In 2017 , we spent 55.05 a week on food. Part of that went to stock. USDA figures cost of food at home as actual food eaten; not food ready to eat. There was an article on facebook produced by one of our tv stations about a fellow that eats for 50.00 a week.. not the family, just him. That’s more than we eat for two of us plus a good part of granddaughter. She eats at home too, but we eat dairy and meat.
We eat well, we eat regular food. Meal plans show the same things many families eat. The difference lies in when and where you buy your food. Convenience spells $$$. If you want your groceries delivered, if you want to go to the most convenient store and throw anything you want into a cart and fill the cart, you are going to pay for that privilege. 70 percent of a grocery stores profit is in impulse buys. If you want to spend less, you have to do a little planning and buy your groceries in a different way.
I happened on to a unreal realization. I had a coupon for a free cake mix. It was Betty Crocker. Somehow, I hadn’t downloaded the coupon correctly. It rang up at 2.39. The same cake mix at Christmas time was 1.79 at another chain store. I had recently bought the same cake mix at a discount store for .88. That’s a 1.50 spread. It is not as much what you buy, but when and where you buy it.
There’s a phenomenon called the snow ball effect. Basically, if you take the savings you make on one thing and spend it on another money saving thing, your savings grow. Like starting a small snowball and rolling it in the snow to make a snowman.
If I was going to do one thing to get started, I would go to my warehouse store and buy a 25 lb bag of flour, a 20 lb bag of rice, and a 10 lb box of oatmeal. This starts a snowball.
1/2 cup raw oats makes a bowl of oatmeal. It is as much nutrition as four of those packs of oatmeal that are ‘instant’ . One cup of water, 1/2 cup of oatmeal in a bigger than you need bowl for 1.5 minutes makes a bowl of oatmeal. Not much more time than that envelope. The envelope costs ten cents. The 1/2 cup costs .085. Four times the nutrition for less money. I add a banana, or put a 1/2 a lunchbox apple cut in small pieces to the oatmeal. Cinnamon sugar is good too. You can feed a family of 6 on a dollar.
Rice purchased in bulk costs .02 a serving. That ready rice is about .50 a serving.
Flour is the biggest money saver. Ten minutes hands on time makes a loaf of peasant bread with almost not expertise. The hardest part is taking the temperature of the water and using good hot pads to take it out of the oven. The cost is .25 . The cost of buying that bread is upwards of 3.00.
It cost pennies to make those waffles or pancakes you buy ready made in the freezer section. The
bag of pancakes I checked on was 3.00. A couple of cups out of that bag makes enough pancakes to almost buy the bag. Ditto muffins. There are recipes that take almost no time. My mother taught his at age 9 to bake. Enlist help. There are breakfast muffins that take almost no time and are a good thing to have if you have children that rush out the door before breakfast.
These three things will free up enough money to start a stock. Set aside five dollars a week for a small family. This is the only time consuming pencil to paper ( or computer spread sheet) thing to do and you only have to do it once. List 10 meals that your family eats that use inexpensive cuts of meat. Its probably no secret that you aren't buying much steak 🥩 on four dollar a day budget.
We buy pork loin, hamburger, and boneless, skinless chicken breast. We fill in with cheese, beans, and eggs. These can average two dollars a pound. Again, its not what you buy, its when and where you buy it.
After you write the ten meals, make a list of the shelf stable ingredients that you will need to make the meal. Most families have a list of 10-15. Track these items for price a few weeks. It should become clear soon what store and price is a RBP. The lowest price you can buy this item for. Me aware of the fact that you cant necessarily be brand loyal. Store brands are often the name brand with a different label. Now, when you find that item at its rock bottom price, buy 5 dollars worth and stash it. You are going for a 4-6 week supply. That’s because some items have that rotation for sales by the stores. A four to six week supply means that if you eat spaghetti and meatballs once a week, you will need to stock 4-6 pasta sauces, spaghetti, and meatballs. We use 1/2 a box of spaghetti, because that is four servings. I cook 1/2 a box because , otherwise we would waste 1/2 a box. I recently got spaghetti for .50 a box. I also got pasta sauce for a dollar in a jar. I can always get it in a can for a dollar at the dollar tree, but it is less than that at winco. Meatballs are two dollars at Winco in the freezer section. I can’t make meatballs for two dollars a pound.
We only buy ready made when it is cheaper or a lot less time consuming than scratch.
Now, to recap, you have freed up some of your previous budget with making bulk decisions on basics. You have identified what meals you cook and what ingredients can be stocked and set aside a minimal amount to start stocking.
Make a plan, or plan to fail. Meal plans are a intricate part of slashing you food budget. It only takes a few minutes . You don’t have to get crazy. Just jot down the basic main dish. Most of us sere the same sides with a particular meal. How many times have you had spaghetti and meatballs with french bread and a green salad. LOL.
Stocking means you will have a short grocery list. You will get to the point where you are going to the best store and buying dairy, fresh fruits and veggies in season, and restocking anything that is a RBP.
Next: rotation. Meat. An important part of groceries on the cheap . Stay tuned for Thursday.
