Everyone has a week here or there where they need to trim their budget. Or some of us live frugally as a way of life. Either way, sometimes it's difficult to figure out where to cut costs. The most obvious place to "trim the fat" is with the food portion of our budget.Rule Number One: Skip the dining out.
I know, it's hard - especially if we're the only one cooking. We look forward to that break out where we can sit down, be served, and (possibly) enjoy a hot meal. But when you look at how much it costs in comparison to how much it would cost you to make it, you think twice. If you absolutely cannot do without your break from cooking, consider making double of a meal (casseroles and soups are great for this) ahead of time and freeze it for that "night off."
Rule Number Two: Shop sales and stock up.
Having an extra freezer is a blessing for this way of saving. We currently only have a very small freezer and can't do this well, but you'd better believe this is going on my Christmas list! Often times you can come across unpublished deals on meat that can really save you several dollars per item at a time. Better yet, is when you get the BOGO (buy one, get one) deals! You usually don't want to cook so much of one item at a time, so freezing is the perfect alternative. Coupons are also amazing ways to save (for some great tips on couponing - check out my previous post from Coupon Queen - Deborah Devine).
Rule Number Three: Don't rule out substitutions.
Yes, we all have our favorite brands of foods, but sometimes you can save a lot by trying a new brand. It may be on sale, you may have a coupon for it, or it may be a generic brand. Honestly, there are some generic foods/items that I prefer over the name brands. It really just has to do with your taste and willingness to try new things. For example, our local "big name" for milk is Mayfield and it generally runs around $4.50 a gallon. Now, my family drinks a lot of milk, at least three gallons a week, so milk is actually a portion of our grocery budget. We typically buy Kroger brand milk, though, which is about $2.50 a gallon - the savings run about $6 a week just by shopping generic.
Rule Number Four: Pile on the fillers.
Bigger families know all about this trick, but sometimes it's something we overlook. Potatoes are a cheap filler and can be cooked in a million different ways. Rice, beans, and pastas are some other great fillers. These aren't necessarily the healthiest of foods to fill up on (it all depends on what type and how you cook/serve them), so another, better, alternative is vegetables. Fresh veggies can add up quickly, but when you consider the alternative - frozen veggies - you can save a lot (especially if you get them on sale or buy generic). Frozen vegetables are just as healthy as fresh veggies, because they're actually frozen soon after picking, which means they weren't picked prematurely or that they weren't sitting on a truck getting overly ripe. Canned vegetables are cheap, too, but are usually loaded with salt. We do keep a supply of canned vegetables for emergencies, but frozen veggies are our first choice.
Rule Number Five: Get Creative!
Change ingredients in your recipes and you can shave the cost. My biggest way to save money on main courses is using ground turkey in place of ground beef - and the best part is that it is healthier and much less greasy. I have yet to find a recipe that seems to suffer from this substitution and we typically prefer the turkey anyway. Having a "leftover" night with several items from the week can be really helpful, especially with multiple family members who have different favorites.
There are dozens of "cheap eat" meals, but I thought I'd include a few of our favorites (in no particular order):
Brinner (Breakfast for dinner) - pancakes are the ultimate cheap eat! There is virtually no cost to these - a dollar for a four-member family would even be pushing it, and that probably includes the cost of syrup. Eggs are another great choice, equaling about 18 cents each. You can throw in some cheese, chopped veggies, salsa - whatever you choose - and it will only bring up the cost slightly. Toast, hashbrowns, and biscuits and gravy are some other great, cheap brinner ideas. My husband likes to have meat with his meals usually, so I also make some turkey bacon. The great thing is that if you're making several items, you only really need a few slices of bacon to be satisfying, so I separate the package into individual servings and freeze them for later. Pancakes also freeze great!
Spaghetti and meatballs - I have to admit this was not one of my husband's favorite meals and used to end up going over to my mother's house more often than not so as not to waste it. However, quite by accident, I found a way to prepare it that really appeals to him now. One day, when I was in a pinch for time, I bought frozen meatballs, took out half of the bag and threw them in the crockpot with some spaghetti sauce. I cooked them for about eight hours on low and cooked the spaghetti separately and added it into the crockpot for the last hour of cooking. It came out super tender and the meatballs apparently developed a great taste. I serve this with some sliced toasted Italian bread sprinkled with butter, garlic, and Parmesan (sometimes I make bruschetta) and it's a cheap hit. The total cost is about $6 (because I only use half the meatballs) for about five servings. Of course, pasta is a cheap food and pretty much any variety of pasta will be cheap, assuming you don't indulge on a lot of meat or cheese.
Grilled cheese and tomato soup - This is one of the obvious recipes I don't have to go into detail about - everyone's made it at some time. The entire cost is probably less than $3. However, don't be afraid to dress it up some. I prefer my sandwiches plain, but you can change the bread or the cheese for a different flavor or add bacon, tomato, or a slice of ham to dress it up. The soup can be changed by getting or making it with chunks of tomato or by adding spices. Spices can make a huge difference! This is probably the cheapest choice of soup and sandwich, but making your own chicken noodle soup can be fairly inexpensive, as well.
Hillbilly Fixin's - As my mom says, "That's what I call it!" This meal is made up of some traditional southern foods: pinto beans, cornbread, ham, fried potatoes, and some kind of veggie (corn, green beans, greens, or okra). This is a meal that we make only several times a year, because it seems to make so much we can't handle it more often than that. The ham is the most expensive part of the meal, so I buy one of those small, presliced 1/4 hams. With all of the other foods, you don't need a lot. All of the ingredients combined may total about $10, but it probably makes 12 servings, if not more.
Sloppy Joes - Again this is a super common recipe, so I really don't need to go into much detail. However, I would like to add that homemade sloppy joes taste 10 times better than anything you get in a package or can and it's cheaper, too. There are some variations to the recipe, but ultimately if you have ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, and ground meat (I use turkey), you have the ingredients for a good sloppy joe.
Anyway, I hope this post gives you some ideas for meal planning, and if you have any "cheap eat" recipes you'd like to share, please feel free! I would LOVE to hear your suggestions and I'm sure others would, too!
