Tag Archives: food budget

Eliminate Food Waste: Chocolate Waffles and Pancake Mix

I’m making it a goal to check my fridge and pantry at the end of each week for ingredients that need to be used soon. This way, I can eliminate the food waste. Sometimes even this effort isn’t enough. For example, I pulled out some chicken that had a sell by date of a few days into the future, however, it had already gone bad. I won’t be shopping for chicken in that store again. I bought it at the beginning of the week. Today’s hunt through the pantry yielded a carton of buttermilk and some organic cocoa powder, so … Continue reading →

Eliminate Food Waste: You Can Eat These

Eliminate food waste by taking advantage of good food that is commonly thrown away. Get some valuable nutrition and save money on your food bill. Here is how. Almost-Expired Eggs Most eggs will last for at least a few days past their expiration date, but if you don’t want to take a chance, try this trick. Boil almost-expired eggs. The hard-boiled eggs can be used as snacks, turned into egg salad, or used to pump up the nutrients in a green salad. Broccoli Stems We buy a lot of fresh broccoli in this house because it is inexpensive, and the … Continue reading →

Make It Easy to Not Eat Out

In my household we struggle with not eating out. I grew up on many restaurant and take out meals, and eating out is often as much about entertainment as it is about feeding yourself. But eating out is a big expense in our budget. With a family of five, it usually costs us around $40-45, just for a diner, family style meal or even pizza if we order it at the restaurant. Even a fast food drive thru will cost us $20-25. Here are some more strategies I employ to keep the temptation of eating out at bay. Consider eating … Continue reading →

Five Little Grocery Shopping Tricks: Hide and Seek

Ooh, those clever, clever grocery stores. They have all sorts of subliminal tricks up their proverbial sleeves to make you part with as much of your money as they can. You might be surprised to learn that a lot of the shopping you do is a direct result of marketing, rather than your own well-thought-out shopping decisions. I have been sharing some of these little tricks that the stores pull on grocery shoppers. Now here is another one that I call hide and seek. The reasoning behind this one is simple. The longer you spend in the store and the … Continue reading →

Five Little Grocery Shopping Tricks: Size Matters

Not one to want to make you paranoid, but in the world we live in, everyone will do what they can to get you to spend money in their favor. The grocery stores are no exception. They want to trick you into buying more than you want or need, and they aren’t shy about it. I’ve been talking about the different ways that grocery stores arrange things to influence you. Don’t fall into their trap. Be aware of some of the methods that cause you to spend more. One thing I want to talk about now is the size of … Continue reading →

Getting Creative with Almost-Expired Food

Using what you have in your pantry is important when food prices have risen so much. Creating meals from your pantry can reduce your weekly food budget or allow you to skip a shopping trip or two. It also prevents food waste. Sometimes you are faced with just a few strange items to use up before they expire or go bad. This is where you have to get creative. I’ll offer you some tips, as well as links to a couple of recipes that will help you create real meals from a collection of end-date food. This post is part … Continue reading →

Ways to Avoid Fruit Waste

Do you want an easy way to reduce your food budget by half? Stop wasting food. Believe or not, the average American household throws away half of all of the food that they purchase. It is easier to do than you might think. In a previous blog, Ways to Avoid Food Waste, I shared some ideas for reducing the amount of food that gets thrown out in your household. Now, let’s explore even more ways. Pretty soon, you can have an efficiently run food budget that will naturally reduce the amount of money you are spending on food. My children … Continue reading →

Six Reasons to Grocery Shop in the Morning

If you are a morning person, take advantage of this to save some money. Just the act of shopping as an early bird can reduce your food budget at the grocery store. Here are six reasons why this works. Before we get started shopping in the morning, make sure that you have had your coffee (if you drink it) and a light breakfast. This will give you the energy you need to shop. 1. Shopping in the morning will give you the opportunity for the best markdowns on bread and meat. The managers usually use the less crowded morning time … Continue reading →

Ways to Avoid Food Waste

One sure way to reduce the amount of money you spend on food is to avoid wasting any of it. The average American wastes up to 50 percent of the food that they buy. From half-eaten sandwiches and chicken nuggets left by the kids to lettuce that wilts and leftovers that turn into science experiments, chances are that you throw some food away every day. Think about your food bill and halve it or even quarter it if you are better than average. That is how much money you are throwing away. A $200 food bill could be reduced to … Continue reading →

Eat Out for Free 2

Who doesn’t love getting things for free? Eating out for free is especially nice, since it combines the necessity of eating (everyone has to eat) with the entertainment of getting out and trying something new. And with the price of gas being so high, you may be able to justify a trip out if the meal is free. Previously, in the post Eat Out for Free, I shared some ideas for getting free meals, such as the trail run. You can click here to visit that blog and read more: Eat Out for Free. Now, let me share four more … Continue reading →