Dear Future Frugal With Food, I am so glad that you are here. Sometimes you say that you want to invest more money, but can’t find a job to make more money. Well, if you are wondering how to have more money left over to invest, the bottom line is that you have to spend less. One area to focus on cutting expenses is food. This is an area that can be a major part of a person’s budget. In fact, it’s an area where I have to work hard to not spend as much money. So, today, I am going to share some ideas for being frugal with food. So let’s get started.
I’m sharing…
10 Tips To Be More Frugal With Food
1. Water down your fruit juices.
When my daughter was younger, I was very concerned about the amount of sugar in fruit juices. So, I watered down both orange juice and cranberry juice. Fruit juices are so concentrated that sometimes I made the drink up to 50% water. Guess what? I realized that I also developed a taste for the less strong flavor.
2. Take your lunch from home rather than buying lunch.
Buying lunch is a lot more expensive than taking lunch from home. I know that where I live, buying lunch is at least $5-$10 more than a brown bag lunch. That’s a $25-$50 savings in the (brown) bag!
3. Buy store brands.
Store brands are usually less expensive and the quality is usually very good. When I was a child, store brands did not seem to have the same quality. But, I revisited them years later and I have been pleasantly surprised. The store brands have upped their game.
4. Use a slow cooker.
Slow cookers are great for cooking a lot of food at once. That means you can cook enough for two meals at once and save on the cooking utility bills. But, also, slow cooking allows you to purchase cheaper cuts of meat since the long low-heat process tenderizes.
5. Split the cost of purchasing your seasonings.
I cook regularly. But, I don’t usually cook fancy meals that require a variety of seasonings. However, I do like to cook something new and different once and awhile. However, I find it so annoying that I often have to buy a jar of seasoning that I will only use for one meal. So, I am a fan of splitting the cost of things like this with a friend or family member. I can divide a seasoning into two jars and share it and the cost with a friend.
6. Buy your food in bulk.
You can buy many foods and freeze them to use quite a bit of time later. The bulk foods can be bought from warehouse shopping places such as Costco, or look for sales at regular markets.
7. Use an outside grill, rather than using your stove.
When you do this, you can save money in two ways. First, you save money by not using the kitchen appliance. Secondly, in the warm seasons, you avoid overheating your house thus allowing you to avoid the extra cost of cooling your house by running the air conditioner.
8. Eat out only as a special occasion.
I have to admit, I love trying different restaurants. When my daughter was younger, we went out to a fancy restaurant once a month. We dressed up and had a great time. Then we’d all spent the next 30 days or so looking forward to our culinary treat. But, other than our once a month special event, we avoided dining out.
9. Eat more vegetables and less meat.
Meat is very expensive. I am a pescatarian and my favorite eating pattern is to alternate between days with seafood and days with vegetables only.
10. Shop at a discount supermarket.
Once I discovered the discount supermarket named Aldi, I became committed to using it on a regular basis. Since it is not super close by, I like to schedule my visits for every two or three weeks. I buy lots of
non-perishable items there. But, they have great prices on produce and fish, too.
Key Takeaways On Ways To Be Frugal With Food
- Food can be a large part of a person’s budget. To save money you can:
- Water down your fruit juices.
- Take your lunch to work.
- Buy store brands.
- Use a slow cooker.
- Split the cost of purchasing seasonings.
- Buy your food in bulk.
- Use an outside grill.
- Eat out only as a special occasion.
- Eat more vegetables and less meat.
- Shop at a discount supermarket.
Thank you for spending time with me today. I love sharing ideas on how to save and manage money. By reading this, you are helping me with my goal of sharing money-related ideas with as many people as possible.
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Hugs and Best Wishes On Creating Delicious But Frugal Meals,
Rich Mom
If you are interested in reading about more ideas on how to be frugal, check out:
Spilling the Tea on Five Things I Don’t Spend Money On
5 Suggestions for How To Live Below Your Means
If you have money ready for investing, but are not sure where to start, try Acorns
Not only does the Acorns App help you simplify and automate your investing, it also allows you to boost your investments using your spare change. Acorns rocks!
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