuff.

17. april on 04.10.2007 at 15:59 (Reply)

    I generally agree that going to the store less often is a good way to save money, but if we don’t go often enough, my spouse & I look at the empty cupboards and then make the poor financial decision of going out to eat!

18. rob in madrid on 05.10.2007 at 03:18 (Reply)

    I’ve spent the last few months putting together a “price book” in excel, nothing fancy just a basic list. What I found is that it doesn’t save money as much as make me aware of what food costs. Just noticed that the price of the milk took a huge jump, as well as other things were more expensive than what I though (fruit in particular). As well I realized that I tend to buy the same things every week.

    What I”ve started doing is totaling up the cost of everything to see how close I come to actual amount.

    My next step is to start some kind of meal menu planning so I can spread the purchase of expensive things over several weeks.

19. Jake on 05.10.2007 at 05:26 (Reply)

    You’ve got to become comfortable with cooking, or at least preparing, meals. Buying the staples of a meal is the absolute best way in my opinion to save money on food. Choose things that can be used in a variety of ways: Rice (steamed rice plain, with stir fry, chicken, fried), meats (frozen lean chicken breast can be used in a lot of different ways and keeps for a while), vegetables (frozen and canned keep more than fresh and can be used in a lot of ways as well), and last but certainly not least pasta. It’s filling, versatile (hot with pasta sauce, cold in salads), lasts for a while, and whole wheat pasta is pretty cheap.

20. Tanya on 05.10.2007 at 13:21 (Reply)

    I don’t often find that things go unused or that I don’t like things– of course, I chose a coop that grows a lot of things I like, most of them have lists on their websites– I even got a watermelon last week, which was pretty cool. Of course, sometimes I get things that I need to google uses for (like epazote, which it turns out is amazing with beans– who knew?), and some weeks I don’t cook a few days in a row and then have to cook to feed my freezer. Luckily , this usually means that during the winter, when veggies aren’t delivered and I’m feeling lethargic, there are healthy meals in the freezer and I don’t have to get takeout.

21. Dave on 16.06.2008 at 10:20 (Reply)

    You can buy groceries in bulk online at www.bulkhome.com

    Free shipping and no membership fees.

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