Save Money on Food

In this time of economic crisis, saving money has become vital. Thousands of people are losing their jobs in mass layoffs, due to the large income drop of companies that is occurring now, and expected in the near future. As penny-pinching is now socially acceptable, it is time to search through those coupon books, make a detailed grocery list, and head off the supermarket!

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average family spends an average $7,900 a year on food alone. Almost half of that amount is food away from home, like restaurants and the children's' school lunches. One of the most obvious ways to save money on food is to cut back on going to restaurants. Even some fast-food restaurants are overpriced. If you have children, find out how much they spend on lunch per day. Find out what they are eating at school. If they are eating unnecessary junk or vending-machine food, buy individually-wrapped snacks in bulk to send them with. If they are still spending too much, see if packing a lunch from home saves you any money. Many schools offer a cheaper lunch program if you cannot afford their lunches.

Create a plan for your at-home family meals and integrate it into your shopping list. You can assign a certain food for each day (ex. Friday is spaghetti day). This will help you know what you need to buy, and to avoid foods that you don't need to buy. Also, it will help you to more easily find coupons that you need.

Coupons can be a gift from god if you know where to find them. The first place to start would be the internet; it is the 21^st century you know. If you shop at a grocery chain, like Safeway or Fred Meyer, you can try to go to their website to find coupons. Look for items you buy or are interested in buying, print them out, and you are good to go. Also, check to see in the store has a free booklet that has coupons or shows sales.

Avoid buying pre-cut fruits/vegetables, it is much cheaper to buy the whole food, and just cut it yourself. Stay away from exotic fruits and vegetables and instead aim for the best size-to-price ratio. Look for anything that is in-season because they will be much lower in price in that time period. Prices on fruits and vegetables change often so don't buy it if you think it is too expensive.

If you drink coffee, make it at home instead of going to a latte stand. Saving even a mere $2 a day from this, adds up to saving an astounding $730 in one year. This applies to all small snacks that you buy every day, including anything purchased from a vending machine.

Saving money is more important now than ever. It may be hard to break the habit of bad spending but it takes very little time to get used to, and once you have, you will be saving thousands of dollars per year. Now that is good saving!

Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table5" BLS.gov