~How to Save Food: Part 3~

Make your own and save! In today's busy society it is hard to fit in home-made meals for your family. But if I can do it while working two jobs with a one year old then you can too! Planning is the key and if you meal plan (as discussed in this post: How to Save on Food: Part 1) you will have success!

I don't know if you have looked lately at the price of bread in your local grocery store but where I live it is $2.69 for the in store brand. Totally ridiculous! As I have posted before I make all my own bread using a bread machine. I recently purchased a new bread machine at XS Cargo for $69.99. Within 30 loaves of bread it will be PAID for! Considering that we eat around 2 loaves a week in our household this will be a quick return!

Also I can make my family healthy, non preservative loaves of bread and I will know first hand what types of ingredients go into it!

An added bonus to a bread machine is that usually they have settings for making lots of other things in them as well. In mine I can not only make pizza dough but I can do jams as well! It has all the settings for that as well!

When I started out making our bread I searched for some recipes online but finally decided to pick up this book:




It has all kinds of recipes for breads from basic to fancy types, jams, sweet and savory breads...you name it. It has paid for itself as well as it has given me invaluable tips on how to perfect my bread!

Happy breadmaking!

~How to Save on Food: Part 2~

Shop smart to save money on food. Bulk stores like Costco, The Real Canadian Wholesale Club and Superstore can help you to save money by buying in bulk. this is assuming that you have somewhere you can stock up on certain items like a pantry and a deep freezer then you can start saving.

We purchase about 90% of our dry goods from Costco. I calculate a cost per can/net weight to compare prices with my mainstream grocery store. If it is lower then I stock up there. This post will cover the method I used to learn my prices...I would post these numbers but prices are so regional that it isn't relevant.

I got to the point of knowing my prices after a few months of tracking the things I buy frequently using a sheet similar to this one:
Grocery Price Tracker It doesn't take long to do but the information is very valuable. Simply take it with you to the store, or use your till receipt when you get home and copy the info into the sheet. I also started tracking the best sale prices that I saw at my favorite local grocery stores as their sales tend to cycle and you can get the same price a few times a year.

Here is a worksheet that I came across on the web with seasonal sale prices for items and the best time of year to buy them. It is really helpful for planning bulk purchases! Seasonal Food Price Worksheet

Once you have the prices that you want, using this sheet:
Grocery Price Log you can compile a master list to carry with you, or help to plan your shopping trip. (A special thanks to www.momsbudget.com for the great sheets that I've linked to, they have a lot of great printables on their site!)

Once this legwork is done it is just a matter of smart shopping! Buy on sale, use your coupons to maximize the sales, and make your own when you can.

~How to Save on Food: Part 1~

In most households the part of the family budget that can go way out of control is the food budget. Many factors play into your food budget and so therefore give many areas where you can improve. One area that most people know of but aren't sure how to get started in is eating at home. While it is nice to have a dinner out once and a while, it should be a treat, not a necessity because of poor planning.

Eating out at restaurants adds up so fast and before you know it you have spent more on a few meals out then you would on a whole months worth of groceries! Do I know what I'm talking about? You bet! My husband and I ate out a lot before we had our son. I happen to know that we used to spend over $600 a month on eating out plus another $300-$300 on groceries. FOR TWO OF US!!! As soon as we found out that we were expecting we knew we had to change our ways in order to be successful.

The first thing I did was to go through my pantry, freezer, fridge and cook books and identify favorite recipes and the ingredients they require. I then made a 'pantry list' of items that I use often so that I could watch for deals and make sure that I have them on hand. I keep a running list of items to watch for one sale with my grocery list whenever I go to the store.

Next I started to meal plan. If you want a great resource for meal planning visit Cooking for the Rushed and pick a book of Sandi Richards to take out from your library and check out her great tips for planning ahead.

I plan out our meals based on my work schedule. I work shift work so some nights I'm only home for an hour to eat and run back to work. So I plan meals that I can do in my slow cooker or that only require a little finish up by myself or my husband.

I usually plan my meals on the weekend and then make a grocery list based on what I need to fill in the ingredients that are missing. It is usually only fresh items as I try to keep everything else on hand and purchase when they are on sale.

I have a magnetic meal planner that stays on the fridge and helps us to keep ahead of it.

So far using this system we have cut back our dining out to around a $150 a month and our grocery bill is between $200-$350 a month. We chose to eat out about once every two weeks and for lunch on Fridays. We are happy, losing weight and saving money...a win-win situation!

Stay tuned for more tips on saving money on food!