Stretch your food dollar without sacrificing nutrition
According to our informal poll, about half of the ND community has begun to make some changes in eating and buying habits in response to rising food costs. Many are eating out less often, shopping for sales, and cutting back on more expensive food items.
Here are some of my best tips on ways to stretch your food dollar without sacrificing nutrition:
1. Don't pay a premium for convenience. You can save a lot of money on groceries simply by washing your own lettuce, peeling your own carrots, slicing your own cheese, and chopping your own onions. I think people underestimate just how much extra they are spending for these small conveniences and at the same time overestimate how much time they are really saving. Foods also lose freshness and nutrients when they are pre-washed and processed.
2. Skip the junk food aisle. Chips, sodas, and sweets are very costly, especially when you consider that they don't contribute any real nutritional value to your diet. Don't get me wrong: I personally couldn't live without snacks. But you'll get more nutrition from your food dollar if you spend that money on nutritious treats like nuts, sunflower seeds, and dried or fresh fruits.
3. Make it yourself and save. You can spend $3 on a liter of ice tea or you can make your own for about 10 cents worth of tea bags. And skip the meal kits. The other day I saw a pasta salad kit that contained about 80 cents worth of macaroni and a packet of seasonings for $3.50. For a savings of $2.70, I'm happy to get out my own salt and pepper shaker, thank you.
4. Don't pay extra for individual serving sizes. Buy yogurt, applesauce, cereal, and snacks in large containers and you'll save big (plus, you'll put less packaging into the waste stream). It only takes a few moments to transfer individual servings into zip lock bags or reusable containers, either to pack in your lunch or to exercise portion control.
5. Go meatless once or twice a week. Meat is one of the costliest items on your grocery list. You can save money and give the environment a boost as well by enjoying a vegetarian meal. Click here to read a fascinating post on the energetic costs of various food choices. With fuel prices driving up the prices of everything else, lowering the carbon footprint of your diet will benefit your wallet as well as the planet and the economy.
Watch for more posts on stretching your food dollar without sacrificing nutrition and feel free to add your own tips below.
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Posted by: Susan | Jun 4, 2008 5:32:46 PM
Numbers 1 and 4 - I think some people don't realize this. Having someone else to the extra bit of work for you will also cost more.
And really, is it too much work to slice cheese or put servings in baggies??? Maybe it is for some.
Posted by: Caitlyn | Jun 5, 2008 1:03:22 PM
Going meatless is not only great for reducing our carbon footprints and conserving but also for saving money. I prefer to eat free-range or organic when I can, but that is always even more pricier. Many people don't realize that there are other options when it comes to protein sources. The Meatless Monday Campaign website (www.meatlessmonday.com)has tons of information on cheaper proteins as well as great recipes. I mean, wouldn't it be great to have a vegetarian chili using a $1.50 can of beans rather than spending upwards of $5 on meat? I just started working for the campaign and as a recent college grad, I've found that going vegetarian at least once a week is way more affordable than eating meat everyday.
Posted by: jeny_nour | Jun 6, 2008 9:09:19 AM
Also going meatless might be a benefit if you are having to work at keeping your cholesterol numbers down.
Eating a pita filled with shredded romaine, and bits of green onion, cucumber, tomato, red onion, feta, olives and a large dollop of humus, instead of chicken, is one quick lunch.
Posted by: Buy in bulk! | Jun 12, 2008 6:19:08 PM
I'm a college student, living (and eating) alone so it is hard to imagine that I can actually go through the larger (and ounce-for-ounce) cheaper bag of spinach, apples, carrots, etc. However, by purchasing a few staples in bulk rather than a variety of small packages, I've been able to save a lot of money and still eat healthy! Also, this should go without saying, but don't let food go to waste. Sometimes my motivation to eat a salad rather than a few spoonfuls of peanut-butter is simply that my veggies are going to go bad soon.
Posted by: Mike | Jun 16, 2008 10:32:06 AM
Here's what we do, and it works. We feed a family of 5 for under $100/week, and feed them well.
Check the expiration dates on meat, our local store offers daily specials when the meat will expire within a few days. You have to cook or freeze it immediately, but the savings are in the 20-30% range.
Buy a freezer (not frost-free) and stock up during sales. Stores usually run on a 12-week cycle, buy enough of the food when it's on sale to keep you until the next sale (check, some things go on sale more frequently). Create a pantry area and stock up until the next sale.
Use coupons! The companies put these out to lure new customers, but they also help the current group. Stores double or triple coupons, adding to their value. Sometimes we get a $100 card down to $20 just with coupons!
Posted by: Flavio Domingos | Jun 16, 2008 11:26:49 AM
Hi Monica,
Thanks for the great tips!
Can I add few more? :)
6. Buy food in bulk.
7. Sprout your seeds & nuts (You will increase their nutritional power and increase their yield). Use Sunflower seeds, sprout them, make milk of them.
8. Eat a Raw and Vegan diet. You will save money and time later not having to go to the doctors and not polluting the Planet.
9. Let's suggest to the politicians to allow Hemp as a crop again! Hemp si the most complete protein rich food. Rich in Omega-3 and Omega-6. It is an amazing food! Hemp milk is the best milk I ever had.
10. Bring your own container and reuseble CUPS. In stores, you save at least $0.10 or $0.20 when you bring your own stuff. And doing that, you are a little bit nicer to the Planet.
11. Have Love in your own Heart. Find it.
Posted by: Yannah | Jun 16, 2008 12:20:21 PM
Create your menu list for next two weeks (or next month, now that's a challenge of our planning abilities) before you work on the shopping list. If you have at least a vague idea as to what you'll be cooking you can focus on items you need to make the menu happen instead of loading your cart up with miscellaneous products that are firsly waste of money and secondly waste of your precious space you have available to store the food at home. An additional advantage is that you don't have to rack you brains every day over what you'll cook.
Furthermore, I guess it goes without saying, the less trips to the store (thanks to meal planning) the easier it is to keep a lid on your monthly grocery expenses.
Posted by: Susan L. | Jun 16, 2008 12:24:55 PM
I've been eating from scratch whole foods for a long time, and would love to know how to do that for less. My protein is mostly wild-caught fish, with some chicken & occasional vegetarian. Can't do vegan, it doesn't work for me (yes, I've tried it). No red meat. Regarding the sale meats comments, my best local grocery puts out their expiring foods of all sorts from 7AM to 10AM, & what's left over goes to the local food bank. It's worth checking with your favorite store to see what they do with expiring date merchandise.
Posted by: Kristine | Jun 16, 2008 2:15:21 PM
Don't forget leftovers! We usually only have 1 or 2 servings of leftovers. I eat them for lunch and my oldest daughter takes them to work, too. And prep 2 meals at once. If you make spaghetti for one dinner, cook up 2 lbs of meat, extra sauce, and an extra pot of shaped pasta. Throw the extra in a casserole for pasta bake to freeze for another night.
I also use the menu. I make the a month at a time before a major shopping trip. I also make smaller shopping lists for fresh produce and dairy for each week so I know when I go back for those things exactly what I need. Not only does it save trips to the store (saving money), it also saves gas for the trip, and cuts down on eating out since we know what is for dinner. When I plan the menu, I look at the family's activity calendar and plan meals accordingly. And, if events change, as they often do, I can always swap out meals in the same week.
Put leftover night on the menu for nights when everyone has different activities and needs to eat at different times. This way, everyone eats healthy still, we avoid fast food, and we don't throw away as much food.
We have 2 teen girls, 1 teen boy and an infant. We keep our food costs around $600/month shopping at the Army commissary. I try to only shop in the local community for items I can't get at the commissary.
Posted by: peg | Jun 16, 2008 2:22:38 PM
To save on food and fuel costs, use a pressure cooker to cook lentils, dried beans, and even meats. Lentils are a great source of protein, low in fat, and a less expensive option than meat. The pressure cooker allows you save on fuel bills too, by decreasing cooking time to a few minutes.
Posted by: Analisa | Jun 16, 2008 2:42:43 PM
Being that i live in California, the weather is awesome for planting trees and plants. Before i planted a black berry bush, 3 tomato plants, and a cherry tree this year. I already had an avocado tree, persimmon tree, apricot tree, orange tree, lemon tree, apple tree, peach and nectarine trees. Now keep in mind i live in a modest neighborhood its all American, not really fancy but civilized. Also my family and i live in the San Francisco Bay Area and things are extremely expensive here. The other day i was at the store and i saw lemons for $1.25 EACH! Well being that i have a tree in my back yard and being that my family cannot consume 50 lemons a week. I sell them for 25 cents each. There are actually a lot of people that do this via craigslist.org. This way i make a little bit of money and other people don't have to spend the absurd amount of $1.25 each. Also i stay friendly with my neighbors because we barter fruits and vegetables. So whatever i made need it readily available and FRESH. Also i can trust that they are not contaminated with harmful pesticides and salmonella! If your wondering where i got that many plants and trees. I got them for free via craigslist.org. Sometimes people find trees in their back yard that squirrels have planted or have just started growing for whatever reason and so people give them away. Thanks for reading I hope my tips have shed some light for everyone! We need to stick together at a time when our economy sucks!
Posted by: Alice | Jun 16, 2008 3:17:11 PM
If you have even a small yard, start a vegetable garden and you can have the very freshest organic produce. Wonderful for your health and budget as well as for your section of the planet.
Posted by: Ann | Jun 16, 2008 4:22:24 PM
I keep my grocery bills down by raising a huge garden in the summer and canning or freezing the produce for winter. We can all our own spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, salsa, green beans, carrots, and freeze corn. It is a lot of work in the summer, but the kids get in on it and know where food comes from and that it just doesn't appear on the table every night. We raise chickens for eggs and meat and swap chicken with my parents for beef (which they raise). I feed a family of 7 for under $400 a month- that includes twin teenage boys!
Posted by: shellp | Jun 16, 2008 7:00:33 PM
Despite making from mostly 'scratch' eating healthy is becoming harder. Unfortunately, I no longer live where raising a garden is an option. The best I can manage is a few large pots of tomatos. Especially with the latest food crisis- how can we any of us win?
Posted by: Pama | Jun 17, 2008 7:38:48 AM
It's cheaper to go to the local farmers market than it is to grow your own. You can spend hundreds of dollars on gardening your own veggies. Also getting in local co-ops and buying from local farmers is a good thing to do. Why the food suppliers are sending us vegetables from other countries is beyond me. They need to stop it.
Posted by: Renee in Livermore CA | Jun 17, 2008 12:53:35 PM
Make sure to eat ALL your leftovers! We save tremendously on the food budget by incorporating leftovers into future meals. A whole baked chicken can be dinner #1; take off the leftover meat and use some for burritos or wraps (dinner #2) and make soup with the rest (dinner #3). There will probably even be leftover soup for dinner #4! The leftover mashed potatoes from dinner #1 can be turned into potato pancakes and fried up with onion and eggs. Get creative and use up that food that you've already paid for!
Posted by: Kareem | Jun 17, 2008 4:01:08 PM
It definitely saves alot to simply deal with some of the food you already have in your fridge or pantry, especially having to drive to the supermarket and buy more food. Also with leftovers, its always better to use what you have then going to get more, along with all the other helpful tips to saving money with your groceries. Fruits and vegetables can be grown, and it saves alot simply to do some of the handwork yourself!
Posted by: Judy Kellett | Jun 18, 2008 2:25:32 AM
Buy a decent knife!!
Then you can dice your own stewing meat instead of paying somebody else to do it. You can reduce a chicken to two breasts, two legs, two wings and a frame in minutes. You can buy very cheap pork forequarter and make your own stirfry meat for half what it would otherwise cost you. For most domestic setups, a 20cm chef's knife and a small boning knife, plus a sharpening steel, are all you will ever need.
Posted by: Beverly | Jun 18, 2008 2:08:13 PM
I make everything from scratch including my cleaning supplies.My mom
never bought anything she could do herself. Examples:
(1)Toast leftover bread for bread crumbs or croutons
(2)1 cup sugar plus 2 tbsp molasses=
brown sugar
(3)Buy large bricks of cheese and slice or grate(can be frozen)
(4)Cook dinner with tomorrows lunch in mind
(5)Buy dry milk and reconstitute for cooking and baking
I have books of moms money saving tips.There are lots of books on ways to save money on just about anything you could possibly ever need.
Posted by: Nancy | Jun 18, 2008 4:03:57 PM
This seems trivial, but before I go to the store, I check my refrigerator for open or partially used containers, and try to incorporate them into the meals I am planning. That serves both the purpose of using bits and pieces and saving money, as well as keeping my fridge a little bit cleaner and less cluttered. Also, leftover raw veggies, from lettuce to carrots, even salad dressed with Italian dressing, can be pureed with some tomato juice or V-8 to make an awesome cold soup.
