Money: Food Edition

Since my post on budgeting I've heard of lots of buzz in church and elsewhere about budgeting and saving money (and food storage). I hope it doesn't mean a disaster is looming, but I have decided to start doing occasional tips on the essential parts of all of our budgets. So, this part is on FOOD. Now, I say my food budget is $350 but it is actually called my grocery budget. So, when I was buying diapers, those were included. Toilet paper is included. The occasional candy bar is included. Some of these tips are SERIOUS no-brainers. However, it never ceases to amaze me that people just don't do the simple things to save money so I'll mention them anyway.

• Take your lunch to work or school/Have your husband take his lunch to work. Buying lunch can get expensive; if you buy a "cheap" lunch (let's say $5) every day, that's $100 a month or $1200 a year! That's a nice vacation! What we do: Every night I make a little extra dinner and immediately put it into a tupperware or "take-a-long." Spencer takes that the next day for his lunch. He might have a boring food life, eating the same thing twice each week, back to back, but he doesn't complain. When we were first out of school and he was working I would make him a sandwich every day but that got really boring. So we've taken a slight step up.
• Don't buy pre-cut meats. Expensive!! I buy my meat at Costco. We like to have roast 2 or 3 Sundays a month. I go to Costco and buy the big round top roast in the vacuum-sealed package. It's about $28-$30. I come home and cut it (or have Spencer cut it - too yucky for me) into about 5 smaller roasts. Each of those easily feeds our family (sometimes we only cut it into 4 if we plan to have people over), and we still have enough to make his lunch for the next day). You get 4-5 roasts for under $30.
• I also buy my ground beef from Costco. It comes in massive packages but for $15 you can get several pounds of the lean beef. I come home and separate it into about 8 different clumps, and freeze it. I add it to our spaghetti sauce for a little heartier spaghetti. Or I make meatballs or use it in my lasagna. I also use it for taco salad.
• On the topic of lasagna...I make it about once a month. I make one for dinner that night, and I use the rest to put into a foil tin and freeze for later. You can easily increase your recipe size by adding more ricotta, more sauce, and more meat. I usually cook too many noodles anyway so I don't even have to worry about having enough. Cook extra when you can - you won't waste food and you'll save time.
• I've also started making my own chicken noodle soup. It's cold out right now, Emma LOVES the stuff, and I like how it tastes and how cheap it is to make. I make it about once a week. We get bread bowls for free, so I freeze those and pull them out when I need them. Last week I made my soup but increased it enough to have some for this coming week. It's a time saver in addition to a money saver.
• If I have leftover money in my food buget (which is my goal), I put that toward food storage. Because we enjoy moving so much (ha) I have never made a HUGE push to get it all. We have about a 3-month supply but we basically live on top of a fault line; who knows when we'll need it! On the topic of food storage, check food storage companies for specials. Also, when your store has canned foods for a great deal, stock up! I need to do better at this one. Maybe when we move in a few weeks I will really work on that. The idea of staying in one place for more than a year seriously excites me.
• Eat in! I agree that eating out is so fun and so convenient, especially for date night. But I know some people with very little money (and lots of debt) who eat out several times a week. It frustrates me to hear this. If you are going to eat out, look for coupons. There are lots of 2 for 1 deals out there right now. We have "kids eat free" coupons for Texas Roadhouse (our favorite place) but haven't used them yet even though we've had them for 5 months. Someday. I miss our starving student card (did anyone else use one of those?).
• Don't take your kids shopping if you can help it (I can't yet, but I can go with just one). Enough said. But, if your child is really cute and blows you kisses while you go get something out of the frozen section, take him along. It will make you happy.
• Check the deals/circulars! Even the most expensive stores will have good deals that make your patronage there much more money-worthy. Nothing bugs me more than spending $2.49/lb on grapes instead of $.88/lb. at the store down the street because I didn't know about the sale. P.S. Wednesday is the least-crowded day to shop, making it the least stressful.
• Shop the perimeter of the store; that's where the healthier food, and usually the more necessary food typically is. Avoid the middle, where the snacks and junk food is located. The key is - in and out. Get what you need and get out as fast as possible. I love to shop when I only have about 15 minutes before I have to be somewhere because I come out having spent less than I would have otherwise.
  

(To clarify why I don't do couponing...I don't need diabetes monitors, Prilosec, 40 bottles of shampoo, tubes of lipstick, or 10 tubes of toothpaste. Who cares if you're saving money if you'll never use the stuff? However, if I see a great deal on something I'm going to buy, I'll cut it out. I'm just not going to turn couponing into a hobby or an obsession - no time for that.)

Any other money-saving tips in relation to food? I surely didn't cover them all but these are the ones that I have found work the best.

*The average American family of 4 spends about $600 a month on food! Yikes!