Hello Friends,
Are looking for ways to save money on groceries? Here are some great tips and tricks to eat healthy and save money!
If it feels like grocery prices go up every time we go to the store, they sort of are. In fact, according to the U.S. Inflation Calculator, food prices rose 6.3% in 2021 (much more than the 3.9% increase that we saw in 2020).
When you come home from a long day tired with a long list of things yet to do, and you have a hungry family to feed, it’s difficult to think frugally. But that’s a quick way to let your grocery bill sky rocket! With a little planning and effort, you can have good healthy food and save money.
Tools & Tricks to Save:
First, look at the foods that you are currently buying:
Are you buying a lot of already prepared foods?
Does your grocery list include a lot of individual serving sizes?
Is everything ready to pop into the microwave?
What you have in your cart now will tell you where you’ll find savings.
Now that you’ve studied your current shopping list, you’re ready for the next step.
Related Post: Six Clever Ways to Save on Groceries Today
Now, Look at your cooking style
Many of us think the microwave is for popcorn, warming up left overs and heating up pre-made individual dinners. The surprising fact is that you can actually cook things in the microwave.
Many people like a slow cooker (Crockpot) because it allow you to prepare an easy meal in the morning and have it ready when you come home from work. And the slow cooking makes even cheap cuts of meat tender. (Money saver!)
I love my Instant Pot . They are a modern update to the pressure cooker and can be used for slow cooking as well as quick cooking. They’re good for quick meals and tenderizing anything that you cook in it. I put frozen chicken in mine and it is cooked in 15 min. And they’re not expensive. This one is great for beginners and more advanced cooks and is under $60.
Keep your kitchen time to a minimum for maximum results
For instance, you may be browning ground beef for today’s tacos, if you double that you now have browned ground beef for another meal later in the week. Just cool the second portion, place in ziplock, label and lay flat in the freezer.
We buy convenience foods to save time in the kitchen, but that’s not the only solution. Look for ways to get more meals out of each time that you cook.
Learn to cook your own fast food at home. Most fast food is not that hard to make, and the ingredients are generally simple and often cheap.
You can pre-make and freeze many fast food items. Things like burritos, personal pan pizzas, muffins and pancakes can be made a dozen at a time and frozen.
Cook large meals a couple days a week so that you have left-overs for another day or batch cook and freeze one. It really isn’t any harder to make 2 lasagnas or 2 pans of enchiladas than it is to just make one.
And now you have a thaw and heat dinner which will limit the number of dinners that you have to pickup on the way home. Pinterest is a great resource for this sort of thing.
I make up a couple dozen each: breakfast burritos, muffins, and pancakes. I package them up and individually freeze them for quick grab and go breakfasts in the morning. This breakfast prep takes about an hour and a half once a month. That time investment makes mornings smoother and saves my family a lot of money.
Related Post: 10 Top Money Saving Tips
Admittedly, many of these tools will require minor lifestyle changes, but those changes could benefit your family. Reducing prepared and fast foods could provide better nutrition, help maintain healthy weight, and limit chemicals and preservatives in your diet.
Look for Budget Friendly Recipes
Look for recipes online. Include words like “easy,” “budget”, “simple,” and “cheap” in your search.
Check Pinterest for recipes and cooking techniques.
Look for recipe books like Betty Crocker’s Good and Easy Cook Book at the thrift shop or online.
Have a Great Day!
Dottie Lake
Dottie Lake, Author 