January is here and most of us overspent on the holidays in so many ways we probably don’t even want to check the balances in our accounts. After spending some time with my 24 year old son who had to stretch his budget for the holiday season, I got to thinking of both ways to save your time and money, not just during this season, but all year long.
Some of these ideas I’m sure you already know, but I’m always interested in the small little tip that I didn’t even think about, so I added what I thought my son could benefit from. I would love to hear any other ideas you have.
1. Plan your meals for the week. I will post separately how buying recipe software has saved me thousands with a family my size, but in a household of two it will help also. The number one way planning your meals helps is by making a concrete grocery list and sticking (as close as possible – I’m not counting in the occasional Reese’s peanut butter cup or gossip magazine) to your budget. It also assists you in gauging how much all those recipes are going to cost you. This is helpful during holiday times or birthday dinners when you are having company over to get a good running guess of how much money serving that standing rib dinner is actually going to set you back. The cooking software is an added bonus in helping with this task. Also planning meals that focus on vegetables rather than the meat is a way to save money as well. Stir fry, frittatas, Panini’s, as well as meals that use rice, potatoes, tortillas or other items that stretch the budget have been used for centuries to stretch a budget.
2. While I’m a fan of some major brands, don’t forget the store brands. Many items really are fine as store brands including milk, eggs, flour, sugar, some canned or frozen vegetables (you’ll need to try these to see if you like them), Save the splurge items for things you really won’t bend on – like Hellman’s Mayonnaise or Heinz Ketchup for example. The store brands seem to save you anywhere from 20 – 40%. I know the bakers out there will tell me there is a difference in all the flours, and there is, but for the millions that don’t bake often, the difference in cost will not be felt in a recipe that calls for 2 tablespoons flour.
3. Make sure you check the size and price difference. Example – a 16 oz can vs. the 32 oz can price difference. A lot of times it is cost prohibitive to buy the small can. You can always do something else with that large can of tomatoes (part of that weekly meal plan) to use them which will only save you more money. Don’t overbuy based on a store special, i.e., buy 10 get 1 free, if it’s something you don’t use often. It doesn’t do you any good to have 11 avocados if you don’t plan on making guacamole for a party – they are going to spoil before you use them.
4. Shop the bottom shelves. Most super markets are paid to place items at eye level and the cheaper products are on the bottom shelf. This is especially true of items like juice, cookies and chips. If you are shopping snack foods – make sure to keep an eye on the bottom shelves of your local market.
5. Know the items you use the most in your household and stock up when they are on sale or use one of the bulk store warehouses. This makes a big difference on paper products, laundry detergent and shampoo. For household groceries, if you eat a lot of chicken in your house, make sure to take advantage of your local market’s sale on chicken breasts (for example) and use some for a recipe this week and freeze the rest. Don’t forget to mark what date you are putting on that chicken (addressed in item #7).
6. Eat with the season, right now, use acorn and butternut squash, not asparagus. Utilize #7 to have that asparagus during the off season, but buying asparagus fresh out of season means your not only paying more – it’s likely to not be as “good” either. Buy at the local farmer’s markets. I support my local economy and I buy fresh. It’s always better than my local grocery store and usually cheaper as well. This is especially great if you can or freeze because they usually discount in bulk.
7. Use the freezer. Freeze your leftovers. Most food, not all, can be frozen and used later. Stockpile seasonal ingredients like fruits and freeze them for a time when, for example, peaches are not in season, and then you can make a peach pie that takes like its August. There are those who stockpile bread when it is on sale and freeze it. I personally don’t care for thawed bread, but it’s a great idea for saving money. I think it’s also a great money saving idea to stock up on many items that freeze well – homemade chicken, beef and shrimp stock, your spaghetti sauce, chili, just to name a few. This also offers a great Wednesday night option when you didn’t plan a meal and want to escape the price of take out. You can also use this to take lunch to work rather than buy lunch out.
8. Plan a leftover night or freezer pull out night. Use only items that are leftover in the fridge or freezer and use them up before they go bad. Turn that leftover chicken into soup or maybe a Panini. This saves a ton of money in the long run.
9. Save all the items you use in the kitchen. I keep many marked huge Ziploc bags in my freezer constantly. The first is the bread crumbs bag. I buzz (with food processor) all the ends of my bread loaves, rolls, etc., to become bread crumbs (which I can season as I like) and freeze them. They take only minutes to thaw out and I never have to buy store bought bread crumbs (with the exception of Panko). The second bag is all the vegetables I am not going to use before they go bad (the last stalk of carrot or celery, cut and place in Ziploc bag) for later use as soup. The third bag is for homemade stock. I save the ends of carrots, onions, garlic, potatoes, whatever and keep this bag for the stockpot for stock. The fourth bag is for bones, etc., also good for stock.
10. Make your own stock, it saves you a ton of money over store bought and it’s healthier. It is also the base for every good chicken or beef soup. Which you can turn into a great vehicle to use up leftover meats. You can vary it just by changing the spices used which also helps you to use up spices that might be near their expiration date.
11. Using up spices before they expire. This was a real challenge for me. I am a spice hoarder. Which requires me to rotate often and use spices when I really don’t want to use Garam Masala for 4 nights in a row. The first idea is if you are using a great deal of dried spices in your home, buy online at larger quantities as it is significantly cheaper and usually the quality is better. When you are getting too close to expiration date, make up a spice blend and use on steaks or chicken.
12. For those of us bent on fresh herbs, get a couple of pots and invest in a small area for home grown herbs. This will save you money all the time and it’s easy (I do not have a green thumb and even I can do it). Only grow the herbs you use all the time, example, basil, parsley, oregano, because once it takes off, you won’t use that lemongrass quite like you think you will. (My family could tell you about having to consume more rosemary then they wanted to one year after I planted 10 plants). If you really wanted to get fancy – there are numerous books on the subject of drying your own herbs. I decided to skip that part. If you have the room, growing a garden in season is a great idea, but is an investment of time and money. Make sure you are going to follow through for several months and plan how to use all the items you plant so that it doesn’t become a waste of money in the end or the great giveaway to all your friends.
13. Plan your splurges. I don’t think living on a shopping budget means never getting to have a lobster or mangos or whatever item is your idea of deliciousness. It means that if I’m going to have a lobster (for my husband’s birthday for example) – I take that into consideration when planning that week’s meals. Maybe we need to have meatloaf or chicken soup with sandwiches another night for dinner. Plan wisely and you can have it all.
14. Don’t let your lack of know how stop you. With the advent of the internet, a recipe and directions for whatever you would like to have are readily available. If your passion is paella, learn how to make it via a reliable internet source, and make it at home rather than going to the expensive Spanish restaurant. Try to get other people in your house involved. It’s fun to experiment and it makes the evening a real entertainment source as well. This also reminds me to buy your ethnic foods at ethnic stores (if possible) – rice is literally half the price at the Asian market over my local grocery store and the quality of the rice is far superior. I utilize any ethnic market I can find. Latin, Asian, Middle Eastern. If I pass one, I stop in and see what I need that will store well, including spices.
15. Get creative – use those leftover vanilla beans to put in a jar with sugar to make your own homemade vanilla sugar. Make your own flavored oils. Add some garlic to your olive oil bottle and make your own garlic oil. If you use pretty jars, these also make great gifts to other foodies. If you are really creative, learn to make your own jam – this saves tons of money and helps stock your pantry for many recipes and just really good peanut butter and jam sandwiches. I am going to learn to pickle this year. (Stay tuned next fall for my family complaining about having pickles at every meal).
16. Have pets? Notice all the fancy new pet foods contain all natural ingredients? It’s cheaper to buy tuna on sale than it is cat food. Mix your cat tuna with some left over veggies mashed for a healthy, cheaper food or buy the butcher’s leftover meat scraps and add rice for a cheaper and healthier dog food.
17. Start a buying club in your area – I love this idea and I am currently trying to get this off the ground where I live – get together with 3 other foodies to purchase items together in bulk. You can buy case lots, sides of beef, half a pig, etc., and split it equally. Food wholesalers will also sell to you at discount if you have a minimum order. If you’re on the East Coast like me, Food Wholesalers is a source for purchasing wholesale items in bulk. If you live in the mid-west or west coast, do a search for wholesalers in your area. It only takes a lead person, some organization and the desire to budget and buy quality products. Otherwise, if you’re like me you end up owning almost 9 pounds of Parmigiano Reggiano.
18. Don’t waste, rinse out your tomato cans and canned soups with a little water or milk to get everything out. Use dried cheeses up by grating and using as a topping before they go bad. Soften your hard brown sugar by putting a slice of bread into the bag (I recommend using one of those inexpensive brown sugar blocks in your Ziploc bag – that was money well spent); Reuse bags – all bags. Ziploc bags, bagel bags, shopping bags. I don’t reuse them if they require washing, but I do when they only held bread. Reheat stale chips and use as taco salad. Make your own buttermilk or half and half rather than paying full bang at the grocery store. It’s cheaper to buy the cream and add it to milk to make half and half than buy the half and half. The buttermilk is 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon cream of tarter or lemon juice added. If you’re a real baker, there is a slight taste difference, but not enough for the average at home recipe and there is a significant cost savings.
I know there are those that are going to tell me about unplugging your appliances when you are not using them (I don’t do this, but it is a real savings I’m told), keeping your refrigerator at the right temperature, not opening the door more than necessary, don’t leave your tap water running for extended periods – fill the tub and don’t keep running it to wash dishes. There are more ways to save money (and a thousand websites that can give you more than I can think of) but these are a good start. I would love to hear your ideas and thoughts about creative (and reasonable) ways to save money in the kitchen.
