How do you stretch your food budget?

Question

I currently cook for 5 (me, husband, and 3 small children). I am pregnant again so I will be cooking for 6. I'm looking for ways to stretch the food budget. I only have a Wal-Mart, and two small (expensive) grocery stores. No outdoor markets or anything. Any tips, tricks or recipes would be appreciated.

Answer 1

One watch for what is on sale especially meat stock up and freeze. (with hamburger buy the better stuff, better health, less waste and in grease and is actually a better deal) Sauces are inexpensive, so is pasta. Get a food slicer at a yard sale, when you make a ham or a roast you can then slice lunch meat (another expensive thing) Mac and Cheese can be mixed with burger, slices of hot dog, and ham, simple cheap and easy. Be creative with you leftovers. Much can be done with a simple baked potato, carefully cut in half and carve out the inside, mix with some mild and cheese whip it up place back in and bake or broil for a few minutes. Rice is a cheap sidedish and can be presented in many ways Buy the store brands they are made usually by the same people who make the national brands. Get a home made breadmaker, cheap to make and smells oh so good when done. Use coupons only when the item is on sale that is when you save. If you have a crock pot even the toughest cheapest cuts of meat can be made tender. Buy a cheap roast, cut into chunks cook in one can of Aus Jux and five cans of beef gravy for about 5-6 hours, Cut boiled taters on the side (if you put them in they will get mushy and steal all the gravy.) Same with boneless, skinless chicken breast but instead of the beef gravy use cream of chicken soup. Buttered noodles with a hint of garlic is a nice side dish. Think I best stop now

Answer 2

Coupons help, but only the ones for things you normally eat. Scrap the junk food. If your store has a card, make sure you're signed up for that (like Safeway or Albertsons). Check the newspaper inserts for sales. Buy in bulk when you can. I buy 5 pounds of ground beef and then portion it up and freeze it in ziplocks. Make your own bread and tortillas. Make your own soups. Say you have chicken one night, save the bones and scraps and boil it into stock. Baby carrots freeze well for the stock. Buy store brands. Shred your own cheese from blocks, blocks are cheaper than pre-shredded. And cheese can go in the freezer too. Buy dried beans instead of canned. Get a large bag of rice. Spend a bit at first to get all your dried spices.

Once you get your larder in place, all you need to buy is perishables like milk or eggs.

(If you want to have fun, track it in Excel. It's been surprising seeing how much we spent in the past compared to now, and you can see that you just bought *foo* only two weeks ago.)

Answer 3

Soups feed a lot of people and lend plenty of leftovers. There are some great store-bought crockpot recipes for hearty soups that can yield 8-12 servings for less than $10 a pop. It really can stretch your budget far if you don't mind having it too often.

Answer 4

I had a large family so I know what you mean.I shopped a got the specials and stretched with rice,pastas,and potatoes.I made a lot of gumbo,meatloaf,and chicken.I like to cook up a lot of ground meat and freeze it to use later.Buy on sale and if you have a freezer,use it.Buy the breads day old and put in freezer.I toasted my bread out of the freezer,tastes fresh.Then again I enjoyed beans anyway you can cook them.hope this helps.

Answer 5

I make a weekly menu and start off with things I already have in the house. I don't buy anything that I don't need for the week's menu unless it's something like a buy one get one free deal. Just because I'm out of corn doesn't mean I'm going to buy it if I'm not planning on having it that week. See what your stores have on sale and base your menu on those items too.

Answer 6

Lots of rice and bean meals get a pressure cooker and buy beans that are not cooked, lots of potatoes and noodle dishes stuff that goes a long way and is filling pork is cheaper than beef and there are many ways to cook and bake it eggs are a great filler upper for breakfast.

Answer 7

We eat a lot of hamburger, mac & cheese and salads. Also watch for special 10 lb. meat sales stores sometimes have. When we get out income tax money, we spend 80% of it on just meat and put it in the freezer.

Answer 8

Use coupons for items you normally buy. Be careful not to get caught up in coupon savings by buying something with a coupon you wouldnt normally use.

Make saving a game. See if you can out-do yourself every week. I love the shopping trips where I find something on sale AND I have a coupon. Makes it fun.

Answer 9

Popcorn

Answer 10

Mine are all grown up now but I remember when they were small !!!!!
1/ Buy bulk minced beef from Wal-Mart & freeze it in 1lb units. use to make bolognese sauce (with spaghetti), meatballs (with pasta), shepherds pie =thick meat sauce (i.e. bolognese without the tomatoes) topped with mashed potato & grated cheese on top then put in oven or under grill to melt the cheese-kids love it. Try the same sauce layered between layers of thinly sliced potato, small pieces of butter on top layer of potato, cover with foil & bake in oven for 1.5 hours = tasty. Try making your own meat pies with short crust pastry & thick meat sauce, lovely with mashed potatoes & any green vegetable.
2/ Chicken always goes down well, roast it one day, cold with salad the next then strip bones of any remaining meat & put all carcass in big pan, cover with cold water & bring to the boil. Turn heat down & simmer for1 hour. Sieve bones out, keeping stock then add chopped onion, carrot & potato & meat you previously stripped, simmer for 20 mins then blend & add salt & pepper. Makes a lovely thick soup that is delicious on a cold day with fresh bread.
Hope you find these ideas tasty & I can promise you kids and adults love all of them and they are economical. All of the above freeze well so make double & freeze one for a day when you want to play with the kids instead of being stuck in the kitchen.