Frugal Parenting

If your family is anything like mine, you find that a lot of your budget goes toward food. For us, it’s partly because we don’t always know what to make, so we buy produce and then don’t end up using it. Or there are times when we just don’t feel like cooking, and so we eat out, which ends up costing a lot more than if we had eaten at home.

Does any of that sound familiar? If so, here are a couple of tips for keeping your monthly food bill a little more manageable.

1. Plan meals in advance. If you’re new at it, start at a week’s worth of meals and work your way up to a month. When you know ahead of time what you’re going to make, you can keep the right ingredients on hand. Plus, you won’t waste produce, and you won’t waste time wondering what to make for dinner.
2.  Buy staples in bulk. If there are certain food items you eat a lot, it’s a good idea to buy in bulk. Items like rice, toilet paper, pasta, or any canned items you regularly eat are easy to purchase in bulk. This can help save money over time.
3. When you see a good sale, stock up. But only buy if it’s something your family regularly eats anyway, or it really doesn’t save you money. When you’re financially strapped, it can be hard to buy extra, but even just a few extra cans of whatever is on sale can help you build your pantry and save money over time.
4. Double or triple your recipes, and freeze the extras for other meals. Bulk cooking saves time. If you are making a casserole for dinner, it doesn’t take much longer to double or triple it. You can freeze a whole pan in the freezer, and just pop it out the next time you don’t feel like cooking. This will save you on trips to eat out.
5. Utilize frugal recipes. I posted my frugal beans and rice recipe, and I will be posting more frugal recipes over the next while. Some frugal recipes out there will cost you just pennies per serving.

What do you do to help keep your family food budget manageable?

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