14 Good (and Barely Uncommon) Methods Our Readers Save Cash on Meals

On the subject of saving cash on meals, these reader-shared concepts are easy, sensible, and may simply change the way in which you store and prepare dinner! I really like that these concepts don’t require excessive couponing or hours of prep work. They’re sensible, on a regular basis habits that lower grocery payments and scale back meals waste.

Just lately on Fb, we requested:

“What’s one thing you do to save cash that others may discover uncommon?”

The responses had been unimaginable, particularly when it got here to meals.

In the event you missed the dialog, you may learn via it right here.

This submit is a compilation of among the BEST food-related concepts shared in that thread. The price of meals has steadily elevated over the previous few years, and even small worth jumps on on a regular basis gadgets like eggs, meat, produce, and pantry staples can simply add lots of of {dollars} to a household’s month-to-month price range. It’s not simply “deal with” meals that price extra; it’s fundamentals.

Graphic with text reading "How to Save Money on Food" above a photo of a large grocery haul. MoneySavingMom.com is at the bottom.

The way to Save Cash on Meals

Listed here are among the smartest (and barely uncommon!) food-saving methods shared by our neighborhood:

Pantry shelves stocked with canned goods spices and packaged foods.

1. Stock First. Store Second.

Probably the most repeated ideas was easy however highly effective: Make a full stock of your freezer, pantry, and fridge earlier than you store.

This does two issues:

Prevents shopping for duplicates of what you have already got.
Sparks meal concepts based mostly on what’s already in your home.

Do this:

Hold a operating freezer checklist in your cellphone.
Plan 2–3 meals utilizing solely pantry/freezer gadgets every week.
Then store just for what fills the gaps.

Crystal Paine standing in a kitchen holding two full grocery bags and smiling at the camera.

2. Use Grocery Pickup Companies

A number of readers additionally talked about that utilizing grocery pickup helps eradicate impulse purchases, since you’re not strolling previous finish caps and seasonal shows.

It may very well be price paying a small charge to keep away from this temptation — and save your self time! — however Kroger doesn’t even cost for grocery pickup.

Even higher, you would have your groceries delivered to you with Kroger Increase (take a look at this submit to see if Kroger Increase is price it for you).

In the event you store at Walmart, utilizing on-line ordering (and Walmart+) could make it even simpler to stay to your checklist and keep away from temptation, whether or not you’re purchasing for groceries or different family wants.

Freshly baked muffins cooling in a metal muffin tin on a stovetop.

3. Pack At Least One Meal on Massive Journeys

Journey can wreck a meals price range shortly. One reader shared that each time they journey, they pack a minimum of one meal per day and attempt to keep at inns with kitchenettes.

Meals you would pack embrace:

Sandwich provides
Yogurt and fruit
Breakfast gadgets
Straightforward pasta dinners

Even changing only one restaurant meal per day for a household can save $40–$80 day by day whereas touring. That provides up quick!

4. Reuse Glass Jars for Leftovers

That is such a wise (and sustainable!) concept. Everytime you deplete pasta sauce, jelly, or salsa that is available in glass jars, wash the jars, take away the label, and reuse them.

Glass jars are good for storing:

Leftover tomato paste
Half-used cans of beans
Additional broth
Small parts of cooked grains

As an alternative of letting small quantities of meals go to waste, you retailer them neatly and use them later. Free containers + much less waste = double win.

Hand holding a small cup of yogurt topped with granola outdoors on a sunny day.

5. Hold a Cooler within the Automobile

This tip is particularly useful for households with children. One reader shared that when her children had been little, she all the time saved a cooler within the automotive stocked with:

Water
Juice containers
Cheese sticks
Yogurt and granola
Snacks

That means, they prevented fast “let’s run in for snacks” journeys that changed into $30 impulse purchases. The important thing takeaway? Plan forward to stop comfort spending.

Large grocery haul spread across a table including meat, apples, cereal eggs, and pantry items.

6. Purchase Clearance Meat (and Freeze It)

Clearance meat and apps like Flashfood had been talked about a number of instances. In case your retailer marks down meat early within the morning or on sure days:

Store strategically
Bundle instantly
Label and freeze

One reader even retailers a number of shops as soon as a month early on Saturday mornings and shares up for all the month, saving round $50 every time. That’s $600 per 12 months.

Whole butternut squash tomatoes peppers and zucchini arranged on a wooden table.

7. Backyard and Freeze for Later

In the event you backyard, maximize your harvest.

Readers shared that they:

Freeze complete tomatoes
Chop and flash freeze inexperienced peppers
Protect extras for months of future meals

Even when you don’t backyard extensively, rising just some high-yield gadgets (like tomatoes or herbs) can offset grocery prices.

8. Break up Meals at Eating places

This one is surprisingly efficient. Some households break up one entrée when eating out, and generally even have room for dessert afterward.

Others search for kids-eat-free nights. Even {couples} with out children shared they break up meals often. Restaurant parts are sometimes giant sufficient for 2, and chopping that invoice in half makes eating out much more inexpensive.

9. Stretch Vacation Hams and Roasts Into A number of Meals

One reader shared an extremely good technique:

When bone-in hams are deeply discounted at Christmas or Easter, she buys a number of. She cubes and freezes parts, then grinds some for ham salad and makes use of leftovers in soups.

The identical goes for complete turkeys and crockpot beef roasts. A single roast can turn into 3 to 4 meals when stretched deliberately.

Hands chopping carrots on a cutting board with onions and diced vegetables nearby.

10. Freeze Vegetable Scraps for Soup

As an alternative of tossing leftover greens, put them right into a container within the freezer, even an outdated Cool Whip or cottage cheese container, or the glass jars talked about above.

Add to it all through the week, whether or not it’s additional carrots, onion scraps, corn, inexperienced beans, and so forth. As soon as it’s full, flip it into vegetable soup. It reduces waste and creates an almost free meal.

11. Pack Bread, Peanut Butter, and Jam

This may sound easy, but it surely works. Packing a loaf of bread, peanut butter, and jam for journeys or busy days can eradicate quick meals stops completely.

It’s not fancy, but it surely’s filling and it’s cheap.

Baked pasta casserole topped with melted cheese sits beside crescent rolls and a small bowl of green beans.

12. Select Casseroles Over Steaks

One reader shared that they stopped shopping for steaks and as a substitute returned to cheap casseroles their mother used to make. Particularly for retirees or smaller households, casseroles stretch throughout a number of days. They usually contain lower-cost elements and you will get a number of servings.

That is an old-school frugality ‘trick’ that also works and having a ready-made meal will result in much less temptation to dine out.

13. Hardly ever Eat Out, and Use Rewards When You Do

A number of readers talked about methods to avoid wasting on eating out, together with:

If in case you have a couple of minutes to spare for surveys and scanning receipts, you may simply earn reward playing cards and use them for infrequent restaurant meals to maintain the meals price range in verify.

Crystal Paine smiling while holding a freshly baked loaf of bread in a parchment lined pot.

14. Eat at House and Bake at House

One of many largest financial savings areas talked about? Merely consuming at house, and making baked items at house as a substitute of shopping for them.

Inviting associates over for dinner as a substitute of assembly at eating places can lower prices and even construct neighborhood. Make internet hosting inexpensive and bear in mind it doesn’t must be elaborate. Soup and bread counts!

Crumpled one dollar bills and a few coins scattered across a wooden table

Small Meals Habits = Massive Grocery Financial savings

None of those concepts are sophisticated. However they’re intentional.

And meals is usually one of many largest month-to-month bills for households, which suggests small enhancements right here could make an enormous distinction.

Give attention to constructing your meal plan round what you have already got. Many people have partial baggage of rice, random cans, frozen greens, or proteins that get forgotten. Once you begin with what you personal, you scale back waste and purchase much less.

Even doing this deliberately as soon as monthly can trim $50–$100 off your grocery spending!

Extra Concepts to Save Cash on Meals:

And, you should definitely take a look at our $10 Household Dinner Concepts and present grocery offers!