{ on being frugal }
Lately, I have felt really burdened to learn how to live on less. Not just because of the economy, but I’ve never liked wasting money on things when there is something comparable that is cheaper, or on things that are “wants” instead of “needs”. I’ve also felt that the Lord is really putting the less-fortunate on my heart, and I feel guilty for wasting money on “extras” that could be used to help others meet their very basic needs.
Another things is that in a few years, when Funnel and I are parents, we’re planning on living on one income so that I can be a stay-at-home mom. We’ve been trying to practice this as much as possible now and live below our means so when that day comes, it won’t be a huge lifestyle adjustment.
The thing that overwhelms me the most in my weekly to-do list is grocery shopping. Even without trying to be frugal, grocery shopping is a challenge! I think it’s hard to plan meals that are healthy, taste good and fun to make, and most of all, share common ingredients with one another so that I have less to buy and don’t have a lot of random left-over stuff. Then when you add the saving-money factor, it’s even more overwhelming!
But I really want to work towards saving significant money in this area. I know some super-women who clip coupons, only buy things that are on sale (even if it means visiting multiple stores to complete their shopping), can their own veggies and fruits, make and freeze meals ahead of time in bulk, and spend probably half of what I do on my weekly grocery bill (and their families are double the size of mine!) It requires a lot of planning, extra time, and commitment, but I’m hoping to makes some small steps in this area. My goal for the next year is to slowly implement some steps for saving money in my grocery shopping, and hopefully soon it will be second nature!
A couple of things I am doing now:
1. Making a big batch of soup on Sundays to use in our lunches the following week. The first week I made black bean soup with a bag of dried beans I had on hand, last week I made beef vegetable soup, and this week I am making a vegetarian 16-bean soup. I’ve made the soup in my crock-pot on Sundays, then divided it up into Tupperware containers for our lunches during the week. Funnel isn’t a soup person, but he’s really liked the soups I’ve made so far. Dried beans are dirt cheap, and before,when we packed in the mornings before work, it was a common occurrence to be running late, not have time to make sandwiches and end up spending $5 or $6 to eat out. A week’s worth of soup costs less than that! And the crock pot is so easy – you just dump all the ingredients in and let it do it’s thing!
(( the beans for my 16-bean soup. Aren’t they pretty? ))
2. Avoiding “convenience foods”. This week on a radio program I was listening to, they had a guest talking about how to save money at the grocery store. Her biggest tip was to avoid convenience foods – anything pre-cut, pre-washed, pre-cooked, pre-mixed. I didn’t think this tip applied to me because I usually make my food from scratch, but then as she went on, I realized how many things in my pantry and refrigerator were convenience foods: pancake mix, individually packaged applesauces, flavored oatmeal packets, bagged lettuce, rice & black bean mix… and I could go on. She said you spend 4 to 5 times as much on convenience foods than if you prepared it yourself. Yesterday, I didn’t buy any convenience foods at my weekly shopping trip!
I’m going to slowly start doing more and more things to save money and I thought it might be helpful to blog about this ongoing journey of cutting expenses, because I’m sure other people would like to work on this too!
What are your best tips for saving money on food? I would love to hear them!
November 16th, 2009 at 5:41 am
I’ve seen your blog on some of the others that I read and I’ve read before but this entry caught my attention since I too am frugal with food buying!
Best suggestion I can make is Aldi, I get most of my canned goods and baking items there. For instance, a can of tomato paste is $0.19 and beans are cheap as well. They have large bags of shredded cheese for what a small bag would cost at Meijer or Kroger. There meat is not that great and you have to use their produce pretty quick, but I have saved tons of money there. Its mostly off brand items and you have to bring your own bags. Typically I spend $30 there and get two huge bags of food!
November 16th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
You inspire me to be more frugal!
You’ve already discovered my best tip – dried beans. They are delicious, versatile, full of nutrition and only pennies per serving.
My second tip: plan a weeks menus, and have “roll over” meals. Ingredients that you can use two or three nights in a row, in different dishes.
Like: Baked Chicken – next night: chicken and noodles – then: fajita’s.
It saves a lot of time.
Funny…I was just thinking today about inviting you and Amy over to have a “cooking” day here where we could plan, shop, cook and freeze meals ahead for the week. I used to do that regularly when the kids were little, but it would be so much more fun now to have girl company. Keep up the great work!
November 17th, 2009 at 11:07 am
this is awesome! i have been trying to learn to budget myself, which is only the tip of the iceberg compared to what you are doing! i have a lot of trouble because i like eating out and going out with friends. i would love to know more ideas that you have about saving money in all regards and especially in food! thank you!!
November 17th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
hey i just thought of this too…i don’t know if it would help you (guys) out but its called mint.com and its a free budgeting tool. i’ve been using it and its pretty cool, and i know my brother uses it too and liks it. just thought you might be interested
November 17th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Jen! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I can’t wait to hear all of your cool money saving implementations:)
< Ali
November 18th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
one of my favorite things to do is go through the local grocery ads that we get in the mail and see what’s on sale! I then plan that weeks grocery shopping accordingly. Buying things from bulk bins (oatmeal, beans, granola, etc.) is a great way to cut down on packaging waste as well as cost, plus you get to control how much you get! I like to stock up on things when they’re on sale (cereal, etc.) and since I only feed myself, I’ll freeze half a loaf of bread, or freeze half the container of hummus so that I can still enjoy it, but not feel pressured to have to finish it before it goes bad! hope this helps.
good luck!
November 22nd, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I recently have been spending a lot of time with a VERY frugal family, so I’ve been learning a lot too! Everyone’s pretty much covered everything I had to share, except this. Block cheese. It tastes delicious freshly grated, and it last a lot longer than pre-packaged shredded cheese, and it seems to go farther.
I also don’t go to the store unless I have my meals planned. Otherwise I found i end up buying things that I “think” I may need. . . but really it wastes money and food.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:32 pm
I respect and applaud you for this post. First of all, I think that God does call us to give up possessions, live simply, and thus be freer. I am glad you are receptive to where you feel God might lead you in that area. Second of all, those beans are pretty.
November 25th, 2009 at 6:01 am
Another thing–have you looked into joining a community food co-op? We have an amazing one in Utah. That’s where a co-op buys food in bulk (often from local farmers), and the community members each buy a share. The more people who participate, the more discounted the shares are. Often a food co-op runs on volunteer hours.
You wouldn’t believe all the fresh, healthy, local food I get for like $20. I’m sure there are co-ops in the central Ohio area.
November 29th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
There are! There is one in Clintonville and one in Bexley.