These days I've been thinking a lot about saving money. I thought that I would start sharing some ideas that I use in and around my house that help me save money each month/year. First up is the kitchen. Here are a few simple things that my family does that save us money.
Cash
At the beginning of each month, I'll take out the budgeted amount of grocery money for the month. This money goes into a envelop and is only used for groceries and household supplies. When it's gone, it's gone and I stop shopping. When I first started using cash, it wasn't easy for me to have this mentality. I thought, "$12 over budget, oh well, I'll just use my debit card for the remaining amount. No big deal". Y'all, it is a big deal! A budget is there for a reason and since I've gotten used to it, I've been able to work with the set amount and not over-spend.Meal Plan
Meal planning is huge if I want to cut down on my grocery budget each week! If I don't take the time to meal plan than our grocery budget goes out the window. I have a really simple meal planning system that I use to meal plan each week so meal planning only takes about 15-20 mins to do. Having a weekly meal plan is one of the ways that I simplify my days to have keep me organized and calm.
When looking around money saving blogs, one way that people always mention is to have meatless dinners 2-3 times a week. For some, this works great and others, well, not so much. I tend to fall into the latter category. My husband likes to eat meat at dinner! Since he is the bread-winner of the family and I like to please him, I know that going meatless for dinners on a weekly basis is not that practical for our family. So instead of completely tossing this idea out, I've become creative on how I reduce our meat consumption. Here's my little secret - I never use the amount of meat that a recipe requires. That's it. When I buy a pound of ground beef or turkey, I'll split it up into two 1/2 pound sections of meat. The same goes for chicken. I'll spilt each chicken breast into two sections and wrap two or four pieces together. The meat usually goes right into the freezer and I'll leave out what we'll eat that night. When making a meal that calls for 1 pound of ground beef, I'll only use 1/2 pound. The same goes for chicken, I'll cook enough to shred over everything. I'm not sure how much this saves us each month, but it does help with a lower grocery bill each trip to the store.
Drink Water
This one is pretty simple, my family primarily drinks only water. My husband does have the occasional cappuccino in the afternoon and sometimes we'll have smoothies for breakfast but other than this, we are a water only family. We don't drink milk with our meals, neither my husband or I drink coffee, and I never buy soft drinks. I'll buy a little bit of juice to mix in our smoothies when I make them, but that is all the juice I buy and even that isn't on a regular basis. Drinking water only saves us money and our waistline.
Cook Homemade
I cook just about everything from scratch. I've made whole wheat bread, muffins, baked goods, dinners, condiments, baby food, hummus, and tons of other things. I even tried my hand at homemade yogurt last week! If I can find a way to do it, than I'll at least try once. Pinterest is a wonderful resource for this. If you need ideas than check out my pinterest boards.
I have a well stocked kitchen with great cookware, pots, pans, baking sheets, and cooking utensils. Having what you need is vital if you are going to be cooking homemade. You will be frustrated if you don't have good spoons, baking sheets, pot holders, and other basic kitchen supplies. Having a prepared kitchen is a must!
Related: My Must Have Kitchen Tools
Less Waste
Before going to buy more food, check what you already have in your freezer, pantry, and refrigerator and plan some meals around those things. Make sure to eat up your leftovers before cooking more food. Get creative in your kitchen and with your food. If you have chicken one night, use the leftover chicken to make tacos, on a salad, in pasta, or a soup. You can use wilted apples to make apple cinnamon muffins or an apple pie. Check allrecipes.com or Pinterest for recipe suggestions for certain items. You can always freeze leftovers to eat for another time if you aren't going to use something right away. Use what you've already bought and throw less food away.
The biggest way that I have found to save money in the kitchen has to be planning out my meals for the week. If you don't do anything else, do this! Plan out your meals, make a grocery budget, and you will save money guaranteed. I created some meal planning printables that you can download and use. They are free! You can get them right here.
I hope this has given you some new ideas about how you can cut down on your grocery bill to save money in your kitchen. What are ways that save you money in yours?
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