Basically, there are small steps to take to make this happen. One step at a time, inch by inch, this can happen even with the smallest of budgets. The USDA has stats on how much it should cost for a variety of sizes of families and for a variety of budgets. Google : USDA cost of food at home.
Be sure to read the notes , there is a formula for additional monies for smaller families.
- Find the TWO stores that are cheaper and shop the cheapest prices on the things you need. This is a biggie. Its the easiest way to cut your food budget. No one store has the best prices on everything. Shopping two stores gives you the best chance of good produce, and a double chance of getting the lowest prices on the other things you need.
- 1/2 the average grocery cart is filled with drinks and snack foods. Avoiding the snack food an pop etc will drastically lower your food bill and make you more healthy at the same time.
- Simplify your choice of protein. Pick cuts of meats that you can buy for a RBP of about two dollars a pound. Beef and salmon are an exception. Buying cuts of meat that are versatile will make buying easier and buying them in bulk on a rotation basis will make them cheaper. Buy as much as you will use in a month to six weeks. Portion control it before you freeze it. Cook ground meats and portion control them. Putting the portion controlled packets in a gallon freezer bag will make retrieving more efficient. It will also make it easy to see when you need to look for a sale more efficient. Stores put a so called loss leader on the front page of their ad frequently.
- My mother used to say : some people could have a bargain get up and bite them in thee butt, and they wouldn’t see it. Don’t be that person. Know the RBP of the things you buy on a regular basis. When they go on sale at that price, buy: a) as much as you can (store limits), b) as much as you can afford , or c) as much as you need to meet your self imposed stock limit. Whichever comes first. Six weeks works for a lot of families. If the item is a popular staple, they usually go on sale with that frequency. If you use diced tomatoes, for example, at a rate of 4 cans a week, you need to keep 24 cans. That’s a lot easier to do if you pay 39 or 49 cents a can instead of .68 to 1.00.
- Look for dairy sale and buy a months worth. Check pull dates and check the verbage on reading them. A lot of times, sour cream, cottage cheese, yogurt and eggs will be out a month. Dairy usually goes on sale at least once a month. Cheaper at costco if you use that much quanity.
- Buy veggies in season at the lowest price.
- Portion control. If you don’t put the entire roast on the table , you won’t eat the entire roast o the table. America has an obesity problem....all I’m saying.
- Learn to scratch cook efficiently. If you can, get the kitchen tools to help you. A insta pot, blender or food processer, and kitchen aid mixer are all good tools. There are all kinds of recipes on the internet that call for less than five ingredients. Avoid buying too much ready made food. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is buying a rotisserie chicken. Chickens are often .88 a lb. Check out the recipe for “easiest chicken ever” on the blog. When you buy ready made mixes etc. you are paying for someone elses labor and many times it is just as easy to make the thing from scratch.
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