Budget Friendly Food Tips for Normal People

I'm no budget super-star. I don't dumpster dive for coupons and get my groceries for $0.06. I haven't even cut my grocery bill in half. But, like a lot of you, we made a goal this year to limit our extra spending and watch our daily spending budget. Newsflash - babies on the way are not cheap!! 

A few of the challenges we have faced are living in a small, remote town that doesn't have a lot of market competition, so food prices are fairly high. I eat a 100% gluten free diet and my husband eats gluten free dinners. We also like to and want to eat healthy. This means fresh produce and a decent amount of lean meats. 

I know that there are tons of blogs out there sharing their food budget plans and tricks and I've definitely taken some tips from them! I still have never tried once-a-month cooking but it really intrigues me and I hope to try it sometime. Today I want to share some of my not-so-mind-blowing tips that I have found help us save quite a bit of money each month on groceries. 

• We keep staples in our pantry and freezer. We stock up on beans, rice, pasta tomato sauce, frozen chicken breast, frozen vegetables/fruit, nuts and seeds. Although we are still only two people, I still buy meat in bulk. It freezes easily and is much cheaper than buying for each meal. It also makes it much more convenient and cheaper to throw together a basic dinner when you can pull everything out of your pantry already. We invested in a chest freezer a few years ago and it's great for bulk shopping! 
  

Wasn't planning to photograph my cupboards today...but it's a pretty good idea of what it usually looks like!

• I meal plan most of our dinners. I sit down once or twice a week and map out the next few days of dinners. I start by standing in front of the fridge and taking into account what is already in there and how I can use it in future dishes. I like to use Pinterest to get some variety in our weekly meals and try at least 1 new recipe a week! I also try to schedule recipes that use some cross-over ingredients so that nothing is wasted. Example? Avocados, green onions and cilantro are all perfect additions to a mexican dish, and the leftovers can all be thrown in a thai noodle dish! 
  

• I pay attention to prices and cost per ounce tags. Grocery stores can be deceiving. You might see a cheaper price tag on something, but not realize it's a smaller portion. Grocery stores help you out by usually posting a cost per ounce that you can use to compare similar items. Once you spend some time paying attention to prices, when you're out and see a sale, you will know if it's actually a good deal. This is a time to stock up. We are also aren't picky on name brands. A lot of canned goods are Walmart's Great Value Brand. A lot of time a store brand is cheaper than name brands, even with coupons. 
  

What is the best choice for tomato sauce? The first one at 4.3 cents/ounce! It's the larger size of Walmart brand sauce. The middle one is the same brand but smaller. The one on the right is name brand.

• I eat naturally gluten free foods. Gluten free eating IS more expensive, especially if you are trying to replace everything you used to eat with the gluten free version (GF fish sticks, GF crackers, GF cupcakes, GF bread, etc). When I do want something like bread or treats, I make it from scratch. I keep a stock of GF flours that I buy on-sale from Vitacost (usually). I'll even try to make GF english muffins and tortillas sometimes. It's not worth the cost you will pay for pre-made stuff, especially since a lot of it has extra sugar and other allergens. A lot of healthy foods are naturally gluten free - like brown rice, beans, meat and fruits and veggies!

• I prep my own produce. It can get expensive to buy pre-cut fruits and veggies, or even things like baby carrots! I buy whole, unpeeled carrots, large heads of broccoli and full heads of lettuce. The key is washing and prepping everything as soon as you get home. I always shred half of my carrots to throw in dishes throughout the week, and peel and chop the other half for snacks. I cut other veggies for snacks too and store them in easy to grab containers for work. I do a simple wash - especially if I can't buy organic - just fill your sink with all of your produce and cover with water and about 1/2 cup of white vinegar. Swirl around and let soak for 10-15 minutes. It's almost free and even makes things like grapes and berries last WAY longer! 

• We eat leftovers. I always make our dinner to serve AT LEAST 4...so that we can pack up the leftovers for lunch the following day. This saves on emergency runs to Subway for lunch or endless PB&J sandwiches. When I make crockpot meals or especially large meals, we portion out a day or two of leftovers for lunches and then freeze the rest in individual glass containers for last minute lunches down the road (or for days when this pregnant girl needs two lunches!). 
  

• Sometimes we eat weird stuff. I love cooking and have a helpful talent to be able to put random food items together and make them taste pretty darn good. It's all about experimenting with spices and sauces and what flavors make things work together. We have at least one night a week where I actually put "scrounge" on the meal plan. This is the night that I throw together any leftover veggies with meat and maybe serve them over minute rice or some leftover pasta. We've had some weird stuff but it usually tastes pretty good! Yesterday we had baked sweet potatoes topped with leftover ground breakfast sausage, leftover shredded carrots and chopped sweet peppers. It may have been the best meal we had all week! 
  

• I don't buy much snack food. At all. I buy whole grain crackers and chips when they are on-sale, and we do keep cereal in the pantry. The only other thing I really buy is protein bars. I try to make my own a lot, but when they are $1 a bar sometimes I just can't help but stock up for the convenience of it. We do eat snacks, but try to keep them to fresh fruit, veggies and homemade hummus, or homemade baked goods. I'm a baking freak so we usually have a freezer full of muffins and breads. 
  

Home made chocolate chip banana muffins. The recipe is posted on my "Fuel" page.

• We limit our restaurant visits. It's not as hard now that we live where we do - there aren't all the tempting options we had when we lived in Fort Collins. But like anyone, we like a night out of the kitchen together, so we do splurge sometimes. I always try to save half of my dinner (restaurant portions are usually huge anyways) and eat it for lunch the next day. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to have hubby do the same. Last weekend we turned my anniversary dinner leftovers into lunch for both of us the next day. I had a half of a tostada leftover that was still loaded with guacamole. We heated it up with some extra beans we had in the fridge, chopped it all up and served it over a spinach salad with salsa dressing. Voila! A simple taco salad for two! 
  

None of this is earth-shattering, but I hope some of these tips are helpful if you're trying to eat healthfully on a budget. These are things that normal, busy people can totally do - at least you could try one or two! The little extra time it takes to make a meal plan and grocery list and check prices while shopping can really pay off for your checking account! 

what about you?

How do you save money on groceries each month?
Have you ever tried once-a-month cooking?