Saving Stategies

March 22, 2023

Attend any gathering and you will likely hear the concerns (complaints!) about the rising costs of goods and services. Supply and demand are out of whack these days, so prices have risen… a lot! In fact, average consumer prices are about 6 percent higher than a year ago. Ouch:( I could complain about the costs of eggs or chicken… or any of the items I include in my grocery shopping weekly, but that won’t solve my problem of how to feed my family healthy meals without breaking my budget. It’s time to go back to the basics.

When I moved into my first apartment, I had a very strict budget. I didn’t have the income to spend on anything extra, so I got good at determining where and for what I wanted to spend my money. Some items were set budget items like rent and car payments. Other items seemed more fluid like food or new clothes. However, I set a budget amount for those items and worked to make sure I stayed within my budget. It took effort and I learned a lot about what I really valued.

My roommate and I worked out how much we wanted to spend on groceries and then we made up our “house rules” to help us stay in that budget. We would have loved to have been able to use a platform like DinnerTime to help us plan, shop and save.

House Rules To $ave

Make Meals: We committed to cooking our own meals at home rather than eating out or delivery. Eating out costs 3-5 times the cost of making a healthy meal at home. We learned how to make our own tasty pizza, tacos and Chinese-inspired dishes. We knew this would take some discipline, but we were financially motivated to make it work! Naturally, there were times when we went out with friends, but because we had been smart about our grocery bill, we had more discretionary funds to enjoy socially.
Embrace Planning: Anyone who makes a food budget knows how valuable it is to meal plan. Knowing what is on the plan sets expectations for the week and you can see if your plan makes sense. For example, why buy for Friday night if we knew we were going to a party? My roommate and I used to sit down with pencil and paper to figure out what was on sale, what we wanted to make and which ingredients we could use multiple nights (like lettuce or rice), Now, with the help of DinnerTime, my planning is easy and quick.
Stick With a List: We shopped once a week with a specific grocery list in hand. There was no deviating from the list! That means not going down the chip or cookie aisle. It helped us resist the temptation of unhealthy (and costly) items. Now I easily click off the items on my DinnerTime Grocery List as I place them in my cart.
Shop The Sales: I’m all about a sale, but… don’t get sucked into the “but it was on sale” mentality. If no-one in your house likes the “on sale” brand of yogurt then it won’t get eaten…and therefore will be wasted money. Utilizing your DinnerTime Planner helps you plan meals based on your personal profile and what is on sale at your grocery store. Ingenious!
Manage Your Pantry: I can’t say enough about how helpful this feature is. If you stock up with on-sale ingredients such as flour or rice, note these items in your DinnerTime Pantry Manager. About once a month, update your Manager and make sure you click on the “use soon” button. DinnerTime will prioritize recipes with these ingredients. Or look for specific recipes that use those half-used jars of specialty items and add them to your weekly plan. I did that just the other day because I found half a jar of olives and half a jar of sun-dried tomatoes. I’m excited to use them up with these tasty looking recipes of Greek-Style Baked Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomato, Spinach and Quinoa Salad.
Cook From Scratch: We didn’t buy cookies or anything else we could make cheaper from scratch. Although some boxed foods can be cheaper they can also be filled with ingredients I’ve never heard of. We made a conscious decision to make almost everything with whole ingredients. I would rather make my own cookies, mac and cheese and pizza. It comes down to planning the best nights for specific types of meals. We made our favorite lasagnas and other more time-intensive recipes on the weekends with enough servings to ensure we had leftovers that we could quickly reheat after a long day at work.
Prep For the Week: We washed and cut our veggies right when we got home from the store. This saved so much time. Since we had a plan for dinner and were already part way through prepping the recipe(s), we saved ourselves from being tempted by takeout on the way home from work. Just like prepping, making meals on the weekend that are easy to assemble, cook or reheat on a busy night, make life easier.
Buy Fresh and Frozen: I love both fresh and frozen veggies. Frozen vegetables can be less expensive than fresh and still have all the nutrients. Frozen broccoli is my favorite. If we ran out of salad materials or needed a side for our leftovers… frozen broccoli to the rescue. It’s good so many ways like stir fried, roasted, steamed, added to smoothies or soups. Remember to add any extra frozen foods you have stocked up to your Dinnertime Pantry Manager. A quick look at the Manager and you can see if you should take advantage of a sale or if you have plenty on hand.
Split the Duties: We shared shopping, prepping and cooking duties, assigning each at the beginning of the week. This way we never felt overwhelmed with the responsibility or resentful of the effort it takes to make meals. Share duties with everyone in your household, even the littles. Small children can help with simple tasks like putting all the cut up peppers in the storage container or setting the table. Building these habits takes the load off your back and teaches responsibility, how to cook and about healthy foods.
Close the Kitchen: Both my roommate and I loved to snack but we knew that wasn’t always healthy. We allowed ourselves a bowl of cut up veggies and dip while dinner was being prepared. Otherwise, if it wasn’t mealtime, the kitchen was closed. We stopped eating when bored, tired or “hangry” (emotional). It’s pretty amazing the number of empty calories we saved as well as money. i keep a bowl of fruit on the counter and will often put out a tray of cut veggies or fruit for the kids to snack when they come home from school.