Hack Your Food Budget and Save $350 a Month

Kalen Bruce – MoneyMiniBlog.com – “Make a plan. This is the most important thing.  Plan your meals, buy what you need and shop with a list.  This eliminates waste and saves some serious cash.”

Laurie – The Frugal Farmer: “Always menu plan before you shop so that you’re never stuck saying “There’s nothing to eat” and then being forced to order takeout.”

Gretchen Lindow – Retire by 40: “Pay for meal planning. Personally, I absolutely hate meal planning so I pay for meal plans from eMeals. It sounds counter intuitive, but paying for meal plans that come with recipes, a shopping list, and even calorie counts simplifies our routine and saves us money.”

John & David – Debt Free Guys: “Only buy items on your list, avoiding all impulse buys”

Miranda Marquit – Planting Money Seeds: “Plan your meals. Just having a plan can go a long way toward ensuring that you reduce food waste and shop with a list.”

Andrew Schrage – Money Crashers: “Shop with a list based on an inventory of your fridge and pantry and stick to it – avoid impulse buys.”

Brian – DebtDiscpline: “Have a meal plan and shop with a list. Don’t over shop, you typically make trips to the store at least once a week, if you buy too much you can end us throwing food away and money too.”

Lance Cothern – Money Manifesto: “Try meal planning to reduce food waste. In addition to reducing waste, you can plan based on the deals of the week to save money buying food as well. Buy food you eat a lot of in bulk to save money. However, if you end up throwing out the food before you eat it, you’ll lose money, not save money”

Gretchen Lindow – Retire by 40: “Never let leftovers go bad. Put leftovers in individual servings, in pretty, clear containers, and we move them to the front of the fridge, ensuring that we get them eaten before they go bad.”

Stefanie O’Connell – The Broke and Beautiful Life: “Utilize bulk bins for grains, beans and nuts.” 

Andrew Schrage – Money Crashers: “When you see an item on sale that your household eats a lot of, stock up to increase the savings.” 

Melanie Lockert – Dear Debt: “Buy staples in bulk like olive oil, rice, flour, etc.”

Liquid – Freedom 35 Blog: “If something that can keep is on sale, stock up. Meal plan after you’ve bought your groceries. Instead of planning out what you want to eat, it’s more financially prudent to focus on buying sale items for your grocery list.”

Miranda Marquit – Planting Money Seeds: “Buy on sale and in bulk. Non-perishable foods can be kept for long periods of time. However, it’s also possible to purchase meat, cheese, veggies and fruits on sale and freeze them for later use.”

John & David – Debt Free Guys: “Review sale items at your grocery store(s). Build menu and grocery list exclusively on those sales item.”

Lazy Man and Money: “There are too many grocery tips to put in one article. We’re (my family) military, and the commissary has unbeatable prices on almost everything. However, Walmart and Aldi can be competitive on a number of items. I keep a mental database of what is good to buy at which places.”

Lance Cothern – Money Manifesto: “Don’t forget to try out store branded food. Most of it is just as good as the name brands and costs less. Try it once and if you don’t like it, don’t get it again. However, if you do, you can save money for a long time into the future.”

Laurie – The Frugal Farmer: “Shop around the sales and be willing to buy generic”

Liquid – Freedom 35 Blog: “Price match the best deals and then research what kind of meals you can prepare with the items you’ve bought on sale”

Andrew Schrage – Money Crashers: “Use paper coupons found in the Sunday newspaper. It’s still one of the best resources to save on groceries. Also, use mobile apps like Saving Star and iBotta if you own a smartphone.”

Melanie Lockert – Dear Debt: “Avoid pre-packaged foods”

John & David – Debt Free Guys: “Avoiding processed and packaged foods, which are more expensive” 

Stefanie O’Connell – The Broke and Beautiful Life: “Skip sodas and juices – good for your budget and your health.”

Gary Dek – Gajizmo: “Educate yourself. There are a lot of misconceptions about healthy foods, diets, and costs. Don’t let the food and beverage industry convince you that eating well is expensive – it doesn’t have to be. The money you save buying cheap food will cost you more in health insurance premiums, lost wages, and pain and suffering. If you have to live on a budget, eat well and cut other expenses.”

Miscellaneous Tips

Stefanie O’Connell – The Broke and Beautiful Life: “Consider frozen produce”

Melanie Lockert – Dear Debt: “Eat a mostly vegetarian diet. Meat can be expensive, so this is a great way to save.”

Liquid – Freedom 35 Blog: “Don’t shop hungry”

Laurie – The Frugal Farmer: “Grow and preserve your own food whenever possible.” 

William – Dr. of Credit: “Make sure you use a credit card that earns a category bonus on where you’re shopping. For example some cards will give you 5% cash back at grocery stores or restaurants.”

Gary Dek – Gajizmo: “Remember the premium you pay to eat out. The $30 steak you buy at a restaurant costs $10 in the supermarket, so instead of eating out, treat yourself to better quality food at home on a regular basis.”

Brian, Debtdiscipline: “Have quick or standby meals on hand at home to prevent the impulse to pick up fast food or take out.”

Lazy Man and Money: “Go to the right restaurants. Save the nice steakhouse for a special occasion. For a quick family dinner, you may be able to get out of Sunway for $10-$12. (My kids are very, very small.) At Applebees, it can be $25. If you master the various menus at various fast food places, you could get out for a couple of dollars. This isn’t ideal from a health perspective, but this is a “sometimes” thing. Go to restaurants rarely. Meal for meal, they’re the most expensive way to spend your money.”

William, Dr. of Credit – 5% of spend

Laurie, The Frugal Farmer – $300-$1000

Liquid, Freedom 35 Blog – $100

Melanie Lockert, Dear Debt – $200

Lance Cothern, Money Manifesto – $100

Gretchen Lindow, Retire by 40 – $600+

Stefanie O’Connell, The Broke and Beautiful Life – $100

Kalen Bruce, MoneyMiniBlog.com – Up to $600, possibly more – we used to feed a family of 3 for $1,000, now we feed a family of 6 for under $400.

Brian, Debtdiscipline: Saving will vary and depend on your personal situation.

We averaged that out to an average of $350 per month for a family, which is a pretty hefty savings no matter how you look at it. Of course, you will save less if you’re buying for fewer people, but you’ll still be cutting down on your bills.