This gets me thinking about ways to save money on expenses that I can control. The number one expense that I feel I can control the most, is the amount we spend on food. There are just two of us in my household (I won’t include the cost of pet food…that amount has gone up quite a bit this year), and we often spend about $100 a week on groceries. We also end up throwing away about 15% of what we buy.
Here are some ways to save money on groceries:
- Don’t cook more food than you need. If you don’t want leftovers, adjust a recipe to account for this. Recipe websites like Allrecipes.com let you adjust the serving size.
- If you have a membership to a place like Costco, be careful how you shop. I mentioned this in another post about the dangers of the Costco membership! It is very easy to go overboard. We try to limit ourselves to food items that we know we will eat (like chicken breasts that can be used in a bunch of different recipes). Of course if you have a big family, this may not be a problem.
- If you have a membership to Costco and you are on friendly terms with your neighbors, you can see if they would be willing to split the cost of some of your food purchases.
- Plan your meals ahead of time, or freeze what you don’t use. One of the food items that we throw away the most is produce. We buy an onion for a recipe, use half of it and end up throwing way the other half. Here is a link with information on how to store and freeze various food items: Kitchenstewardship.com
Great post. We have our property tax included in our mortgage so we don't get a bill at the end of the year. Great ideas for saving too. I shop at Costco and I sure do know what you mean. It is just the two of us and I hate wasting food especially leftover. Thanks for the lovely tips on how to save :-)
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