When it comes to food there are so many different ways to be frugal, here are some suggestions:
• Make things for lunch or dinner that is traditionally a side item, for example: rice-a-roni or pasta-roni, macaroni & cheese, salad, soup, beans, potatoes, regular white or brown rice, pasta salad and pasta with sauce.
• Also, think about sandwiches, ham and cheese (microwave it for a few seconds to heat it up a little and it’s really good!), peanut butter and jelly, bologna, bacon lettuce and tomato, grilled cheese, any kind of sub sandwich, egg salad sandwich, leftover chicken, roast beef or turkey sandwiches.
• For snacks eat fruits, vegetables, dried fruit, nuts, yogurt, cottage cheese, muffins, dry cereal, apple sauce, homemade chex mix, pudding and jello. Fruits and veggies that make great snacks include: apples, grapes, strawberries, carrots, celery, raisins, snap peas, potatoes, bananas, cherries, kiwi and coconut.
• Canned soups and canned meats or pouches can be used to make frugal and quick meals. Canned meats and soups usually last for a very long time as well.
• Some people may snub this idea, but my family used to do it and my mom probably still does it to this day: instead of using ricotta cheese in lasagna substitute cottage cheese in its place. Ricotta is usually twice the price or more of cottage cheese.
• Make dough for bread and dough for pizza ahead of time and freeze it. This way you can have homemade bread with most meals.
• Freeze lots of things like milk, fruit, vegetables, meat, whole meals, leftovers, soup stock/broth, bread dough and cheese. If you find a good sale stock up and freeze what you won’t use right away. There are many things you can freeze that you may not know of, for a list of foods that can be frozen and how to go to the National Center for Home Food Preservation. They also have a list of foods that do not freeze well here.
• Experiment with ingredients you have to see what you can make before going shopping for more food. Be creative; go through your pantry to see what all you have that you could potentially make a meal from.
• Eat smaller portions of food and use less meat in your meals. Try eating one vegetarian meal a week; you can work up to more vegetarian meals if comfortable. I noticed that we were using one pound ground beef per meal (like many recipes call for) but if you cut it in half and only make a half a pound ground beef per meal you will barely notice much difference (especially if you’re feeding only 2 to 3 people).
• Only buy steak when it’s on sale or deep discount.
• Ground beef, chicken and pork are the most frugal meats to work with. You have a variety of choices with all three.
• Supplement food purchases at the store with food that you can forage for or food that you have grown.
• Soups, stews and casseroles are the most versatile and frugal choices for dinners.
• Keep a well stocked pantry of a few essential items and you will always be able to grab something to make a meal with.
• Make a list of the meals that you and your family eat and enjoy the most. How many can you come up with? You can make a weekly or monthly meal plan based around those items. Remember to plan for leftovers, special occasions and for busy days. It is also good to plan for any last minute thing that may come up where you need a quick meal.
• Know when the best time to buy certain foods is. During different months throughout the year stores will put certain items on sale one month that they don’t discount as deeply the rest of the year. Here’s a handy list of what products are on sale throughout the year listed by month: Monthly Food Cycles on Dollar Stretcher.
