Money Saving Food Tips

some of my efforts to save money on food...

#1 See Julie's Refried Bean recipe below. It is so cheap to make compared with the price of canned refried beans.

#2 I'm embarrassed to admit this but I can make Top Ramen soup for our family of 6 for $4. It's totally high in sodium but my kids love it. I throw in frozen mixed veggies to add some nutritional value. If my kids had it their way we'd eat this at least once a week, but I do have a conscience. 

#3 Thursday nights Joe is at OCMCO rehearsals so that's when we make our weekly Taco Bell run. It costs about $10 to feed us all (from the $.99 menu and we don't buy drinks) and that's cheaper than a home cooked meal, unless it's Top Ramen noodles, of course.

#4 I try to never buy produce from the grocery store. Sprouts (formerly Henry's) has the best prices for fresh produce in my area. Many times they are cheaper than Costco and you don't have to purchase the huge quantities. 

#5 Homemade cookies are really cheap to make. We make a couple of batches each week to go in the kids' lunches. I can't imagine they're any less nutritious than Kudos bars or anything else the kids want to take to school. We have to hide our cookies in the back of the freezer or else they're gone within a day.

#6 I'm not a bread maker nor do I have the desire or time to learn. We got a bread machine for our wedding and we recently discovered it still works. The bread loaves are too small to make it worth the effort but Joe found out it makes fabulous pizza dough that is super cheap. Add a can of sauce that I can get on sale for $1 and we've got a pretty inexpensive meal. 

#7 We've tried cutting back on cold cereal. It's very expensive and not that healthy. The kids have learned to love oatmeal, cream-of-wheat, and their favorite, malt-o-meal.

#8 Costco eggs are pretty cheap and my kids love them...fried, hard-boiled, scrambled in a breakfast burrito, creamed and served over toast.

#9 Avoidance. I avoid shopping at all costs. I don't trust myself. When I enter a store I spend, so I just don't enter. I have been sending Joe grocery shopping. He's much better than I about sticking to the list. 

#10 Sale items...when I do venture into a store I look for things that are on sale and I stock up. I was in Target the other day and saw Cream of Chicken soup for $.60. It's usually more than double that price, so I filled the cart with many many cans.