My boyfriend and I are trying to save up some money, so we were going over our budget last night. The amount of money we spend on food is ridiculous! We don't go out to eat that often...we just like to cook good food. Any ideas on food that is on the cheaper side?
2006-08-17 05:33:14 · 19 answers · asked by ? 6 in Food & Drink ➔ Cooking & Recipes
Buy meat or chicken in bulk when on sale, split it and freeze it. Also, check in the stores for 1/2 price sales on meat-when they are the last day, alot of store put them at 1/2 price. Use coupons!
Thye save so much and you will be suprised at how much you stuff you actually use. Lots of pasta and rice too..good with veggies, spagetti sauce, chicken, etc. Also make homemade spaghetti sauce-it is cheaper and you can freeze it.
Also but veggies and fruit at a farmers market. Always good deals there. We sometimes eat "breakfast for dinner", eggs are cheap and you can make them so many ways. Cheak you local supermarket papers and stock up when stuff is on sale.
Good luck!
2006-08-17 06:03:24 · answer #1 · answered by Willow 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Buy stuff when it's on sale! I think meat/fish/seafood tends to be the most expensive part of the meal. Buy them when they are on sale! Chicken is the cheapest. I tend to buy the frozen tenderloins when they are BOGO. Chicken legs can be had as low as 39cents a lb! I only buy turkey, ham, or pork when they are on sale. You just have to have freezer space to store it. Pasta and rice are cheap- you can make pasta 40 million ways. Also- try to do carryover meals, where leftovers from one meal go towards another meal. When I cook ground beef for hamberger helper or something, I cook extra for adding to the spagetti sauce. I freeze it in 1/2 lb or 1lb foil wrapped packages, then just plop it in the next time I have pasta (less dirty dishes and time!) And if we grill chicken or steak, I will put on extra, then slice it up and add it to a nice big salad for the next dinner! And the second day you don't even have to cook!
2006-08-17 12:53:06 · answer #2 · answered by 2girlsmommy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if you can put in a garden even if its in buckets on your balcony. Tomato plant, a couple of squash plants. I use to make my own bread or biscuits. Look for the sales at the stores. Do not buy stuff like hamburger helper or junk food. Look for the items at the store that are store brand. Also use the store brand cereal. Rice is a good way to stretch things. We eat a lot of beans. Pinto beans with cheese as a meat substitute. Also like the lima beans and the butter beans. We use brown rice and corn as a vegetable with it.
Do not eat out. Fix everything at home. I usually
http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/eatingcheap
2006-08-17 12:53:02 · answer #3 · answered by T 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go to your local asian supermarket and starting cooking your own food. Asian supermarket offers the same type of food that Albertsons and Safeway offer, but cheaper and much fresher. The reason why it's fresher is because a lot of asians only buy there food there, so the turnover rate is higher. I doubt you'll see live fish in a tank for sale at Albertsons or Safeway. Only buy food at Albertsons or Safeway when they're on sale, like pasta. Buy food in bulk; they're much cheaper if you do the math and you'll have plenty of food for the rest of the month.
2006-08-17 12:44:39 · answer #4 · answered by Mrs Apple 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Buy lots of noodles. There are millions of ways to cook noodles and lots of sauces you can make from just one shopping trip. This can last up to two weeks.
Also try TV dinners. Not the best, but it's only like 50 cents to a dollar a meal. That's 7 bucks for 7 dinners! Sounds like a deal to me!
2006-08-17 12:39:26 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just make more things from scratch. Buy things that will cover more than one meal or leftovers. Shop at cheaper stores like Sav A Lot or Aldi's or MArc's to get better deals. Clip coupons. And pick food that is good (and good for you) but isn't so expensive to make.
2006-08-17 12:41:55 · answer #6 · answered by meggiek97 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Potatoes are cheap and there are a thousand things you can do with them. Rice is cheap and lasts forever.
Me and my girlfriend are in exactly the same boat. What we decided to do was get a load of staple food such as potatoes, rice, noodles, pasta etc. They last for ages, they're cheap, and you can still have a really nice and really different meal every night.
2006-08-17 12:40:06 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Rice and beans, can't get cheaper than that. Also, pasta, ground beef, root vegetables and starches. Many vegetables are too expensive, but if you buy them frozen or canned, you can save, and they won't go bad too. There are many pasta dishes you can make, that are easy and delicious. One of my favorites is pasta with butter, lemon, and parsley - you don't even have to spend money on tomato sauce!
2006-08-17 13:00:08 · answer #8 · answered by Natasha 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
veggies, get them at the farmers market - potatoes and carrots are cheap, roast them with other root vegetables.... rice, and all kinds of bean-legumes are very cheap if you buy them in dried form, not canned. cornmeal is cheap you can make corn bread and corn muffins. use leftover bread to make croutons and stuffing. go to the supermarket and let sales drive which items you buy, that is, if broccoli is on sale and you were shopping for cauliflower, try to make the same recipe with broccoli. also, skip the packaged cut-up, skinless chicken and buy the whole chicken and cut-up yourself.... cheap meats like beef-shanks and stewing beef are very flavorful when braised or cooked for long periods of time
2006-08-17 12:43:47 · answer #9 · answered by Seven S 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Noodles are cheap; just add water and cook. Buy frozen juice concentrate instead of bottled juice. Save coupons and buy things only when they're on sale. If you have an Aldi in your area, shop there.
2006-08-17 12:40:28 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋