Surprised man looking at store receipt after shopping, holding a paper bag with healthy food. Guy in the kitchen. Real people expression. Inflation concept.

Highly Effective Food Cost-Cutting Strategies for Every Lifestyle

Ever wonder why you never have enough money to save some of it for emergencies consistently? I’m talking about consistent, regular deposits from every paycheck that go straight into a savings account. Maybe it’s time to consider that you’re handing your savings to restaurants, drive-thrus, diners, and coffee shops. Think about it.

What if you were strategic in buying basic ingredients and then cooking great meals at home? What if you had all of that money tucked away in a savings account rather than the coffers of local eating joints?

No matter your lifestyle, I am confident that with the right strategies, you really can reduce the amount of money you’re spending on food.

More Time Than Money

If yours is a single-income household struggling to survive in a two-income world, keeping food on the table and paying bills can be quite challenging. The good news is that time is on your side. The one not working outside the home has the time—it takes time to carry out the best strategies—to keep the cost at rock bottom without sacrificing quality.

Multiple stores

All grocery stores and supermarkets have tremendous weekly sales. And they announce these details in their weekly flyers—in print and online. These sales include “loss leaders,”—items priced so low, the store loses money, and for the sole purpose of getting you through the door with hopes that you’ll also grab lots of full-priced items.

Eat the sales

Buy only loss leaders and items that are on sale. You won’t starve and you’ll have a huge variety of food items to choose from and in every department. When your budget is really, really tight don’t give in to the temptation to buy more just because it is on sale.

Detailed plans

Create specific shopping lists and budgets and stick to them like glue.

Coupon like crazy

Matching coupons to sale is your best weapon against rising food costs. There are free websites like TheKrazyCouponLady.com that will hook you up with the best coupons out there—and teach you how to use them to your best advantage.

Little Time, Tight Budget

For dual-income families with kids, time becomes an especially valuable commodity. It’s scarce. Both of you work full-time jobs. Kids are in school plus all of their extra-curricular activities. Then there’s church and weekends filled with sports and just playing catchup to get ready for the next week. You don’t have time to visit every store; to take advantage of a variety of sales. But money is still really tight, which makes the challenge even greater.

Pick a store

Your best bet is to identify the grocery store or supermarket in your area that is known for having the lowest everyday prices, then stick with it. Download that store’s app. Get on its mailing and email lists. Use coupons as they are available.

Get creative

See what’s on sale this week before you even think about a menu plan. Cautiously add full-priced items but only as absolutely necessary. Learn the store’s sales cycle. Typically every area of the store will be on sale at least once every 12 weeks. Even in these times of soaring food prices, availability issues in many supermarkets, I am still finding stores maintain have weekly sales. Follow them closely. When items you use often are on sale, buy one or two extra—or as your budget will allow—to tide you over until the next time it comes on sale.

Get a makeover

If you can eke out the time, consider taking The Grocery Budget Makeover course (see above). You will not regret it because you will learn so many cost- and time-saving strategies.

Picky Eaters, Dietary Restrictions

You have the time and the skills to cook at home. The problem is making meals that actually taste good given the long list of ingredients your picky eaters will not touch. Or you need to produce menus and dishes that match someone’s dietary restrictions otherwise known as “doctor’s orders.”

Often, you just give up and go out because it’s not worth the effort and hassle involved in trying to meet all dietary and personal taste restrictions.

eMeals

This meal-planning site offers variety and flexibility allowing you to pick the recipes that best fit your needs that week. eMeals can’t cook dinner for you but can plan and send your grocery list to your favorite store for pickup or delivery.

You can start with a free 14-day trial, choosing the meal plan that fits your family best: Gluten-free, diabetic, classic, heart-healthy, slow-cooker—and many more—30-minute meals and so many more. eMeals offers a great service. Emeals offers a free 14-day trial. Membership offers a 3-month subscription for $10 a month.

More Money Than Time

Young professional DINKS (dual income no kids) often and for whatever reason—insane work schedule, enrolled in grad school and working full-time, crazy commute, you name it—do not have time much less the desire to shop for groceries beyond running in to pick up a six-pack of Red Bull and chips. And they’re the first to admit they lack the basic skills to prepare it if they had the time to shop for it.

Because they see themselves as having more money than time, DINKS routinely default to the most expensive eating style of all—restaurant, fast food, diners, and drive-thru and not because going out again for the twelfth time this week is particularly enjoyable. It’s a necessary burden to avoid starvation.

Home Chef

Wait. Before you skip past the idea of meal delivery services, you have to learn about Home Chef. It is neither expensive nor unreasonable and that is saying a lot coming from your humble columnist who loves to cook, has time to cook, and lives within one mile of Costco.

I cannot figure out how Home Chef does it for the life of me, but they do. Week after week and with a level of perfection and at a final cost that is so low, it leaves me wondering why I bother planning, shopping, and cooking so much.

Home Chef is not for every lifestyle. If you feed more than four adults, you will likely do better cost-wise by following one of the other strategies above. But for a family of two adults with two kids, this is the only meal delivery service I would consider. And consider I would (and I do).

Here’s how it works: You join (cancel anytime if you want). You sign up for the number of meals and servings you want in the week. Then, choose your meals from 13 different options (they change weekly). You can tailor meals to your dietary needs, including low-calorie, low-carb, and more. And you can pause service anytime and for as long as you want.

The base cost for Home Chef is an astounding $9.95 per serving. Here’s what you get delivered to your doorstep even if you are not there to accept it: Everything. Seriously, everything you need to assemble, heat, and eat.

The packaging is beyond belief it is so precise. Just follow the simple well-written instructions that even a fifth-grader could follow. Meals turn out exactly as presented and pictured. The ingredients are remarkably fresh and beautiful.

I am impressed with Home Chef. You can check it out HERE. And when you get to that page, you’ll see that I’ve arranged for you to get a $35 coupon you can use on your first order (a better offer than the “16 free meals” you may see elsewhere, which is spread out over a period of time and not nearly as valuable, in my opinion!) should you wish to try Home Chef, too. You can cancel anytime.

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  1. Michelle Scholz says:

    I, like many others, live a low carb lifestyle. It is very difficult to save money because protein is a lot more expensive than carbohydrates. Perhaps you could address this lifestyle when writing about saving on groceries. I love your advise. Many thanks.

    Reply
    • Mary Hunt says:

      Michelle, it’s all a matter of choice. For example, a can of canned chicken on sale is a super cheap value! Even better when you buy an 8-can pack at Costco. However, if you choose fresh, line-caught yellow-fin tuna as your protein, you’re right. That is going to be pricey, even if you get it on sale. Beans and rice in combination create a perfect protein. I just nearly stole a case of black beans at a warehouse club recently, that’s how cheap it was! There’s a lot of protein in cottage cheese, often on sale at rock-bottom prices. Eggs are protein rich, cheap too. All that to say, I don’t buy it that proteins have to be more expensive than carbohydrates. Or that it’s impossible to eat healthily and live below our means. That’s an all too-encompassing idea that could prompt you to overspend with abandon. It all depends on the choices you make.

      Reply
  2. Rhonda L Morrison says:

    I have a system where I mostly shop Dillons (Kansas Kroger affiliate) using the pickup option. It’s free for orders over 35.00.
    I scan this week’s ad and if available, next week’s ad to make sure I don’t buy something getting ready to go on sale or for special promotions. Kroger Krazy will usually have access to the ad on Saturday/Sunday. I also go through the digital coupons and load those I plan to use. What’s nice about digital coupons on the store’s website is it shows you which products available for coupon use. I also scan my receipts to ibotta and fetch and get amazon gift cards to buy other non grocery store items such as paper and printer toner. I live in a very rural area so a good stock pile is a necessity. My best deal this week was 32 oz of Velveeta, not inexpensive by any means but in the ad, it was buy one, get two cans of Rotel tomato with green chilies, and a bag of Mission tortilla strips for free. I also found a digital coupon on the Dillons site for $3.00 off of two Velveeta 32oz. For $12, I got two Velveeta, 4 cans of Rotel, and two bags of Mission chips, just in time for the big football games. I think the best tip of all is the one about knowing prices of the things you use the most. If you do, you will be able to know when something is on an okay, good, or great sale price. With inflation being what it is now, it’s more important than ever to know a great price.

    Reply
  3. Birgit Nicolaisen says:

    We use Home Chef regularly. They have certainly kept us eating at home more often. I like that we can skip a week or multiple weeks so easily. Sometimes nothing sounds interesting or our schedule is such that we won’t be home to use them up. And now I like to eat salmon and green beans. Who knew that was possible?

    Reply
  4. Cally Ross says:

    I find Home Chef’s shipping ($13.99) to be out of my price range. The meals are good, they’re great for this widow who lives alone, the two servings are great for my lunch the next day or I’ve put them in the freezer fully-cooked for an even quicker meal. My kids gave me a gift certificate for Christmas, I already had an account so the gift was a credit on my account. I have quite a collection of recipes now from Home Chef and I have used several by getting my own ingredients. I will probably go to once a month after the gift runs out.

    Reply
    • Birgit Nicolaisen says:

      There is no shipping if you order above a certain amount. If we order two different meals of 4 servings, we pay no shipping.

      Reply
  5. Joan says:

    I like the advice to pick a store and shop their sales. It works well.
    I would have to agree with Ann-most food coupons are for processed foods and snacks that we don’t/shouldn’t have around the house. I know there are many great coupons for baby, pet and cleaning items but we have neither a baby nor a pet. Mary I make my detergent and cleaning items from your recipes and they work wonders. Just the daily shower spray alone has saved me tons of money and needless scrubbing!!
    Many times when people ask me where I got the idea or the recipe, the answer is “Mary Hunt”. Thank you for EC! You’ve taught this old dog some new tricks!

    Reply
  6. Nancy says:

    Totally agree, all mentioned are great sites I have been using for years! Also want to mention couponfleamarket.com if you like to but in bulk like I do. I just ordered a bunch of jollytime popcorn coupons for .75c/1 to buy popcorn that is $1.38 a box. I do not eat the popcorn…usually give it away at the store BUT I do use the free redbox codes on the boxes which saves me a lot in the long run. Also want to mention Grocery Outlet. If you have one near you it is worth checking it out. About a month ago I found one pound packs of organic butter for .99c. My freezer is now loaded with butter (LOL). Last week I bought 1/2 gallon cartons of vanilla silk non dairy milk for .25c each. Many items are near expiration so you have to check the dates. Just went this morning and bought 10 packs of one pound thickly cut bacon for .98c each. My husband is a very happy man!

    Reply
    • Sheryl Meyer says:

      It must be nice to have the space to store when you can buy in bulk. I just don’t have the space and have a very small freezer. I have to get my savings by checking out individual stores and comparing prices. I’ve read multiple books on couponing and gone to many sites I’ve joined as well as going through newspapers and I can count on one hand seeing a coupon for anything that I would actually want to buy or need. I’m talking food-wise. I believe I’m stocked up on paper products to last for quite a while. I find most coupons are for toothpaste, deodorant, makeup which most of those saving money have probably stocked up on a while ago. I just wish there were more coupons for regular food and animal food where I live. I have found at least in California it’s pretty difficult to be a successful couponer.

      Reply
  7. Linda Pries says:

    I finally took you up on your Home Chef offer and I really do enjoy their meals but I still find them to be rather out of my price range. I plan on continuing using them, but only one week each month. On my fixed income I only receive money once a month and after paying my bills I can’t be paying out $50+ a week for food. This, of course, is from someone who might eat in a sit down restaurant/diner once every year or two and fast food once every week or two.

    Reply
  8. Ann says:

    I save money on food when I avoid buying snacks and packages and concentrate on whole foods. (Maintain a healthy weight too.) I save when I go to the store less often and concentrate on using up what I already have.

    Reply
  9. June Willoughby says:

    I just tried Home Chef and you’re absolutely right about the meals being delicious and easy to prepare with their step by step directions. Unfortunately, they don’t work particularly well for someone who lives alone or is trying to watch caloric intake which I am. Their smallest subscription is 3 days or 6 meals (2 per day). I have managed to cut the meals into three servings from two and that means I end up with 9 meals a week. That certainly cuts down on the overall cost but is too much for me. Do you know of any similar services that are geared for singles?

    Reply
  10. Pat says:

    Some other free blogs are KrogerKrazy and Hip2Save. I live by them. They save me so much money and I couldn’t afford to not have them really. I work a full time job and a part time job and have been supporting my two disabled brothers along with my grand kids. I usually save 60% or more at Kroger when I use coupons and match them to sales. I got Huggies for my grandson and paid 78 cents for 4 bags of them($25.78 after coupons with $25 back at the register). Sale, coupon, and cash back at the register equal savings. Some people say buying generic is cheaper but I have never seen generic diapers for that price believe me. I would have bought them in a heart beat. LOL You can use the cash back at the register to pay for produce and meat even. Be careful cause prices can get so low that you want to buy it even though you would never use it. I have been caught up in that and then had to donate them. I love overage. I bought formula once and didn’t have any kids but the coupon was larger than the price and at that time Walmart let you keep the extra so that was money off my groceries. I bought diabetic cereal cause I had a $5 coupon and it was only $3.74 so free cereal and overage to use on my shopping (same way with the formula I talked about earlier). I donated the formula to a shelter and ate the cereal but added sugar LOL. If I didn’t have my brothers I would have more meatless meals which saves money too. Go forth and coupon and watch those dollars. My goal this year is to start an emergency fund. I am down to my last credit card to pay off so I will be able to have an emergency fund which will be nice when I have to replace my roof in 5 years.

    Reply
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