Frugal Food

Food is something you can't exactly cut out of your budget, but these frugal food tips can help you trim your food expenses without going hungry.

Grow your own food. Unless you live on a farm, you probaby won't be able to grow all of your own food, but even if you're in a small apartment, you can grow some items. Check out my frugal gardening tips and learn how to go shopping in your own backyard (and you won't even need your laughing wallet)!

Cook at home. Cooking at home is cheaper and healthier than eating out. It's that simple.

Plan meals. Planning your meals ahead of time saves you time, money and aggravation. Read my meal planning tips to find menu planner templates and strategies for planning well.

Grocery shop smart. Planning your meals is a good start for shopping wisely at the grocery store, but several more strategies can help you really get the most for your frugal food dollar. Check out my frugal grocery shopping tips and stretch your grocery dollar as far as you can.

Buy bakery items at thrift stores. Several commercial bread companies, such as Mrs. Baird's, Wonder, Pepperidge Farms and others, operate bakery thrift stores. Thrift stores carry the same items sold at grocery stores, but at a steep discount. Some items may be within a few days of the sell-by date, while others are just excess product - the bakery made more than the stores bought, so the company sells the excess through its thrift stores. Ask the store what its delivery days are, and you can buy items that just hours before were on the grocery store shelves, at a discount of 30 to 50 percent, sometimes greater. Now, that's frugal food!

Buy in bulk. Buying items in bulk at the grocery store or at wholesale clubs can lead to big savings if you know what you're doing. Follow my tips for frugal shopping at wholesale clubs and make sure you buy cheap, not just big.

Cut things up yourself. You will always pay more for convenience, and food is a perfect example of this. The same amount of cheese or fruit will cost more if you buy it already cubed instead of cutting it up yourself. A whole chicken will generally cost less than buying pieces, because most people don't want to do the work of cutting it up. Same goes for pre-portioned food. The pre-packaged cups of applesauce cost more than buying a jar and putting it in your own single-serve plastic containers. Do the prep work yourself, and your savings will add up.

Drink tap water. Bottled water is not only the foe of environmentalists - it's also the opposite of frugal food. Paying $1 or more for something that you can get out of your own tap for free is a waste. If you need portability, buy a permanent water bottle that you can refill. And if taste is an issue for the tap water where you live, buy a filtering pitcher or add a filter to the tap. Filters do a great job producing tasty, clean water that rivals anything pre-bottled, and the cost will quickly be recouped when you stop buying plastic bottles of water.

Brownbag it. Bringing your own lunch to work or school every day instead eating out can have a immediate positive impact on your budget. Whether it's leftovers, a sandwich, or a frozen dinner, it will generally cost less than eating something out, even if it's fast food. And it likely will be healthier.

Save money when you eat out. If you do eat out, do it the thrifty way - using coupons and ordering smart. Check out my frugal dining tips to find out how to eat out without busting your budget.

Love your leftovers. Leftovers are great frugal food, because it's food that's already been paid for! Whether it's left over from a restaurant meal or it's excess from a meal you cooked, it's food you don't have to buy or prepare, except for maybe re-heating it. That makes leftovers the easiest meal you can find, while making your food dollars go further by stretching one meal into two or more.

Make foods last. Buying food that goes bad before you can eat it is a waste of money. Follow my tips for making foods last and find out how to buy and store foods so that you get value for every food dollar you spend.

Frugal Gardening

Meal Planning

Frugal Grocery Shopping

Wholesale Clubs

Frugal Dining

Making Foods Last

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