The freezer is more efficient if it’s full, so we keep it stocked with convenience food we’ve cooked. I cook a large pot of beans and freeze some plain before continuing with the recipe. Two weeks later, I can make minestrone in twenty minutes. When I’m preparing a lot of vegetables that will be cooked, I make extra for the freezer. This is especially important when we buy a big bag of onions, garlic, sweet potatoes etc. that might otherwise go bad before they’re finished.

We eat mostly organic, and all of our meat is humanely raised – that is not optional – but on the inexpensive end. I can’t remember the last time I bought a chicken breast – for not much more you can buy the whole chicken and get several meals out of it, from a wonderful roasted Sunday dinner to chicken salad to stock made from the bones.

We also make blender quick breads (pancakes, waffles) with whole grains soaked overnight. This is cheaper than buying the same quality of flour and the taste is excellent. This is also a great use for soured milk – just pour over measured grains and refrigerate. In the morning, add leavening, salt, oil and egg, blend and pour.

However, I’ve turned a new leaf and for the past 3 weeks I have been “eating the pantry” and everything that’s already in the fridge, and finally for the first time ever there is “space” in the fridge. I like it!

I have veggies in the crisper that I am eating until they are nearly gone before I go get more veggies.

I have a list of ingredients to use next, and
a list of prepared dishes that are “ready to eat” so I can use them as either lunches or as components of an evening meal.

I am using a shorter, more reasonable shopping list for vegetable and perishables shopping as well, so I don’t overload the fridge. Once a week shopping seems to work best for me. I can always eat something else if I run out of a particular item.

Check out YOUR local gourmet grocer. write down what you see. Do some research and see if you can’t find this stuff at cheap ethnic grocers.

What is the advantage of a rice cooker over the standard stovetop method? We eat a lot of rice and it doesn’t seem to take a lot of effort to make great rice the old-fashioned way.

http://www.4theegg.com/

Another realization was the morning coffee expense. Just by the store brand instant coffee and make your own coffee at work. $1.25/day for a large coffee is a bit too much for me now.

I shop at 1 store, once a week. I have a store card so that I can take full advantage of sales. I do have a small chest freezer & closet pantry.

I make a big dinner on Sunday afternoon & then pack the leftovers as my lunches for the week (2 of my favorites — spaghetti w/ meatballs that I made & froze in bulk when hamburger was on sale – and a jar of 99 cent sauce on sale; broccoli, leftover chicken breast & a jar of alfredo sauce over rice).

Save your store receipts for a few months, then create a list of the items you like and buy most often. (I later organized my list by the store’s aisle numbers to make shopping more efficient).

Learn your prices – keeping a price notebook works great.

Realize that sales occur in cycles (approximately every 3 months).

Every week the store should send out a sales flyer (or post one on-line). If something you buy frequently (on your list) is on sale, buy a bunch to last you until the next sale (coffee regular $9.99, on sale for $4.99, I buy 3 months’ worth). Meat on sale – buy one for a weekend meal, pop one into the freezer. I plan my eating & meals based on what’s on sale (or what’s in the freezer).

Some things I don’t have space to store or they don’t go on sale often enough – look for alternatives. Buying oatmeal in 1-serving packets? Check out the bottom shelf at the store for a big box of store-brand oatmeal & add your own brown sugar. In fact, check out all of the bottom shelves at the store – that’s where they usually hide the less expensive stuff.

Just clipping coupons from the Sunday newspapers saves me $5-$10 (usually more) a week, and I only spend half an hour clipping while I’m watching tv (and I only use coupons for things I’d ordinarily buy).

I still don’t think you can beat frozen veggies – they’re flash frozen to retain nutrients, you can keep a variety on hand, most contain no additives & they won’t go bad quickly.

For dinners on week days when I’m cooking just for myself, I often microwave a potato, microwave some frozen veggies, and pop a piece of frozen fish (or chicken) into the toaster oven. 20 minutes later I have dinner.

And a bunch of people mentioned getting quality pots & pans, but I find that the most useful tools in my kitchen are the microwave, toaster oven & crockpot. If you love soups and stews and casseroles, you can make a lot of cheap food easily & freeze a lot for convenience using a crockpot.

Here’s some other things you might not know:

If you only use milk for cooking (we don’t drink milk at all), switch to soy milk. Unless you’re buying the stuff that has been sitting on the shelf for forever, the expiry is usually a month away.

Ground soy can be purchased cheaper than lean ground beef and also has a long shelf life. If you’re using it in something like tacos/burritos (we combine ours with taco seasoning according to the package, refried beans, and rice), lasagna, or chili, you probably won’t notice the difference.

Chris: you might want to read “The I Hate to Cook Book”, by Peg Bracken. It’s kind of old, but has an attitude that resonates across the decades.

If you are throwing away lots of food because you don’t eat it in time (ie it spoils/passes sell-by), or you cook too much… then clearly what you’ve written hear definitely applies.

However there is also something to be said for spending a decent amount of money on *quality* food. I know that the food bill for my wife and I is probably the same as a family of four – but then we choose to buy organic or local produce where we can as I believe it is healthier. I could save money buy buying frozen vegetables or cheaper cuts of meat but then I believe our diet would suffer for it. I’m not sure whether you can eat healthily for $10 a day, certainly not in an expensive city.

Fresh fruit juice, good cuts of meat, cooking in Canola/Olive oil (saturate free) etc does cost money.

I’m very fortunate that we can afford to do this, and I appreciate not everyone can. But the person who suggested buying cheap no-name brands might find it a false economy in the long run. Cooking in vegetable oil is really bad for you – buying Canola/Olive oil is a really good way of cutting your saturated fat in take but it costs money.

To me, the best way to cut down your grocery bill if you need to is to remove alcohol and ready made meals (which are taxed too in some states).

High quality cookware makes all the difference.

We eat mostly organic and all range-free, steroid free, anti biotic free chicken for about $100 week for two of us – this also includes our cleaning and paper products. But we aren’t buying cokes, Little Debbies, chips and other crap. We buy produce, whole grains, high quality organic bread and the chicken I mentioned.

We also stopped getting sick – I haven’t had a medical prescription filled in over 5 years. The savings just multiply – this is something that is worth your time and effort to learn.

We do a lot of planning and spend a good amount of time in the kitchen, but that’s also fun to do with your family. It does take work to make it happen, but we have made a single income family our priority.