Want More Money? Spend Less on Food

The other day my friend mentioned to me, "Instead of paying $70 for a new suit, I went to the grocery store and spent $70 on food."

I completely understand how someone could spend $70 on groceries, but I know that if one pays attention to what he is buying, he will pay less out of his pocket, thus spending less than $70 on a large grocery trip.

Because of a few smalls steps I've taken, I keep a food budget of $30 per week. Here's how.

Pay attention to where each dollar is, you'll spend less of them.

I keep track of my expenses and income. Always. Anything that changes my bank account even the slightest penny, I know where that penny was coming from and what it's going to. There is a great app for this purpose, I've used it for over two years now, it's called iReconcile. Enter your accounts, enter deposits, withdrawals, and transfers, and keep track of your cash flow. With this app I can enter all my withdrawals, deposits, and transfers the moment they happen because my phone is with me.

Pay attention to what you're buying and what your options are.

I used to buy only the name-brand products at the highest prices, at the most posh grocery stores in town. I've since learned that food from other brands tastes the exact same. This took a couple months for me to figure out. I went to all the grocery stores on my most common routes to find the one with the best prices for the best food. I also looked into some less-popular options for food, I'll get to that in a minute.

In my experience, produce from Harmon's is the best and most expensive, from Wal*Mart is the worst, and from Smith's is slightly better than Wal*Mart but still nasty. 

Super Target is my winning grocery store. Good prices, good selection of food, good produce, and I can buy almost anything else there, too (i.e. housing decor, prescriptions, etc). Thus Target is where I buy food.

Though I love Target as a grocery store, I buy my produce from a company that gives me an even better price for an even higher quantity. My number one produce stop is Bountiful Baskets. Bountiful Baskets is a contribution co-op that puts all cost into the produce. You sign up on a Monday or Tuesday for 1-3 baskets (baskets are about 10 lbs of vegetables and fruits) and, if you want, other food products (i.e. bread baskets, peach cases, tortilla mix, etc). Then you pick up your order the following Saturday morning. It's $15 per basket. Fifteen dollars for 10 lbs of food. That's unheard of. One basket will last me for two weeks. Seriously this is such a huge money saver. Go to BountifulBaskets.org for information and to find a location near you.

Pay attention to what you eat.

Almost all of my meals are home-made. I've found little tricks to make really simple, quick, and delicious meals, usually involving the produce I got from Bountiful Baskets. I'll share my recipes in later blogs. And if I do eat out, it fits within my budget because I save enough to splurge on a restaurant meal.

Tricks for storing meat and bread:

I buy the meat, separate it into portions, and put all portions in Ziploc freezer bags, then in the freezer. If I want to cook with the meat, I pull the portion from the freezer the night before and let it thaw in the fridge. I also date the meat with the date I put it in the freezer. This keeps the meat the freshest it can be.

Bread. I make my own bread. Such an easy recipe, and healthy. No preservatives--not like I care anyways. I'll share that recipe later, too. Store bread in the freezer. When I want a slice, I stick it in the toaster and hit the defrost setting. Or heat it up on the stove. My bread lasts for weeks and is fresh every time I eat it. Another huge money saver.

This is my system for saving money on food. I hope you found some tips and tricks that could work into your life. If you have your own system, I would love to hear about it!

Thanks for visiting