Eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive. There are plenty of ways to cut down on your food expenses and still eat right. A user on the forum asked, “What are your money-saving hacks for food?”
People shared some food hacks to help your food last longer and reduce costs.
CONSUME THE PERISHABLES YOU BUY
“I focus on eating all the perishable food I buy.”
“So true. It doesn’t matter how cheap that cauliflower was if it goes moldy before you get around to eating it.”
REDUCE EATING OUT
“Don’t eat at restaurants too often. Avoid takeout as well. Once you get used to it being something you only do once every three months or so as a treat, you will be surprised how little you miss it. Even less when you see the difference in your bank account.”
HAVE SOME FILLING MEALS AT HOME
“If I’m super tired or have a bad headache—it happens often, unfortunately—cooking is a no-go. A few bucks on a filling meal that’s comparably priced to a home-cooked meal per head is a big win for me.”
WEEKEND MEAL PREP
“Prepare meals at home over the weekend and freeze them. This way, you save time and money.”
LEARN TO BREAK THE WHOLE CHICKEN
“If you eat chicken, learn how to break down a whole chicken. The price per pound is way less than the processed parts. And you can use the leftover carcass bits to make good chicken stock.”
BUY ROAST CHICKEN
“Buy roasted chicken from the store and use it for multiple meals. A great Mexican store near here sells roast chicken and fresh store-made tortillas; this comes out less than $20 and feeds several.”
STICK TO ONE STORE TRIP A WEEK
“Sticking to one trip a week to the store is a running challenge at my house.
Those trips for one or two items to complete a meal turn into 20-dollar runs. We have got good at figuring out how to use what we got in the house and make a better list for the once-a-week trips. We make the week most every time. Two weeks one trip is tougher to do.”
BUY GENERIC
“Buy generic as much as possible. I’ve started doing a lot of my shopping at Lidl, and whatever I can’t get from there, I go to food lion. Buy what’s on sale even if it means changing the menu that you planned or saving/freeze for a meal on another day.”
DO GROCERY SHOPPING THROUGH STORE APPS
“Another good tip is to do your grocery shopping through store apps to compare prices and do a grocery pick-up or two (if the stores are conveniently located to each other). It’s an easy way to know exactly how much the total will be when you checkout instead of being surprised at the register. And it minimizes spontaneous purchases that would happen inside a physical store.”
OPT FOR CHEAP FOODS
“Oatmeal for breakfast, bananas are cheapest fruit, PBJs, frozen fruit doesn’t go bad, and it’s a good variety, frozen vegetables are often as fresh/ cheap as so-called fresh, whole roasted chicken (roast two at a time and pluck them, for week-long availability), baked potatoes sweet potatoes, beans, rice, frozen Turkey burger, frozen salmon.”
CHECK WEEKLY SALES ADS
“Check weekly sales ads for the grocery stores. I can get 5 lbs of chicken breast at Harris Teeter for about $11. The breasts are thick, so I usually slice them in half and freeze half. Try getting cheaper cuts of meat. Learn how to make them taste better and cook them while keeping them tender. HT canned beans are typically ridiculously cheap; you can do almost anything with them. One more about meat: if you get to the store first thing, often (at least at HT), they will mark down the meat that must be sold that day. You can save 50%-75% sometimes. You can cook the meat that day or throw it in the freezer for later.”
BUY FOOD WITH ONE CREDIT CARD TO KEEP TRACK
“I buy all my food with one credit card and pay that off at the end of the month, so I get points. I’m spending about $1200-1700 monthly for two people on food. My habits haven’t changed much; this is up due to Biden’s price hike. It’s bad, but at least I’m getting points for it. Fast food and processed garbage aren’t worth the savings cause you’ll pay for health problems later if you eat that trash.”
GO MEATLESS
“We started doing meatless when cooking at home—lots of easy substitutes for your current list of recipes. Plan a budget for weekly groceries and stick to it. We use Emeals as a grocery/recipe app, then do pick-up at Wegmans. It saves time and has helped us stick to our budget. When you don’t go to the store, it’s much easier not to pick up the extra stuff(especially if you shop while hungry).”
BUY KITCHEN STAPLES AT ALDI
“I find that buying my “kitchen staples” at Aldi saves me at least $300 per food shopping. Their prices on eggs, milk, ground beef, chicken, paper plates, butter, chips, etc. (lots of off-brand names) are way lower than even Walmart’s. I’m not a fan of Walmart, but I buy anything I can’t find at Aldi and go from there with other stores. Planning meals before shopping and sticking to those things on your list can help cut grocery costs.
YMMV, but fruits and vegetables from Aldi and Walmart (especially Walmart) usually do not last long, so if you buy their much cheaper produce and eat it within a day or two, you should be fine. It’s usually iffy for me outside of that window.”
CHECK OUT THE CLEARANCE SECTION AT WALMART
“Walmart – sometimes I’ll find amazing deals in their clearance section for food (if they have one). I got jars of salsa for 75 cents, Annie’s mac and cheese (the good stuff with the velvet-style cheese packet) for 99 cents (usually $3-$4 a box).”
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Anika Jindal
Anika is a CPA and founder of What Anika Says. She shares simple and actionable frugal living, money management and money-saving tips to live a debt-free financially independent life. She has been featured on popular websites like Bankrate, Forbes, Mint ,and Authority Magazine. Byline: MSN