[Melinda Wilson]

Hello everyone,

I’m looking for innovative strategies to cut down on grocery expenses without sacrificing the quality of the food I buy.

With the rising cost of living, it’s becoming more important to find effective ways to manage my budget while still enjoying nutritious and delicious meals.

I would love to hear about any tips, tricks, or habits that have worked for you.

Whether it’s through smart shopping techniques, meal planning, or leveraging technology, I’m open to all suggestions.

How do you balance saving money with maintaining a high standard of quality in your groceries?

Looking forward to your insights and experiences!

Thank you!

[Lianne]

Sadly, I’m down to one meal and maybe a snack a day. Not great for my diabetic self but it’s what I can afford

[Donna]

I eat soup (from scratch) at least 2 x per week. Summer, cold soup like gazpacho

[Lori]

I wait for the sales ads then I plan my meals around. What’s on sale and digital coupons

[Dianne]

I make a lot of soups and meatless soups are delicious and less expensive.

My family loves vegetable soup and throw some macaroni in it and it’ll fill you up.

Bake a keg of cornbread and pour some iced tea and it’s a good meal.

[Karen]

Avoid name brands as the quality of store brands is generally just as good or better.

Shop where the restaurants shop and at other discount grocers (ie not Walmart).

I haven’t been spending more than $100/month on groceries.

[Kiersten]

It’s not creative, but meal planning based off of sale items helps us stay in budget.

And, now that the kids are all older, we’ve cut down on snacks.

Still veggies and fruits or eggs for a snack if we need it.

Otherwise, we can eat our entire weekly budget just in “treat” foods as snacks so we just try to avoid it altogether.

Well, we still buy 1-2 treats a week but that’s how we likit

[Connie]

I go to Sam’s first. I look at the sales. If I buy a pound of lunch meat and most of it gets thrown away then the next time I get it it will be a third or half pound.

[Pat]

Have a breakfast meal for dinner. Ex. French toast, pancakes, biscuits and gravy and fried potatoes.

Another choice: beans and cornbread – country meal.

Chicken and rice, spaghetti for 2 meals.

[Linda]

Not really creative but by shopping the sales I. Three stores, I haven’t had to increase my food budget!

I also use up any leftovers!

[Yvette]

Learn recipes from traditional cuisines that have mastered meals that are cheap, nutritious and delicious e.g.

Italian, Mexican, Indian, Chinese, etc.

[Cheri]

Or compromising HEALTH.
Use a few ingredients for a quick meal.

“500-15 minute low sodium recipes” by Dick Logue (heart healthy, low sodium)

Amazon. Best $20 spent.

Tasty, filling, satisfying.

One example:

“New England Oatmeal”
*1 cup oats

*2 cups water

*1 chopped apple

*raisens

*cinnamon

*nuts

*maple syrup (spendy at first, but I don’t use sugars anywhere else so this amortized out and lasts a long time in the fridge)
This will make enough for three meals.

He’s done all the planning and work for us.

Desserts and drinks, even nutritional information after each dish.

For the whole family, he wrote, “500 Heart Healthy Slow cooker recipes, comfort food favorites that both your family and your Doctor will love.”

It’s not enough to be frugal.

It can be necessary.

But our health has to take priority.

[Sara]

Beans, oats, make your own bread, homemade soup, rice, noodle dishes. Chicken thighs.

I make my own beans in the instant pot.

Breakfast with oats is 10 cents a serving.

Bean and cheese enchilada 50 cents.

Easily you can eat for under $3

[Delisa]

Growing up Hispanic, I was raised on rice and beans for days. Boil the pinto beans and you can have them boiled or fry them.

[Jennifer]

When things like peppers, celery and onions are on sale buy them. You can cut them up and freeze them on a cookie sheet then bag them for use in soups, sauces, stews or what ever!

When pepping vegetables for your meals save the tops, ends and peeling.

Put in freezer bag until you have a bag full them boil it up! Best vegetable stock ever and no preservatives!

[Christine]

Try and find a friend that you can bulk shop with at Costco or Sam’s Club, been divide the items that you purchased in half.

[Bianca]

I meal plan everything for the week, including snacks etc
And I do this all online so I can see the cost and make adjustments for my budget.

[TsveteLina]

Growing up my mom would buy a whole chicken and separate it into pieces.

She’d cook the thighs, drumsticks and wings with rice, make a big pot of chicken soup with one of the breasts, then a chicken salad (or something else) with the other breast.

So our family would get 4-5 meals out of one chicken.

[Ariella]

In the Walmart app you can get a lot of cash back on grocery items!!

[Maria]

Shop what is on sale, visit food banks and join your local Buy Nothing FB group (if you have one) and meal prep around what you have and try to avoid any waste.

[Taylor]

Weigh/measure things out. A 1lb package of ground beef has 16 oz in it, which means you can get 4 patties at 4oz each.

If you just eyeball it you would probably only get 3 patties.

Use a tablespoon for preshredded cheese to make them last longer.

Same for things like peanut butter, Nutella , jams and other spreads.

[Kassia]

Buy what’s on sale/in season & make meals around that versus the other way around.

Meatless meals. More beans. Etc.

Buy store brands.

Take home ALL leftovers when eating out.

Leftover fries can be used for potato & egg breakfast tacos, leftover dipping sauce can become flavor base for soup, etc.

You paid for it so get your moneys worth; why toss perfectly good food if you can make it into something rose.

[Author]

Posts