40 Ways to Save Money on Food

1.  Learn to Cook:

                It’s a skill! A learnable skill that anyone is capable of. You don’t need Chef-level mad knife skills and Chopped-level on the fly creativity. Packaged foods are expensive and convenience costs. But everyone’s gotta eat, so someone’s gotta do the cooking. Might as well be you.

2. Buy in bulk:

                I know, this seems counterintuitive. Spend more? But if your budget can afford it, you can actually save money by buying staples that you use up on the regular. The ten-pound bag of rice is more economical in the long run than the 1-pound bag. Don’t blow your whole week’s allowance on buying a bulk item and go hungry for the week. That’s not worth it. And make sure you’ve got proper storage until you’re ready to use your bulk purchase.

3. Join a Warehouse Club:

                In the same vein, if you can wiggle it into your budget, joining your local warehouse club can save you buckets of money. Or cause you to overspend. The trick here is to buy the items that you use a lot of that works out to less money per ounce than what you buy at your regular grocery. If you can’t swing the full membership price, see if a friend or family member wants to share with you for their share of the cost. If you’re super strapped for cash, find someone who has a membership that wouldn’t mind bringing you along for a quarterly trip. Don’t forget to tip them their gas money!

4. Cook in bulk:

                How is this different than buy in bulk? Well it is and it isn’t. So when your local grocer has a sale on a 10 lb. bag of chicken thighs, you buy ‘em if you can work it into that week’s budget, right? You have options from there. Freeze them in dinner sized portions. Or! You could cook them all on the spot and have ready to grab chicken for nights you need a fast feed. I’m a big fan of buying the 10 lb. bag of onions from Costco and caramelizing them overnight in the slow cooker.

6. Budget for Pantry Enhancements:

                Confused? Don’t be. Pantry Enhancements can be any item that will improve the variety of food that you’re consuming, or adds quality of life assistance to your kitchen. Stocking a spice rack is a costly endeavor, but not if you take it bit by bit. One week you buy cumin to heat up your chili. Next week you buy curry powder. Over time you have a good selection of herbs and spices to make your meals more enjoyable. And no more buying overpriced packets of spice mixes. Minced garlic is a great addition to food but maybe you don’t use it because all that chopping is too much for you. Investing in a garlic press lets you use more garlic without resorting to buying jars of pre-minced garlic.

7. Make your own spice mixes:

                If you’ve ever bought packets of chili or taco seasoning, you know that the prices can add up super fast. Blending your own from the careful building of your spice rack can be a real money saver. Not only that, you can control the blend to attain the taste that you prefer. Not too hot or bland, no sugar added, no fillers. I make my own “House Seasoning” out of season salt and garlic powder that goes on just about everything I cook from burgers to chicken breasts.

Here’s the recipe for my personal Chili Seasoning Blend.

8. Save your jars and containers:

                Does anyone not have a grandma who stores her leftovers in a Country Crock container? Okay so there’s concerns about reusing plastics and absolutely do your research and make sure what you’re saving is safe to reuse. But those jars! From spaghetti sauce to jelly, save them. I use empty jelly jars to store those spice blends I mentioned above. Empty spaghetti sauce jars are the perfect size for refrigerating homemade bone broths. Then you’re not spending money on plastic storage bags.

9. Make your own stocks:

                This has already slipped in, so let’s just look at it. You roasted a chicken for dinner. Don’t throw out the carcass. With that and some saved vegetable scraps like carrot peels, onion ends, celery leaves, and some time, you’ve got absolutely free flavor enhancing for your cooking or a base for a tasty soup. Sure you can sometimes get the canned/boxed stuff for cheap, but there’s no better price than FREE. Check here for directions on how to make this magic happen.

13. Meal Planning:

                Maybe this should have been number one, or two, in this list, but let’s tackle this. Plan. Your. Meals. There’s a lot of different methods of doing this from Bulk Cooking to Freezer Cooking to Once-a-month Cooking. Which one is best? Whichever one works best for your budget and personality. The thrust here is that it’s never a good idea to head into the store without a plan and just willy-nilly throw items in the cart. That’s how you end up with a 10-pound bag of onions and a box of Cheerios, but no actual meals. You can just write down what you want for dinners and then compile a grocery list, or scan the sales fliers and make plans based on sales.

Check this post for my Everything About Meal Planning guide.

14. Planned Leftovers:

                On the subject of planning, let’s not overlook the power of planned leftovers. Roast a whole chicken for Sunday dinner, but plan on using the leftover poultry to make a chicken pot pie later in the week. Cooked up a big batch of taco meat for Taco Tuesday? Use the meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese to build a taco salad to take in your lunch the next day. For centuries, people have had leftovers from dinner as their breakfast. One of my favorites is garlic chicken with rice. Yum! Not to mention, it’s a great savings to make extra servings of dinner to pack up a lunch for work tomorrow.

15. Weekend Meal Prep:

                Another variation on the meal prep theme, with the understanding that some weekends fall on a Wednesday for some people. Whatever your scheduled day off, spend a couple of hours pre-cooking some proteins, grains, and veggies. Divide ‘em up in containers and use them as grab-and-go dinners or even lunches. This is especially handy when you know you have a grueling work week ahead and the siren call of GrubHub is going to become too much to bear because you’re to exhausted to make instant ramen happen.

16. Freezer Cooking:

                This one can be Easy or it can be Hard Mode. Easy mode is you cook a double portion of whatever since you’re in the kitchen anyway, and freezing one portion to eat sometime down the road. Chili is hands down one of the easiest, but so is browning meat for spaghetti and freezing the rest of that meat for chili next week. Hard mode involves a chest freezer and a day dedicated to pre-prepping meals to be pulled out and thawed later. Pull in the morning, reheat for dinner, and voila, ‘tis done for a fraction of the price of meals out of the freezer section of the grocery.

17. Once-a-month Cooking:

                If Freezer Cooking is Hard Mode, then Once-a-month Cooking could be considered Maddening Mode. I’m a filthy casual, but some people really enjoy the challenge. This one is meal planning on steroids. Involved is planning meals for a month, doing the shop, prepping and cooking foods, then stowing them in the freezer until the correct day of planned consumption. I have done this a couple of times and it is a bit of a time sink on the front end. Usually involves the full weekend to get it all done. But once that weekend is over, everything’s ready for the next month. And since all the cooking is done, there’s no forays into the grocery for the forgotten spice that leads to a Doritos and Twinkies splurge.

18. Shop the specials:

                This has been gently booped earlier, but this time, let’s go for the full-on belly poke, a la giggling Dough Boy. Have a sit with your local grocery stores’ (yep, plural) sales fliers. Some weeks there’s gonna be a surprise sale on chicken drumsticks for 79 cents per pound. Other weeks there might be a BOGO sale on your favorite pasta sauce. If you’ve wiggled a little savings from adhering to your budget, these are the times to get some extra at the discounted price. But even if you can’t, you can absolutely make your meals focus around these sale items for the week. I’ve been in a habit of only buying groceries that are on sale that week for years now and it’s resulted in some serious dollar stretching.

19. Coupon:

                Alright, this one comes with a caveat. **Do not use coupons to buy foods you wouldn’t normally buy.** Seriously, if you’re not a cold cereal eater, don’t buy cereal just because you have a coupon. That’s the opposite of saving money, that’s wasting it. Now, if it’s something you’ve wanted to try but couldn’t afford normally, but the coupon brings the cost down into No-Hyperventilating-at-the-Price level, then absolutely check out this new tasty. I’m not going tell you to run out and buy a stack of Sunday papers and spend all day clipping little bits of paper. Nor am I ever advocating the Extreme Couponing where you get 200 tubes of denture cream for free. But a little bit here and a little bit there can really add up, especially if you’re on a tight budget. One of the highlights for our family was using a 50 cent coupon in a store that doubled them on Wednesdays, saving them for the quarterly sale on Breyer’s ice cream, and getting the kiddos two cartons for $1 each. (Look guys, I’m called the Coupon Queen for a reason.)

20. Menu Rotation:

                One of my favorite and most-used variations on the meal planning theme. Come up with a list of your best and well-loved recipes. Slot them into a two-week rotation schedule. It’s enough variety that you won’t get tired of the same thing over and over, and since you know how to make everything, food won’t go to waste from failed attempts at conquering new dishes. Best of all, since the decision of what’s for dinner is already made for you, you’re less likely to go for the temptation of pizza delivery. No decision fatigue = win! (Also, if you post it on the fridge, you’re less likely to get hammered with “what’s for dinner?” It’s right there.)

21. Garden:

                I understand, some of us (me), have a black thumb; I could kill a plastic plant. However, others are a little less deadly to innocent flora. If you have space in your yard, consider planting your own garden. It doesn’t have to be large enough to feed you for the year, just a tomato plant or zucchini. Maybe a patio planter with a few fresh herbs like parsley, basil and chives. If you have a smidge of space and the ability to nurture plants, consider seeing if you’ve got a green thumb. Check out this post on how to Grow Your Own Savings.

22. Hunt:

                Hunting, and as an extension, fishing, do happen to come with some upfront costs. Beginning with the tools with which to hunt/catch your meal, and also the licensing fees involved with doing so legally. However, both are a relatively great deal when compared to the current costs of animal protein in the store. I’m given to understand presently duck hunting costs more for the license than the price of buying a farm-raised bird from the grocery. Then again, you can’t get more free-range than venison. If the act of hunting isn’t your speed, make friends with someone who does and inquire if they’ve some extra that won’t fit their freezer.

23. Forage:

                I’ll start by saying that if you don’t know which mushrooms are poisonous, maybe definitely leave that to the experts. But, when we lived in the Pacific Northwest, there were wild marionberries growing everywhere. Everywhere. Some people used them as hedges at property lines and never bothered with the fruits at all. Maybe your neighbor has a prolific persimmon tree and insists they can’t eat all the fruit themselves. Not all wild foods are edible, but you might be amazed what is. Incidentally, young dandelion greens make a nice addition to a spring salad.

24. Drink Water:

                “But I don’t like water.” Stop right there. You need water. You need to hydrate. Diet Coke does not qualify for hydration. Also, it’s expensive. (Seriously, soda is rapidly becoming rich people luxury drink.) I’m not saying you can’t have coffee or tea, or even the occasional bubbly whatever of your choice. But at $7 per 12-pack of soda, it’s probably time to cut back or cut out and go back to refreshing H20. For those who really cannot abide plain water, drop some bits of fruit or mint in a pitcher of water and let that infuse in the fridge. Drink it cold. Drink it hot with a wedge of lemon. I’m a lime lady, myself, but you do you. You drinks water and saves money.

25. Stop Snacking:

                Momma, you’re stealing all the joy in my life! Not really. Think of how happy you’ll be when your bank account doesn’t hit zero this month. Put the $5 bag of cronch cronch down and grab yourself a $3 bag of apples. I’m not saying you can’t have any snack ever. But definitely cut back on them or change them out for more nutritious options. Or if you’re following along and filling up your meals with more vegetables and beans, and less potato chips, you might find you’re quite satisfied until the next actual meal and don’t even need the snack. At the very least, if you’re gonna need something to hold you between lunch and dinner, plan that snack out. Then it’s a mini-meal.

26. Save your condiments:

           Disclaimer: I am not endorsing raiding your local coffee shop or burger joint for condiment packets.

                How often do we get Chinese takeout and their staff crams enjoy soy sauce packets in the bag to fill a full-sized bottle? Enough ketchup to satiate even a fries-with-my-ketchup toddler? My local pizza joint used to throw so many packets of red pepper flakes at me that I legit filled a shaker jar… like the ones they use inside for the grated Parmesan. Keep all those little freebies tossed at you willy-nilly and use them in your cooking. A little pop of flavor goes a long way. My favorite use to date? Using a garlic butter sauce to cook ground beef for spaghetti when I was otherwise out of cooking oil.

27. Cook your pantry:

                This happens to all of us. We buy a pound of a pasta, say elbow macaroni, to add to chili. But we only use a smattering of the noodles and have a whole lot left. Pull out that open box of pasta, a can of diced tomatoes and some of those black beans stowed in your fridge. Toss in that half an onion waiting for you in your fridge and whip up some taco macaroni for dinner. Make a point of checking what you have in the house before you shop. Chances are you can turn your dinner into a personal cooking show challenge.

Here’s the recipe for one of my more recent versions of Pantry Soup.

28. Join a CSA:

                I’m a big advocate of supporting your local farming community. One of the best ways to do this is to find a local CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture.) It works like a subscription model, where you pay in a flat fee, and in return, you receive a share of that week’s bounty. When the farm is having a particularly great week, you’ll find yourself with an abundance of local, fresh produce. The downside is, if the farm is struggling or has a bad week, your share will be reflected in that. But if you can afford to have a bad week or two (say when the rooster gets in the hen house so there aren’t any eggs), it’s a great way to save money and support your local agricultural economy.

29. Participate in a community garden:

                Speaking of local agriculture, you can’t get more local than the community garden. In a lot of communities, there is ground set aside for the community to grow a garden. It’s an exciting use of space that might otherwise just go to weed and be useless. Fantastic for urban dwellers who don’t necessarily have their own yards or roofs to use for growing purposes. Each one is different, but our area in the Midwest used the roadside green spaces behind neighborhoods where anyone was welcome to work or harvest. The one in the Pacific Northwest had stipulations that you had to participate in the garden’s care for an hour a week: planting, watering, weeding, or harvesting.

30. Make fruit your dessert:

                We all like something sweet at the end of a meal. Pretty sure it’s written in our DNA. But it doesn’t have to be cake/pie/cookies/ice cream. Really. One of the happiest moments of my life was having a house guest spot my fresh cherries in my fridge, snatch them up, and pronounce gleefully “These will be the perfect dessert!” I know I’m going out on a limb here with this one, and I’m not suggesting a 1000% forever ban on baked goods, but a fresh peach in season will beat out a Little Debbie snack cake any day, and it’s cheaper too. Save the sweets for special occasions and they’ll feel all that much more wonderful for their being a true treat and not just everyday fare.

31. Cut back on meat products:

                For you carnivores out there, I know this is asking a lot. Hear me out. Certainly an 18-ounce porterhouse looks fabulous on the plate. But truth be told, nobody really needs that much animal protein at a sitting unless you’re a high-performance athlete or perform heavy physical labor. Need aside, and without a quip about Meatless Mondays, try cutting back your ground beef on spaghetti night to ¾ pound instead. Toss in a drained, rinsed can of black beans for a protein and fiber boost. Mince up mushrooms to replace half the ground turkey in your shepherd’s pie. Toss some cauliflower florets into your crockpot chicken curry. Think of creative ways to make your favorite meals with a fraction of the meat. Or as some would say, turn it into a garnish instead of the main event.

Here’s my recipes for Vegetarian Chili and Bean Burritos. In case you do wanna start Meatless Monday.

32. Eat seasonal/local foods:

                This one is a twofer that can double up. Berries are plentiful and inexpensive in the spring, but those same strawberries are bland AND expensive in December. Nothing can beat a vine-ripened summer tomato, but in March, it’s going to be almost cost prohibitive, not to mention not good and shipped from a great distance where warmer weather reigns. Winter squash come on board starting in the fall and can hold for months if stored properly. Gulf shrimp are tasty on the coast, but lose their deliciousness while piling on the cost of transport to be shipped to Omaha. (Eat some steak there, folks!) Avocados are cheap in SoCal, but are a budget buster in St. Louis. Produce picked before it’s ripe so it can travel to a place that either cannot grow it locally or out of season is both costly and a disappointing eating experience.

Check here for my lists of What’s In Season by month.

33. Master Your Meals:

                This ties into meal planning, but takes it up a notch. You know what I’m talking about. When you make plans for a new recipe into your weekly meal plan because it sounds great. You’ve bought all the ingredients for this new culinary delight. And then when dinner time rolls around, you’re just too exhausted from the day’s doing to try to learn a new recipe. So, you turn to the household and suggest, “Hey, let’s order a pizza.” Nothing wrong with trying something new, but take the time to learn it when you’re not dry on brainpower. Once you’re confident in how to make the dish, add it to your menu rotation!

34. Barter:

                This one shouldn’t need much explaining. You’ve got zucchini running out your ears; your neighbor is drowning in tomatoes. You swap produce. Other bartering options would be your time (think tutoring or house cleaning), your crafts (sketches or candles), and your hobbies (car repair or garment sewing). Everything is currency to the right recipients.

35. Don’t be brand loyal:

                As I say this, I look to my kitchen and see a couple of instances where I’m guilty of ignoring this. There are times that one brand really is a stand out and it’s the only version you enjoy. But, is the name brand toaster pastry that much better than the in-store brand? Only you can decide. However, you can save up to 50% by electing for the in-store or generic version over the name brand option. Unless it’s your Got-to-Have peanut butter (a common loyalty item), consider giving the Name a pass.

36. Relocate:

                Waaaaaaaait a minute. Moving is expensive, Momma. Just hear me out. Sometimes moving to an area with a lower cost of living can be the biggest money saving action you can take. When we moved from the Pacific Northwest to the southeastern U.S., our monthly grocery outlay dropped from $1200 to $400. With more and more people working remotely, this might be a great option for you.

37. Build a Price Book:

                Not gonna lie, this tip is a fair amount of work, especially upfront. Then the ongoing maintenance can be more work. How well this works for you really depends on two factors: your personality and your need to really stretch a dollar. Essentially, you create a “book” or spreadsheet that lists the common foods you buy and from what store. You track the costs, and also when these items go on sale. Most grocers have cycles on their specials, where oats go on every three months or cheap turkeys in November. If you know eggs are about to go on their bi-monthly sale next week, you hold off buying until then. The benefit to keeping a price book, is that when items do go on sale, you know it’s a better price than what you can get normally.  If you’ve got a knack for organizing or data tracking, this might be for you. If you’re seriously strapped and having to watch every single penny, this can be a sanity saver.

38. Shop Pickup or Grocery Delivery:

                With the advent of the pandemic, pickup and delivery options have multiplied. If you’re the sort of shopper who walks in with a plan, and walks out with five times the quantity you meant to buy, this approach could work for you. Buy putting only what you need in your cart, you reduce the temptation to grab extras because they look good. Now the downside is that you cannot take advantage of any in-store specials or buy those beautiful in-season local peaches that you didn’t think to add to cart. But if impulse control is a problem for you, try this tactic. Just don’t fall for the “suggested picks for you” or “did you forget something” options that crop up at the checkout.

39. Cut Out Delivery:

                Yes, I just endorsed delivery and now I’m telling you to stop. There are service fees and fuel surcharges on top of leaving your Doordasher a decent tip. Your $20 pizza delivery can rapidly reach $45 by the time you make it through the checkout process. If you’re doing food delivery as a side hustle, I do apologize for any reduction in your business. However, for those looking to get their food budget under control, maybe give the $30 taco delivery a pass and make your own burritos at home.

40. Eat More Produce:

                Talking about adding on instead of taking away. How does this save you money? Granted, the rising costs on healthy food is making it harder and harder for the financially challenged to eat. However, price per pound, in-season produce is going to be less money for more nutrients than that party-sized bag of chips. But by adding more vegetables and fruits to your meal, you’re adding higher satiety, which leads to less consumption of the pricy stuff. Yeah maybe it’s fun to Be An Adult and have Peeps for dinner. But when you’re ravenous again an hour later, how much is your sugar-rush choice costing you in extra eating?

I hope these have inspired you in some way and help with your budgeting journey. And don’t forget to grab your free copy of my Top 30 Budget Foods!

Eat well! Love, Momma.