No matter whether you are single, living with a partner or sharing a house with kids, food always is an important part of any household’s budget. Data from the American Enterprise Institute show that the share of household spending on food is close to 7% in the United States and generally above 10% in European countries. A report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, suggests that the actual figure in the USA is 13%. Whatever the percentage is, one thing is obvious: food is not a negligible part of one’ budget. Therefore, changing one’s eating habits should translate into money savings.
Fast Food Love
More than 25% of Americans eat fast food every single day and as a people, Americans spend more than $100 billion per year on fast food. In 2012, a survey demonstrated that 65% of Americans earning between $35,000 and $49,999 had eaten out at a fast food restaurant for lunch or for dinner at least once in the month prior to the survey. In the light of this, Americans necessarily get a fair share of their food from fast food restaurants; in fact, they spend 4.5% of their pay check on dining out (good restaurants included).
In other words, Americans (and people in the Western world in general) spend a lot of their weekly food budget at restaurants. If some studies show that eating out can be cheaper and eating at home for certain kinds of meals, it should not be forgotten that fast food has become increasingly expensive. Therefore, going to a fast food restaurant on a regular basis to get your lunch may not always be a great idea, both for your health and your wallet. Preparing meals at home can be quite cost-effective for most workers, if they select their foods carefully.
1. Buying relatively cheap foods
Of course, if you decide to start preparing your own lunches with smoked salmon and caviar, you may soon find out that even homemade food can be quite expensive. On the other hand, if you carefully plan the meals you are going to eat at work, it is highly possible that substantial money savings will be made. The first step towards changing your eating habits in order to cut down on restaurant expenses is to buy relatively cheap foods at the supermarket without compromising on the quality of the meals you will make.
In other words, you ought to look for foods that provide the necessary vitamins and nutrients to your body without spending too much money on them. For instance, beans and legumes provide excellent protein and are generally sold at a low cost. Mixed with vegetables, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, for instance, they make a very good salad for cheap!
2. Making do with what’s on sale
Another way to cut down on food expenses is to go to the supermarket without having previously listed all of the things that you need. Of course, you may write down some of the essential stuff you need, but going to the grocery store with an open mind regarding what you are going to buy has one clear advantage: you can go for what’s on sale. If you see that the price of usually expensive foods such as chicken breasts are cut down by half, buy more than you normally would and freeze them!
Stocking up expensive foods when they are on sale will prevent you from uselessly spending big bucks in the long run. But going for the supermarket’s specials also has another advantage: you will come home with bags full of bargains, and you will prepare your meals in accordance with what you have! Of course, you may find out that some ingredients are missing in your fridge at some point during the week, but if you just have to buy those few missing ingredients at their regular price, you will save big. The idea is to try to make recipes with what you buy; not to buy the stuff you need to make a recipe. That way, you will be much more sensitive to weekly sales.
3. Preparing big quantities
Another easy way to save money while preparing your own meals is to make big quantities. If chicken breasts are on sale, you should try to stock them up (remember point #2!) but you should also try to double or even triple the recipe you want to make. That way, each serving will cost even less than it usually would, and you will be able to freeze many platefuls and eat them later in the month when you don’t feel like cooking.
You should also avoid looking down on eating the same thing two or three days in a row. In effect, you start wasting food when you try to eat different things every single day, because what the supermarket sells is usually too big for one meal only. Making a Greek salad and eating it at lunchtime on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday is not the end of the world. In fact, it is the best way to avoid throwing food away. Knowing that food is costly and that our planet already faces difficulties in trying to feed everyone, sending food to the garbage dump should always be the very last option.
About the author:
Alexandre Duval is a freelance blogger who writes about lifestyle and other topics of interest. He works for Standard Life and he is also currently completing his master’s degree in political science at the University of Quebec in Montreal.
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Written by Jon the Saver
