Ways to Save a Little Here and There

July 27, 2011

According to the Consumer Expenditure Survey of 2009, American households spent an average of $3,753 on food at home. This equates to a little over $300 a month, and between you and me, that sounds a little low. Regardless, some have suggested that we waste as much as 40% of our food in the U.S., and that’s a lot of dough (pardon the pun). We obviously need to eat, and for many this is one of the largest expenses (behind rent or mortgage) in the budget. We know couponing is one way to cut down on the food bill, and if you would like to know more about how to save money in groceries using this strategy, check out these blogs written by my colleagues.

Personally, couponing does not work in my home. We prefer, instead, to shop at discount grocers like Aldi, Walmart, and any place with the name “Dollar” in it. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some techniques to keeping the cost as low as possible. Here are some additional tips that you may, or may not, have thought about:

Plan out your meals in advance

Most of us probably wait until we get home from work before we decide what we’re going to have for dinner. Trying to prepare a quick meal often means using prepackaged foods, which tend to be more expensive than using fresh ingredients and making a meal from scratch. There are tons and tons of quick and easy recipe books that anyone can follow to make a meal in 30 minutes or less, so next Sunday try sitting down and planning out a meal for each day of the week. Look through the pantry to see what ingredients you already have, and what you’ll need to pick up at the store. This could save you up to $20 a week.

Prepare a grocery list and stick to it!

Grocers have figured out how to position items in their stores to increase the likelihood of impulsive purchases. There are three things you can do to reduce the temptation of impulsive buys:

Never shop hungry
Use cash instead of plastic to buy groceries
Always shop with a list

By avoiding impulsive buys, you could save another $3 to $5 a week.

Consolidate trips

There may be a number of reasons for why you need to drive around town, but going back and forth to the grocery store does not have to be one of them. Try to make the most of every ride in the car by planning to buy gas, food, and any other items in the same trip. We live about five miles from the nearest grocery store. By cutting two extra trips a week, we could reduce our travel by 20 miles, saving $3.50 or more in gas.

Cook in quantity

It may sound counterintuitive, but buying larger quantities and cooking larger meals may actually help save you money. Most of us can understand the benefits of buying in bulk, but the benefit of cooking in bulk is that it allows you to use leftovers to prepare dishes for later in the week. Perhaps the biggest benefit is being able to take your lunch to work, which could save $5 or more a day, if you regularly eat out for lunch. Reduce spoilage by placing leftovers in containers with a vacuum seal, and store items in the freezer (but don’t forget they are there) if you don’t intend to eat it again right away. Here are some favorites from my household:

One large pot of spaghetti noodles will feed my kids for a week
A large pot of rice goes a long way
Soups, broths, chili, and other liquid based foods store nicely
Chicken, steak, pork, ground beef (pretty much any form of meat) can be chopped, sliced, and diced into tacos, salads, sandwiches, and a whole host of other things

This could save you another $20 a week.

It doesn’t seem like much, but when you put it all together, you could save up to $200 a month, or $2,400 a year. When you put it that way, you really start to appreciate the difference little changes here and there can make.