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Saving Money on Food by Nikki Willhite Food is one of the most flexible expenses that we have, and almost everyone can do something to lower their food costs. Here are some tips: - Build up a repertoire of dishes without meat and serve them a couple times a week. Meat is expensive, and isn't necessary every day. A couple of my favorite meatless dinners are vegetable omelets and bean tostadas. I love to take a corn tortilla, fry it, add refried beans, and then lettuce, cheese, green onions, and tomatoes. It's easy and inexpensive. - Stock up on basics when they are on sale. A well stocked pantry saves money, especially when all the items have been purchased on sale. - Know when an item is on sale by keeping a record of normal selling prices.  Most people call this a price book.  Take it to the store with you. - Besides keeping your price book, have a computer generated page for items you need that can be printed and kept handy to check needed items before you go to the store. Make shopping a breeze by putting the categories in the order you find them in the store you shop in most often. - Stick to your list, but leave a little wiggle room in your food budget to stock your pantry with sale items. - If you have several stores in your area, and you don't have a favorite, shop at the store running the best sales ad in the paper. - Remember that you can use a manufacturer's coupon together with a store coupon for extra savings. - Think about approaching food purchasing in a more business like manner. Set of goal for price reduction when buying food. For instance, you may decide that you will try to achieve a 20 percent savings on your food purchases. Let's say cake mixes normally sell for $1.00 in your area. When they go on sale for .80  cents, you stock up. Or, if you have a coupon that brings the price down to .80 cents, you buy. - Always compare the price-per-ounce or other unit prices on shelf labels. - Shop twice a month, or biweekly. - Follow the basics of shopping alone, not shopping when you are tired, depressed, stressed or hungry, and buying store brands when they are of good quality. - Buy a bread machine.   They are very inexpensive now. It will more than pay for itself with all the soup and homemade dinners you make. Most people just don't have the time to make bread from scratch. Homemade bread, especially with some wheat flour added, is very filling and good for you and only takes a couple of minutes to make. Open a can of vegetable soup, or make your own, and you have a wholesome meal. - Get in the habit of baking a few potatoes when you have the oven on. Put them in the refrigerator and then you can grate them for quick and easy hash brown potatoes another day.  This goes well with an omelet dinner meal as well as breakfast. - Use prepackaged foods for convenience, and supplement them for nutrition, flavor, and variety. Slice meats into macaroni and cheese, turn top ramen into stir fry, add ham to au gratin potato mixes. This is obviously more expensive than cooking from scratch, but much better than fast food if you are having a busy day. - If you use a lot of a product, buy it in the largest, most economical size possible, and then separate and store. For instance, we buy very large blocks of cheese at Costco, cut them up, and then freeze them. This means we only have to buy cheese a few times each year. -  Bake and freeze.   If you are making cookies, make a large amount and freeze them. If you don't have time to bake all the batter, just freeze it. It's easy to take the cookie batter out later, thaw it, and then slice and bake. - Always closely inspect your food to make sure it isn't damaged. I don't like dented cans, but unless they are bulging, they are usually safe. Check fruit for bruises. It won't keep fresh as long. Buy your vegetables with deep, rich color. Check potatoes for sprouts. Make sure your bread and pastry doesn't have mold. Check the expiration dates and buy the freshest dairy products. - Use your leftovers.   Plan meals around them. We make Sunday dinner for our children and their wives, and always plan on eating the leftovers for a day or two. - Think about buying a freezer. We wouldn't think of buying meat anywhere but Costco. It is much cheaper there, and the quality is so much better than anywhere else in this area. We wouldn't have room to store it without the freezer. - Don't buy non- food items at the grocery store. - Don't spend any more time in the store than necessary. Get in, make your purchases, and get out. - Watch that cash register when checking out. You won't remember all the prices, but keep a special eye on sales items. About the Author: Nikki Willhite, mother of 3 and an interior design graduate, has been writing and publishing articles on the topic of frugal living for over a decade. Visit her at www.frugalhappyfamilies.com -  where you will find hundreds of frugal living tips and articles. Frugal Happy Families-  more than just money!  Article first published at www.allthingsfrugal.com

 

 

 

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