5 Tips to Combat the Rising Cost of Food

As the cost of food (and gas, as well as other essentials) continues to rise, many families are being forced to stretch their budgets to meet their basic needs. As families struggle to combat the rising price of groceries, there are many simple things we can do to cut down on our food costs without subsisting on ramen and crackers.

If you are reading this, it's likely that you are already aware of clipping coupons and checking the newspaper for grocery store ads to see what is on sale that week. So, I'm hoping that this article will give you some additional ideas for lowering food costs while maintaining, or improving, your family's nutrition.

Buy in Bulk

Most large grocery stores, health food stores and discount grocers now have an entire section devoted to bins of bulk items. Items that can be purchased in bulk include cereals, beans, flours, candy, rice, oatmeal, convenient snack foods (such as trail mix, dried fruits and pretzels), dog and cat foods and much more.
Buying in bulk allows you to buy the amount you actually want; therefore, eliminating wasted food from overbuying, while also limiting packaging, which means a lower cost for you and less environmental impact for the planet.

A side note on buying in bulk: Aside from buying staple items in bulk, also try to avoid single serving packages. Single serving packages of chips, crackers and other foods may be more convenient, but buying this way requires significantly more packaging and increases the price and environmental impact.

Make Brown Rice a Staple

Brown rice is a nutritious and inexpensive food that is both convenient and flexible for meal planning. Purchasing brown rice in bulk and making a large pot at the beginning of the week is a cost effective way to include fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals to any meal. Brown rice is known around the world for its health benefits, but when trying to lower food costs, it is sometimes overlooked as a filling, inexpensive food that allows you to use lower amounts of more expensive foods when preparing a meal.

For example, if your family eats meat, which is a higher cost food item, a smaller portion of meat can be served with vegetables and a generous portion of rice for a filling meal. Other meals that can be planned around brown rice include: a healthy vegetable stir fry served over a mound of brown rice, rice bowls made by mixing rice with steamed vegetables or yogurt and fresh fruit, or a brown rice salad or tabbouleh.

A quick online search will produce a vast amount of recipes for quick and easy meals with brown rice, which will allow you to conveniently incorporate this healthy and inexpensive staple into your family's diet.

Switch to Dry Beans

My family is vegan, so we consume large amounts of beans as one of our main sources of protein. But, regardless of your family's diet, you can cut a large chunk out of your food budget by using this tip. Whether you purchase frozen, canned or dry beans, any of these options will provide a lower cost source of protein than most meat sources. Therefore, the first step would be to consider replacing some of the meat in your family's diet with protein- and fiber-rich beans. This alone will help cut food costs.

The next step is to bypass canned beans and begin buying dry beans either in bags or in bulk. Dry beans will take more time to prepare, but the savings and health benefits are well worth the effort. For example, I purchase dry kidney beans for approximately 70 cents per bag (when I don't buy them in bulk). This bag makes a little more than the amount of two cans of kidney beans that I used to purchase for $1.89 each.

Additionally, purchasing dry beans allows you to control the amount of salt and other additives that are often present in canned products.

Let Go of a Little Convenience

A lot of what we pay for at the grocery store is packaging and convenience. As stated above, the more we buy in bulk and avoid single serving bags and boxes, the less we pay for all of that additional packaging.

By giving up a little convenience, we can all save a lot when it comes to food costs. Purchasing and preparing items like brown rice and dry beans (as mentioned above) may be less convenient than buying quick-cooking rice and canned beans, but the significant savings and health benefits are worth the minimal effort involved.

Another great example is oatmeal. A box of 8 single servings of quick-cooking oatmeal packets typically costs around $4.00. Whereas, a 13 serving container of old fashioned oats can be purchased for $1.00. The savings in a single purchase are well worth taking the 3-5 minutes to cook the old fashioned oats and adding our own sweetener, cinnamon or maple syrup.

On top of the savings, your family will also benefit from being able to control the amount of sugar and salt in your food while avoiding the additives and preservatives in more processed foods.

Avoid Bottled Water

Gallon for gallon, purchasing small bottles of water for one time use is more expensive than purchasing gasoline. Save money by foregoing cases of bottled water (or buying them individually) and invest in a water pitcher with a filter for your refrigerator and reusable water bottles for each family member. By doing this you will avoid paying for the packaging of individual bottles and the waste that comes from them. You will also have the convenience of cold, filtered water right in your refrigerator at all times and you will no longer have to stop to purchase bottled water when you leave the house.