Tips for Saving Money on Groceries

It's no secret that the cost of food has been going up. Here are some ways to stretch your food dollar as far as possible.

Choose Low-Cost Foods

Low-cost meals do not have to be dull or lack variety. There are many low-cost, nutritious foods from which to choose. In fact, many favorite foods are low in cost.

Some foods (soda pop, candy, alcohol, coffee and tea) are both high in cost and low in nutrients. Many convenience foods, such as pastries and prepared foods, cost more than similar foods you can make at home. To get nutritious meals at low cost, you want most of your food money to pay off in nutrients.

Ground beef or turkey, chicken, beef chuck stead, and turkey parts are usually good meat buys. Plain frozen and canned vegetables often cost much less than vegetables sold with seasonings and sauces.

Use Smaller Amounts of Meat, Poultry and Fish

Meat is a good source of several nutrients, but most meats are more expensive than other foods. Try combining small amounts of lower-cost meats, poultry, and fish with bread, cereal, rice, pasta or potatoes for hearty main dishes. Dry beans, dry peas, eggs, and peanut butter can be used often in casseroles, soups, salads and snacks. They provide the same nutrients as meat at lower cost, and may be lower in fat, too.

To save time, cook enough beans for a few recipes. Cooked beans will keep from three to five days in the refrigerator. Or when you are short on time, you may want to use canned beans, even if they cost more than dry beans.

Feature Grain Products

Whole-grain products are among the most economical sources of many vitamins and minerals. They can be a real plus in your diet. There are sample menus in UMaine Extension bulletin #4330, Planning Thrifty Meals for Small Families: you may be surprised at the different ways they are used.

Avoid Waste: Plan for Leftovers

Many foods don’t come in packages small enough for one or two people. Buying larger packages than you really need sometimes results in wasted food. And that means money down the drain. To avoid waste, try the “planned-over” idea. “Planned-over” means planning ahead to buy or prepare amounts of food that give you servings for more than one meal—planning for leftovers.

For example, consider preparing a recipe for four and serving it twice. Or try cooking a large cut of meat or whole chicken. Eat some, and save the rest to use in other main dishes.

Make Your Own Convenience Mixes

Everyone needs to get meals on the table fast sometimes. But store-bought convenience foods can be expensive. To help solve the problem, you can make your own low-cost convenience foods. The biscuit mix recipe in UMaine Extension bulletin #4334, Thrifty Recipes: Salads and Soups, Breads and Desserts is used in the menus to make muffins, apple cobbler and biscuits. This mix will keep up to three months in the refrigerator. There is a pudding mix and a meatball mix, too.

See the other fact sheets in this series, available at www.extension.umaine.edu or from your county UMaine Extension office:

• Planning Thrifty Meals for Small Families, bulletin #4330
• Buying Food for Thrifty Small Families, bulletin #4332
• Thrifty Recipes: Main Dishes, bulletin #4333
• Thrifty Recipes: Salads and Soups, Breads and Desserts, bulletin #4334

This column was excerpted and adapted from “Ideas for Planning Thrifty Menus” bulletin #4331 from University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Visit UMaine Extension at www.extension.umaine.edu and click on “Publications” for information on additional topics.

For more than 90 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land-grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county.