Today more than ever, every family I know is looking for ways to save money on their food budget. You’d think that would be easy to do, but with prices rising regularly at the supermarket, it’s a slippery slope that keeps getting harder and harder to cross.
Here are 5 steps our family has been taking (very successfully) to stretch our monthly food budget:
Clip Coupons Like a Pro
I am fortunate to live with a certifiable Coupon Queen. My wife saves us thousands of dollars a year (yes, I said $1000’s) just by concentrating upon couponing. If you think this means clipping an occasional coupon from the Sunday paper, it’s a bit more organized than that.
She clips only those coupons we actually use (avoiding the huge mess that discourages most coupon clippers eventually). Each coupon is placed in an according folder with multiple pockets (breakfast, lunch, dinners, snacks, misc.). When she goes shopping, the folder fits neatly into the top part of the shopping cart. Incidentally, we use coupons for meals outside the home, too, usually saving 25 to 50% off our total bills.
If you go out twice a week, that could save you hundreds of dollars over the course of the year.
She’s also big in printing coupons from the manufacturer’s website. These sites are goldmines for the savvy shopper. Use Rewards Credit Cards Many credit cards offer cash back rewards every time you use the card for a purchase. The card company may rotate what purchases they offer the rewards for (food purchases this month, fuel or dining purchase the next month, for example). As a 2-person family, we get checks every couple of months for a $100 or so. Larger families should do even better.
Would an extra $100 help you monthly budget? You bet it would.
Buy Generic Brands
Amazingly, some families aren’t even aware that major supermarkets offer their own brands of commonly purchased food items at huge discounts.
Our local Stater Brothers Supermarket, for example, charges around 99 cents for the same noodles soup that Campbell want $1.95 for. It’s the same quality product (I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t come from the same food plant), so why pay more. Start being more aware of the savings you can achieve from a generic brand, not just in food but in everything. We constantly see discounts of as much as 40-60% or off major brands. |
Save Your Leftovers
You may be surprised at how much your family is wasting on leftover foods. It takes little effort to save that extra soup or roast for a later meal or snack. Our most commonly used kitchen items are a set of plastic containers that are stacked up in the cupboard. We pack them with leftovers, freeze them, and save them for later. Every time you do this, you should be hearing a very loud CaCHING! In the background.
Invest in a Good Juicer/Power Mixer
Admit it. You throw away a lot of fruits and vegetables because they become overripe before you can eat them. The solution at our house was to invest in a good quality power mixer that could turn those aging fruits and veggies into supremely delicious smoothies, hot soups, and other dishes. Don’t settle for one of those cheap mixers—invest in one that could cost as much as $200-300. I know that’s a lot, but you will get pay back within several months and the mixer will last for many years, unlike the cheaper models.
I recommend VitaMix, by the way. It makes a great gift to yourself, and pays for itself many times over. This tip could lead you into a much healthier lifestyle (juicing), but that’s another article.
Bottom line: check out these and other money-saving tools that lie all around you. It’s worth $1000’s of dollars a year to you.
