Food expenses are one of the most important areas of your budget to keep in check, and you may have read in our earlier post, How We Eat for Less Than $60 a Month: A Peek into Our Food Budget, that in 2013 we averaged $57/month on food. Wondering how we did it? We were a bit surprised at the numbers too, as we never felt that we were ever in dire straits, had empty cupboards, or lost weight (in fact, Al and I both gained weight last year). These simple principles that we will share with you have become so natural to us, it took a bit of thinking to realize that they were to thank for our monthly savings.
But first, here are a few unique characteristics about our household to keep in mind, as we realize that they have been incredibly helpful in keeping our expenses down but may not be your situation.
Unique Characteristics
- Vegetarian – There are a lot of benefits we could discuss about being vegetarian. But we’ll save that for another post. For now, let’s just face it, beans and tofu are a lot cheaper than ground beef and fish fillet.
- 2-Meal-A-Day plan – This is not for everyone, but works best for us due to our work schedules, our efforts to allow at least 4 hours between meals, and wanting to eat at least one meal together. So, on days that we work, Al and I eat a late breakfast/early lunch at work and then eat supper together at home. The fact is, in our sedentary professions, 2 meals provide plenty of energy to get us through our days.
- Not socialites – We have friends whose homes are the hub of social gatherings. We love their hospitality and generosity entertaining, housing, and feeding so many people, but we’re not the type to have crowds of people over every weekend.
- CA imports – Visiting family in CA usually means we come home with a suitcase full of Asian veggie meats and other Asian commodities that are rare or expensive in TN. These are rare items that don’t make up the bulk of our diet, but are special treats that we ration very carefully.
- Childless – Yup, for now it’s just the two of us. If this changes, we’ll let you know. (UPDATE! This has changed! We are now proud parents to Little Miss Crumb Saver!)
So, as you can see, if you have 2 teenage boys who eat you out of house and home, don’t expect to live on $57/month. You may soon have 2 ravenous bears! However, it doesn’t mean you can’t apply some money saving principles. Here are just a few we’ve followed that have been part of the reason for our food budget savings, and we hope they will be helpful to you too.
We Believe in:
- Rarely eating out – We used to eat out a few times per year – our anniversary, birthdays, big achievements (i.e. Al’s graduation from graduate school). But what’s better than eating out only for special occasions? Eating out for free! Ever since we discovered How to Get Free Food on Your Birthday, often when we eat out now, it’s “on the house”.
- No snacking – This is something I was taught since I was young and has become a habit that Al and I uphold from both a health and financial viewpoint. It doesn’t matter if it’s carrot sticks and trail mix instead of soda and chips, we try to keep strict about only consuming water between meals. Try it and you’ll be surprised how much better you feel and how much money you’ll save!
- Minimal waste – Not wasting food is a principle that has been engrained in many of us by our parents. And our parents were right, not only does it show disregard for the privileged resources we have that many others desperately need, but wasted food is also wasted money. Think of it, you paid hard-earned cash for your groceries and now you’re scraping it into the trash. It’s like wadding up your bills and grinding them down the garbage disposal. At our house, food on the plate has no choice but to go into your stomach. But don’t forget about the food stored in your fridge, freezer, or pantry. Don’t buy more than you can use unless you know it will be eaten before it spoils, has a long shelf-life, can be preserved, or is purchased to be given away. As a general rule, we try to limit our perishable produce to no more than we can eat within 2 weeks.
Wasted food = Wasted money
- Gardening – Check out our post on gardening to save the crumbs for more info, but we try to grow vegetables and fruits that are expensive to buy or difficult to find. If all your neighbors and everyone at church are growing zucchini and are trying to pawn it off at your doorstep because they have it coming out their ears, grow something else! We opted to plant some Chinese vegetables because they’re hard to find here in TN and things like basil which are expensive in the supermarket (and the pesto is easy to freeze – here’s our recipe).
Al with part of our garden this year
- Being content – Perhaps one of the best lessons in saving money is one we can learn from Paul’s counsel to young Timothy:
“There is great gain in godliness with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world; but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content.” 1 Tim 6:6-8
Can you identify with any of these principles/philosophies? What do they mean to you or what are some of your own? We’d love to learn from you.
Read the rest of the series and find out how we determine how to shop and menu plan:
How We Eat for Less Than $60 a Month: A Peek into Our Food Budget
How We Eat for Less Than $60 a Month: Part 2 – What We Buy
How We Eat for Less Than $60 a Month: Part 3 – How We Cook
How to Plan a Menu On a Budget
Marc says
June 20, 2014 at 2:45 pmGreat info. It’s so easy to spend on food especially when going out to restaurants and buying prepared food.
Al says
June 22, 2014 at 12:26 pmThat’s right, Marc. Every time the food has to pass through someone’s hands (more levels of shipping, packaging, processing, cooking in a restaurant, etc.) the cost goes up. So the more natural and bulk the food product, the cheaper!
Kristen says
June 23, 2014 at 9:15 amOh, man, I remember the days of a low grocery budget! It was a lot cheaper to feed two of us than six of us. But hey, they’re gonna leave the nest in the next few years, and we do like having them in our nest for the present. 🙂
Deb says
June 23, 2014 at 9:59 amHi Kristen, thanks for stopping by! LOL, yes, we’re sure those with kids are chuckling at how easy we have it with only 2 mouths to feed. I can’t imagine what it must be like with six! We can learn a lot from people like you. 😉 Hopefully some of the fundamental principles of saving money can apply in any situation. If we ever expand our nest, we’ll definitely share how it goes! 🙂
Nature Tracker says
September 3, 2014 at 1:48 pmWow, less than $60 a month. That’s great. Although it’s hard to keep up with that with 2 small boys, there’s definitely room for savings in our monthly grocery expenses.
Thanks for sharing.
Deb says
September 3, 2014 at 2:22 pmYes, it seems like there are always new and improved ways we can think of to save. But it would definitely be a new and exciting challenge if we had kids! Thanks for dropping by and best wishes on your grocery budget! 🙂
Sunshine says
March 13, 2016 at 2:39 pmBut… you can still be frugal and teach your children in the process! My 26-year-old programmer son makes amazing money in his job but he still is the most frugal person in his four-person same-aged roomie-filled home in California. Example — I grow spaghetti squash here.. and tomatoes and herbs. I’m rural so I do have a huge veg garden area. But guess what that squash and tomatoes and herbs make? A vegetarian spaghetti that will feed four easily and is so yummy.
Al says
March 13, 2016 at 2:44 pmGreat job passing on the wise traits of industriousness and thriftiness to your son! And now you’ve got my mouth watering with all this talk of yummy garden produce. 🙂
Daisy @ Prairie Eco Thrifter says
September 6, 2014 at 11:52 amWe’re mostly meatless too (I am 100%, my husband has meat maybe once per week). We also garden though next year we will be growing far more – it was sort of a test garden this year. We’re DINKS but we do like to eat out sometimes. I also like to partake in intermittent fasting (eating only two meals per day in a shorter period of time) but it doesn’t save us money because they are larger meals.
Deb says
September 6, 2014 at 8:49 pmDaisy, you sound a lot like us! Yes, we notice we eat more than many people during meals because of our 2 meal plan, and I think not snacking also makes a huge difference.
Eliza says
October 24, 2014 at 12:31 pmI was looking for validation and found it here — and then some! I am single but for the past 20 years or so I had people living with me (husband and kids, then just kids). Now I am an empty nest and just my mouth to feed, and trying to save money. I thought I would try “very hard” to see if I could “get by on” $60 a month. Wow, you do it and there are two of you! Now I *know* I can do it. You have wonderful tips — thank you so much.
I do have one question though, and I do not mean this in a bad way, but…. it sounds like you are invited to friends’ houses where they feed you, and church potlucks and so on and you mention this is a money saver for you and also that you yourselves do not entertain, so I am wondering…. in what way do you reciprocate or contribute, and do you have any cost-saving tips on how to do that? I do find myself really struggling to come up with affordable yet not stingy ways I can contribute to a shared meal, or show my appreciation to someone who hosts me (usually this is through a reciprocal invitation at some point). Thanks, and I hope you don’t mind this question! 🙂
Deb says
October 24, 2014 at 3:38 pmHi Eliza! Thanks for visiting our blog and we’re glad that you’ve been encouraged in your attempts to save money. Sounds like you already have a lot of initiative, and I’m certain that you will do great with your food budget.
You ask a really good question regarding how to be a good host and give back while still minimizing expenses. You’re right, we don’t want to mooch off others but social food expenses can add up too! First of all, we do host and entertain but choose to do it moderately (that can mean different things to different people, but for us it means we have people over occasionally as opposed to being the default party-central every weekend). And when we do, we keep to our principles of providing meals that are homemade, natural, and fairly simple. When we bring food to events, the same applies. It’s tempting to feel like we have to go out to Costco and buy premade appetizers or make something super gourmet, but making pesto from homegrown basil, curry from vegetables that were on sale, or bringing a bag of freshly picked garden produce can be affordable and a delicious, worthwhile contribution. So my 2 main suggestions would be to stick to the principles of cooking meals that aren’t expensive to begin with (which we mention in other posts on this blog) even when cooking for events/hosting and grow a garden (saves money on ingredients and garden produce make great gifts of appreciation!). I know I can’t answer your questions fully, but hopefully that helps a little.
James Messick says
March 14, 2016 at 3:02 pmGardening is “cheating” or falls under “sweat equity”. Land, seeds/plants, fertilizers etc., and time are all valuable commodities which are required, not to mention tools, tillers, and gasoline. OTOH, it can be an enjoyable hobby. I have a nice garden myself
Al says
March 14, 2016 at 3:09 pmIndeed, when measuring strictly by dollars and cents saved from the grocery bill, home gardening doesn’t always add up. But there are other benefits from gardening that could make up the difference in other areas of the budget like better health, replacing other recreation that’s more costly, and maybe even opportunities to sell a little bit on the side. I have a friend who’s gotten good at propagating his fig trees and he’s gonna start selling them on the side. We’ve written a post on gardening to save the crumbs that touch on some of these ideas.
tom says
July 8, 2016 at 6:07 pmGood for you. But, I my wife and I love eating great food. And we can afford it. So, eat ur lettuce sandwich. We are having king crabs tonight. Maybe steak tomorrow. YOLO.