Food can easily be one of your biggest monthly expenses. In fact, Americans spend around 8.6% of their budget on food (5% of which comes from grocery bills), according to the USDA.
01 of 05: Save Money by Teaming Up with Others
You can save money on food by working with others to reduce your grocery bill. You can set up a food exchange where you take turns cooking with friends. This schedule gives you a chance to socialize, in addition to saving money as it’s cheaper to buy and cook one meal for a larger group each week instead of cooking several small meals for yourself.
Another option is to buy goods in bulk through a local food co-op, farmers market, or big-box store. It’s worth noting: some farmers markets have a section where they sell wholesale to restaurants, but you would need to do larger purchases as a minimum. Additionally, co-ops often require membership. However, joining as a group in any of these options can save you money too.
02 of 05: Try Packing Lunch
Avoiding eating out for lunch can save you over $50 a week, adding up to more than $200 a month. You can use many ideas to pack lunch and reduce costs. Try taking leftovers, or packing lunches at the beginning of the week, or having a lunch exchange at work. All these ideas can help in reducing your food bill. Plus, it gives you more control over what you eat and allows you to opt for making and enjoying healthy meals.
03 of 05: Cook More at Home
If you can stop eating out, you can significantly reduce your food bill. In fact, a 2015 study showed that Millennials spend about 45% of their food budget on dining out, an increase of over 10% from 2010.
So try cooking dinner at home every night, at least during the week. If you are pressed for time in the evenings, try incorporating slow-cooker meals into your weekly dinner menu. Prepped frozen meals are another economical option. As a bonus, there are many slow-cooker or frozen meals that are not unhealthy or packed with carbs. You can cook your meals for the week during the weekend or double up on meal prep when you know the meal will freeze well.
04 of 05: Set Aside Time for Planning
Meal planning is another key to help you reduce your monthly food bill. It helps you create a specific shopping list and can cut down on unnecessary trips to the grocery store. Having a weekly dinner menu allows you to plan so you can have easy-to-make meals on your busiest days of the week.
If you don’t have time to plan a menu, there are many meal planning services that offer weekly meal lists. Most services have various options that you can use. You can check out services like eMeals, The Fresh20, Saving Dinner, and The Scramble.
If you have food you love to cook but need help putting together a shopping list and meal planning, you might want to look into the Plan to Eat app. This app allows you to plan your meal list with your recipes and then prepares a grocery list for you.
05 of 05: Use Coupons, Deals, and Store Brands
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Coupons and comparative shopping are great strategies to reduce your food bill and pay less for those items you already buy. You can do this by shopping at different stores to find the cheapest grocery prices. Some stores charge much lower prices for food compared to other stores in the area.
You can also use coupons to save money on your grocery purchases. It’s helpful to plan your meal list around the promotions offered by your store, especially when it comes to the most expensive meal ingredients, such as meat.
Don’t be afraid to try store brand products to see if they work well for you. In some items, the quality may be indistinguishable. But for other items, you might want to spend a little more money. You can also consider using a bulk club to save money by buying items in bulk.
Source: https://www.thebalancemoney.com/find-ways-to-cut-your-food-bill-2385572
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