Content

• Steps
• Tips

It's a fact: you have to eat three times a day, 21 times a week, which means you need to buy groceries and cook. If you're on a tight budget, you should definitely find ways to save money on this basic expense. Fortunately, this article will help you with this task.

Steps

1. 1 Keep a special list in the kitchen and label the foods you need. Write down the ingredients you use when you cook. You can create a separate list of products that your family uses on a regular basis - now you just need to check the box next to the name of the product. Milk - check mark. Oatmeal - check mark.
2. 2 Stay tuned for special offers. Make a menu for the week according to what is currently on sale. Buy a double serving and freeze half - here's your "free" meal for next week.
3. 3 Explore cookbooks or search the internet for recipes. Make a menu for the whole week. Try to shop once a week, except perhaps for fruits, vegetables, and perishable foods.
4. 4 Make a shopping list. Include foods from the kitchen list plus the foods you need for your weekly menu.
5. 5 In the store, only buy the products that appear on your list. This helps keep the budget under control. Don't shop when you're hungry; eat something nutritious before going to the grocery store.
6. 6 Buy store's own brand or unbranded products. Most private label products are as good as branded products and are generally cheaper. They often have the same manufacturer, the only difference is in the label and price.
7. 7 Buy bulk products for long-term storage if it is more profitable. Buy herbs and spices in sachets. They are much cheaper than glass jars. If you enjoy using the jars, save them and pour the seasoning bags into them.
   • Sugar, flour and rice are often cheaper to buy in bags. Be careful though, they can sometimes be even more expensive. Compare the price per kilogram. The same applies to other products in packages of different sizes: usually a large package is cheaper per gram or kilogram, but it happens the other way around, so it's better to count everything.
8. 8 Buy seasonal products, especially agricultural products. Prices for meat products sometimes depend on the season, so it makes sense to buy certain types of meat when discounts are available on them. Buy discounted meat and freeze it. If you are buying a large piece of meat, you can cut it into portions so that you can defrost just as much later as needed.
9. 9 Cook with natural and least processed foods.
   • Buy a discounted whole chicken, cut and grill or make a stew or stir-fry. Use the bones with the leftover meat on them to make the soup.
   • Learn to cook and use dried beans, peas, and lentils. They are good for your health and can be used in a wide variety of dishes.
   • Try baking your own bread. With a bread maker, this is not very difficult, and you will have better quality bread and less expensive than the purchased one.
   • A good way to quickly estimate the markup for finished products (such as cookies) is to compare the price of the product with the price for the same weight of the main ingredient (or several). You will quickly notice that few ingredients cost as much as the finished product, and certainly not the flour, sugar, and hydrogenated oils most likely found in store-bought cookies.
10. 10 Buy products that the store wants to sell quickly.
    • In many grocery stores, especially in the meat section, foods that are about to expire are sold at significant discounts. Buy these foods and cook them immediately when you get home. This way you can save a lot.
    • Buy ripe bananas from time to time. You can use them to make various desserts, banana breads, or freeze them and use them later for fruit smoothies.
11. 11 Find out which stores have regular specials. If you regularly shop at a particular store, find out what day of the week it has fresh shipments and the start of special promotions.
12. 12 Buy fresh herbs and freeze excess. Remove the stems from the rosemary. Chop soft herbs like parsley, cilantro, or basil. Place them in a ziplock bag and sign with a permanent marker so you don't forget. (Note: cilantro stems have as much flavor and aroma as leaves.Cut them very finely and you won't feel the difference.) Of course, these frozen herbs are only good for boiling or frying, not for fresh salads, but that doesn't matter! If you don't know how to use frozen herbs, you can find many good recipes online.
13. 13 Freeze excess vegetables. Chop up carrots, celery, bell peppers, and other vegetables that are starting to wilt. Most vegetables must be partially boiled beforehand. Look for information on how to prepare fruits and vegetables for freezing. Bell peppers and onions do not need to be pretreated before freezing. Freeze them on a baking sheet until they are frozen, then place them in a ziplock bag, sign, and put them in the freezer. Freeze vegetables in small portions, not in large lumps. Use them for soups, sauces, omelets. Spaghetti sauce with pieces of vegetables will be incredibly tasty and healthy.
14. 14 Learn to make homemade snacks. Popcorn is generally inexpensive and easy to prepare. Why not make delicious, low-fat, and cheap chips yourself?
15. 15 Make homemade baking dough. Find recipes online, cookbooks, and magazines.
16. 16 Don't buy ready-made breakfast cereals. Compare the price of any packaged and processed cereal to plain oatmeal and you can see a big difference. There are many options for making oatmeal, and you may well enjoy them. You can also make homemade granola or muesli.
17. 17 Read the ingredients list or search the internet for recipes. You can easily prepare the exact same dish for much less. Examples:
    • Ready-made soups are made from vegetables and water. Prepare vegetable soup yourself, it will cost you much less, moreover, it will be much tastier and healthier than canned one.
    • Hot sauce can be made with vinegar, red pepper, and salt. Make your own sauce using ingredients you already have at home.
    • If you cook yourself, you know exactly what you put in the dish. There are many different recipes to be found on wikiHow and elsewhere.
18. 18 Buy rice in large bags. Rice has a long shelf life and is the base for many dishes.
    • Do not buy foods in more quantities than you can eat until they are past their expiration date. The shelf life of food, even cereals, expires at some point. Make sure you don't have food moths in stocks.
19. 19 Don't buy ready-made meals. They are very expensive and do not always really save time. Many of them also contain too much salt and unhealthy food additives.
    • Compare the price of, for example, a pack of ready-made macaroni and cheese with the price of a pack of plain macaroni. Simply boil pasta and sprinkle with grated cheese or make homemade cheese sauce with it.
20. 20 Don't go to the drinks section. Buy milk or 100% fruit juice if you need them, but remember that most other bottled drinks are high in sugar. Plus, the price of a can of soda is mostly the cost of marketing and packaging, not the content.
    • Bottled water is expensive because you pay for packaging and shipping costs, which also have a negative impact on the environment. Moreover, this water is often just filtered tap water. Drink water from the tap, filtering it if necessary. If your tap water is really poor quality, drinking water in large bottles will be cheaper than in small ones.
    • If you like coffee or tea, make it at home. If you want, buy a coffee maker, it will quickly justify itself.
    • If you want a sweet drink, make lemonade or smoothies, or make fruit drinks or compote.
    • Alcohol is expensive, so limit your intake. Or, if you're ready to experiment, try making homemade mead, beer, or wine.
21. 21 Don't buy sweets. Candy, cookies, and ice cream will take a huge toll on your budget (and waistline). If you want to pamper yourself every now and then, buy the ingredients and make your own desserts.
22. 22 Compare prices in different places. It happens that in the market vegetables are much cheaper than in the supermarket, but it also happens vice versa.

Tips

• When buying groceries, take into account not only the price, but also the quality!
• If you have a tablet or laptop, take it with you to the supermarket. Before you leave home, put your shopping list in an Excel spreadsheet. Head the first column "Name", the second - "Price", the third - "Quantity". The fourth column should show the total price of the item (price multiplied by quantity). Make the current amount appear on the screen as you shop. If you go over your budget, you can easily see this and decide which products to put back on the shelves.