How We Save Money And Buy A Months Worth Of Food
I know I have said it before on my YouTube channel, so I’m sorry if I sound like a broken record! Charlie was let go from his job last summer and we were on unemployment in between jobs. During that time we crunched numbers, started keeping and eye on sale ads, couponed, and bought enough food to last a month for about $200-$300 depending on the sales. And yes, we still bought organic and ate healthy!
my favorite budget tips
Check your pantry
Start with what you already have in the house. I like to use a template I made to list out everything that is in our pantry, fridge, and freezer inventory. You can print them out and put them in a picture frame. Then just use a dry erase marker for easy tracking! Utilizing what you already have, especially if they are bulk items, can help cut down on food costs and food waste. You shouldn’t buy anything, even if it is a ‘pantry staple’, if you aren’t going to eat it.
Download the sale ad
Check the sales ad. What is on sale, BOGO, 10 for 10 and so forth, this week? If anything is BOGO, we usually check to see if it would work with anything we already have in the house. For example, Meijer had pork roast buy one get one a few months ago and we already had stock, carrots, onions, and celery on hand. We knew we could throw all of that in the crockpot for an easy meal with plenty of left overs!
check pinterest
If you don’t know what make based on what is in your inventory and what is on sale, head on over to Pinterest. I always use it to my advantage! You can find some new, interesting, and delicious recipes that you might not have ever thought to try. We use to get a Hungry Harvest box and the Thursday before delivery day is when we would find out what was in our box. We usually had the same staples: celery, a fruit, some bananas, and so forth. But, sometimes we were able to try something new that we would never pick up at the grocery store! I would check Pinterest for some yummy recipes I knew we would love, but that also include the new vegetable to try.
Grocery app or scan & go
Utilize your grocery app or scan & go option. We love to utilize the scanners at Kroger or the mobile app at Meijer because it allows us to directly see how much we are spending and keep us in budget. The Kroger scanners also will notify us when there are certain coupons, too! We also tend to lean towards these options because we can use our own bags this way. If you don’t have this option but you still want to bring your own reusable bag, ask your cashier if it would be possible to bag your own produce so you can cut back on plastic usage! If we ask ahead of time, and nicely, we have found our cashiers will still let us use our own bags if we put our items away ourselves.
shop online & pick up
If you don’t feel comfortable going in stores or using public scanners, another way to directly monitor your spending habits (and perks of contactless shopping) is to shop online and schedule a pick up. The only downside to this is the sheer amount of plastic waste from the plastic bags. If it wasn’t for all of the plastic bags, I would be utilizing this option so much more frequently! Shopping with a toddler should be an Olympic sport.
buy Bulk
Of course, if there are few staple items that you eat more often, then buy those in bulk at your local bulk store or zero waste store! The main reason we don’t shop at Costco, Sam’s Club, or other bulk stores is because these options still have TONS of packaging. We don’t have any zero waste stores in the immediate area (I know Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo have options, but it’s hard to make time for the drive).
Make extra servings & Save
Staying home this whole past year has had it’s pros and cons. Being able to enjoy our time with Evelyn = big pro! Having to cook every meal = let’s not even talk about the dishes.
The biggest game changer has been cooking large portions in the crockpot for meals throughout the week. OR if leftovers aren’t your thing (they definitely aren’t mine), you can freeze and date them for future, pre-made, dinners. We have also been doing this to take extra leftovers to friends and family who are also finding it difficult to cook during these times. If you ever need an idea of what to give me as a gift, the gift of food is the way to my heart! I will always find an opportunity to fill a friend or family’s freezer with some ready-to-go, homemade, freezer meals.
If you are finding it absolutely difficult in these times, you can also set up a meal train on Mealtrain.com. This is my favorite little piece of advice to give when new mother’s ask what to put on their registry = FOOD. We made the mistake of not making freezer meals ahead of time, and I promise our freezer will be ready next time. A meal train is basically an organized meal drop off, which is perfect for any occasion!
Meal list
The final thing we love to do is keep a list of all of the meals we have available in our inventory on the fridge. We have a dry erase board right on the fridge that lists out the meals we bought ingredients for and the meals we already have made in the freezer. We do this because we aren’t a fan of meal prepping. By the end of the week, our meals are all soggy or we just aren’t feeling the same thing at that point. This way works best for us because we already have everything organized and ready to go, we just have to see which meal we are feeling that night (if it wasn’t for the cooking part, it would almost be like ordering from a restaurant).
And that’s it! Those are our little meal planning and money saving hacks that we have been utilizing. Did these tips help you? Was there anything you found interesting? Let me know!