• Home
  • Start Here
  • Blog
  • Free Resources
  • Shop My Filofax Store
  • Shop TBM
  • Courses

The Budget Mom

Real Women. Real Life. Real Finance

  • Home
  • Products
    • Live Rich Planner
    • Budget By Paycheck
  • Blog
  • FREE RESOURCES
  • COURSES
  • Shop my Filofax store
  • Shop TBM
MENUMENU
  • BUDGETING
        • Categories

        • Budgeting Basics
        • Budget Guides
        • Budget Tips
        • Budget Recaps & Overviews
        • Living on a budget can be as challenging as sticking to a diet or committing to a workout routine. Here are tips to avoid burnout so you can achieve your goals!

          How to Avoid Budget Burnout: 5 Tips to Stay the Course

          When creating a budget, most of us focus on tracking our expenses, but tracking your income is just as important. This includes knowing your starting balance.

          What is Your Starting Balance & Why Does It Matter for Your Budget?

          Most of us have invisible money scripts that hold us back from reaching our financial goals. Learn what the three most common money beliefs are and how you can start taking steps to change them. 

          3 Money Beliefs That Might Be Holding You Back

  • SAVE MORE
        • Categories

        • Cut Expenses
        • Extra Income
        • Saving Tips
        • The true cost of a speeding ticket depends on your location, how fast you were driving, and any previous violations. Learn how much you can expect to pay after receiving a speeding ticket.

          Explained: The Surprising True Cost of a Speeding Ticket

          If you’re looking for ways to save, buying second-hand items might be a good idea. These 17 things are better to buy used instead of new.

          17 Things That Are Better to Buy Used Instead of New

          If you need to earn fast cash, selling household items online is the easiest way to do it. Here are 20 things in your home that you can sell right now.

          Need Cash Fast? 20 Things In Your Home You Can Sell Right Now

  • FRUGAL LIVING
        • Categories

        • Beauty & Health Tips
        • DIY
        • Family & Money
        • Food & Drink
        • Frugal Living 101
        • Household Tips
        • Holidays & Occasions
        • Kids & Money
        • Forget about a New Year’s Resolution! Try setting a New Year mindset instead. It might not seem like much, but your mindset can make or break your financial goals.

          How to Improve Your Financial Mindset to Achieve Your New Year’s Goals

          It’s not too early to start helping your child build their financial future. If you want to help your child start investing, here are the steps you’ll take to get started.

          How Can My Child Start Investing?

          For many people, the holidays are a stressful and expensive time of year. Learn how to host a holiday dinner without blowing your budget this year.

          7 Steps to Hosting a Holiday Dinner on a Budget

  • DEBT & CREDIT
        • Categories

        • Credit Cards
        • Credit Report & Score
        • Debt Basics
        • Get Out of Debt
        • Loans, Etc.
        • It’s easy to swipe a credit card, but paying it off is an entirely different story. Here’s what you need to know about the true cost of buying on credit.

          Revealed: The Ugly Cost of Buying on Credit

          Should You Buy Your Leased Car?

          Collection accounts can be stressful, but you can bounce back. Learn how to handle collection accounts and improve your financial picture.

          Has Your Debt Been Sent to Collections? Here Are Your Options.

  • FINANCE 101
        • Categories

        • Financial Planning
        • Investing
        • Retirement
        • Tax Tips
        • It might be tempting to withdraw investments, especially during times of economic uncertainty. However, most people should avoid touching their investments.

          The ONLY 3 Reasons to Touch Your Investments

          It’s that time of year again! Unfortunately, we’re not talking about the holidays. Now is the time for everyone to file their taxes. Here is what you need to know.

          2021 Tax Season: How to File for Taxes Online

          It’s not too early to start helping your child build their financial future. If you want to help your child start investing, here are the steps you’ll take to get started.

          How Can My Child Start Investing?

How I’m Saving Money on Food Costs During Quarantine

June 4, 2020
Cut Expenses

Share347
Pin132
Share
Tweet
Email
479 Shares
  • Bio
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Latest Posts
Kumiko Ehrmantraut

Kumiko Ehrmantraut

Some links below are from our sponsors. Here's how we make money.
Kumiko Ehrmantraut
Kumiko Ehrmantraut

Kumiko Ehrmantraut

Kumiko Ehrmantraut

Latest posts by Kumiko Ehrmantraut (see all)

  • The ONLY 3 Reasons to Touch Your Investments - February 18, 2021

Saving money on food purchases is essential when facing uncertain times or limited income. Here are some of the ways I am saving money on food costs while safe-at-home.

While remaining safe at home during quarantine, you may have noticed that it's easier to save in some areas of your budget, and harder in other areas, like your food budget.

I always referred to my food budget as the “silent killer” of budgeting. It's a necessity that quickly turns into unnecessary spending. From spending on splurge items like soda to eating out, things can quickly deplete your food budget.

During this time, I discovered some helpful tips that not only helped me keep food costs down but also turned into habits that I am implementing in the future.

From eating out to staying in: Saving money on food

When I first started budgeting, I was spending $800 every month on food for a family of two. During that time, what I was spending on groceries and restaurants was perfectly fine, but I knew it could be better, so I started looking for ways to cut money.

When you budget, you know how much money you spend on food at the grocery store and in restaurants. I have been decreasing my food budget in several ways:

  • Eating out/ordering take-out less
  • Meal planning (check out $5 Meal Plan)
  • Creating recipes based on what I have on hand
  • Buying more generic and brand products
  • Using cash back apps like Ibotta
  • Learning to bake from scratch

While safe at home, we went a long stretch without being able to eat out at restaurants. These restaurants implemented plans so they could deliver and offer carry-out meals. I used the stay-at-home orders as an opportunity to eat out less and do more cooking at home. I rarely went outdoors, except to do my grocery runs. It was the perfect opportunity to embrace my kitchen, learn new recipes, and to find new motivation for cooking at home.

Doing something now to save for later.

Before I tell you how I am cutting my grocery spending, I have to confess a recent grocery run. If you saw my post about closing out my May budget or my video about my $585 grocery haul, you already know I ended up overspending on groceries. The bottom line was I did not have the money in the budget. I knew I had to do something drastic.

The reason I spent so much was that I didn't realize we were practically out of meat. I had some chicken and some burgers in the freezer, but that was it. We have a deep freezer, and we thoroughly cleaned it out. With moving into the new house and the stay-at-home orders, it slipped my mind we were running out of meat.

I decided to make a Costco run. About every three months, we do this, and I know it will be expensive every time. Usually, I prepare for this adventure in advance, but I didn't this time. I ended up using my clothing sinking fund that I had set aside. I realized I didn't need any new clothes, so I decided to repurpose that cash for something I needed: food. It was also a perfect time to re-implement my saving strategy for big grocery hauls – a sinking fund.

Preparing ahead and saving a little every month for the times you need to buy in bulk will save you in the future.

  • Read: Sinking Funds – How They Help Your Finances

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by The Budget Mom® by Kumiko Love (@thebudgetmom) on May 26, 2020 at 3:15pm PDT

Buy in bulk when it makes sense.

I don’t shop at Costco often because, as a family of three, it does not always save money to buy a lot of things in bulk. Too much ends up going bad before we can eat it all. But, I can find good deals on family packs of beef, chicken, and pork – and they freeze well.

On this grocery haul, I ended up spending $495 at Costco and another $90 at Walmart. Even though I blew my grocery budget, the money spent on food on this trip will carry over into the next month. So, I will eventually save money in food costs in the future by using bulks items I purchased in previous months.

I found some good deals on meat (10 pounds of chicken breasts; a 10-pound box of quarter-pound burgers; pork chops; chicken thighs; whole chickens; and chuck roasts). The grocery haul allowed us to fill our empty freezer.

You can save money on groceries if you have ample freezer space when you find good deals on meat. You can buy in bulk and break down the meat into smaller packages. This will keep you from having to thaw out and use an entire pack.

  • Read: 7 Myths About Freezer Cooking That Are Busting Your Budget

Decrease your food budget by meal planning.

Sundays are meal-planning days at my house. I create my weekly meal plans based on what I have in my pantry, my fridge, and my freezer. I have been able to cut my food budget in half (most of the time!) with meal planning. 

During the process, I take an inventory of what I have. I focus on what meat I have available. Protein is usually the most expensive ingredient on the list, so if you can use what meat you have, then you can cut down on groceries.

When I figure out the meat and other staples I have in the house, I hop online to look for recipes. Pinterest is a good site, along with Once A Month Meals. I print out the recipes, review the ingredients, and see what I need at the grocery store and make a list.

When I look for recipes, I look for ones that have a total time of 30 minutes or less (this includes prep time and cooking time) because I am a single mom and business owner. Also, I want recipes that are more than four servings. This allows us to have leftovers throughout the week. Twice a week, my meal plan includes nights where we have leftovers for dinner.

  • Read: Save Money Meal Planning: The Freezer Challenge

Saving money on food purchases is essential when facing uncertain times or limited income. Here are some of the ways I am saving money on food costs while safe-at-home.

Prepare from scratch.

When I shared the YouTube video about my pantry organization, it was evident I am on a baking journey. That is because I am learning how to bake a lot of goodies. I am baking bread, making biscuits, and even making donuts!

Preparing your meals and baked goods from scratch is an excellent way to save money. What you would spend $25 on at a steakhouse, you can make at home for around $6 or $7. You can make a pizza that you would typically spend $10 on, for just a few dollars. 

When you cook from scratch, not only are you saving money, but you are learning new skills and cooking techniques. Preparing meals from scratch is good for the pocketbook, your health, and mindset, too. You will feel a sense of accomplishment. You can also use that time in the kitchen as an opportunity to teach your children about cooking.

  • Read: I Only Made Instant Pot Recipes for an Entire Month – Here’s What I Learned

How are you saving on food costs during the quarantine?

These are just some of the ways I am cutting back on food costs during the quarantine. Before any grocery trip, I make sure to meal plan. And by meal plan, I mean take a quick inventory of everything I have in my fridge, freezer, and pantry and base my meals off of that.

Be sure to check out the Free Resource Library to access the free fridge, pantry, and freezer inventory printables I use.

Share347
Pin132
Share
Tweet
Email
479 Shares

Filed Under: Cut Expenses, SAVE MORE, Saving Tips Tagged With: CORONAVIRUS, FOOD BUDGET, MONEY TIPS, SAVING MONEY, SAVING TIPS

Previous article:
« How to Build Equity in Your Home
Next article:
What Is a Balance Transfer and Is It Right for You? »

Comments

  1. Anna says

    June 12, 2020 at 12:08 am

    I can across your site this morning. I live in Ireland, and while certain names and measurements are different here in Europe the idea is universal; we all spend our money unwisely, not all the time but too often. I am on my own so budgeting on food can often be tricky. I now buy certain vegetables in their frozen state. But I do hate looking into my little freezer and see three plates of Cottage Pue glaring at me.
    But I like your site and will be a ‘follower’ in the future.
    Ann

Hello, I'm Kumiko, but everyone just calls me Miko. Welcome to my blog, The Budget Mom. I am an Accredited Financial Counselor® , and mom to a rambunctious boy. Come along with me as I strive to live a life I love on a budget that I can afford. Read more about me.

RECENT YOUTUBE VIDEO

Free Resource Library

Recent Posts

  • The ONLY 3 Reasons to Touch Your Investments
  • Explained: The Surprising True Cost of a Speeding Ticket
  • How to Avoid Budget Burnout: 5 Tips to Stay the Course
  • 17 Things That Are Better to Buy Used Instead of New
  • 2021 Tax Season: How to File for Taxes Online

Blog Categories

Amazon Associates Disclosure

The Budget Mom, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

About

  • Home
  • ABOUT TBM
  • Contact
  • Start Here

Important

  • DISCLAIMER
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • Subscribe

Favorites

  • YouTube
  • Blog
  • Live Rich Planner
  • Budget by Paycheck

Start With My Friday Newsletter

Copyright ©2021, The Budget Mom®
This website contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on a product link, I may receive a commission. This website is a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising program where I earn advertising fees by linking to amazon.com.