I am broke and overweight, so of course, I'm your man to listen to, but trust me, as a test, I managed to live off of $47 worth of food over 14 days, without skipping meals.
1. Iceberg Lettuce - it's fresh, it's crunchy and it fills your sandwiches, salads and more importantly, your stomach. It's also pretty cheap and lasts a while.
2. Wraps over bread - store brand wraps are the same, but generally a little smaller. They are also about $1.69 for 8 as opposed to $3-4 for 16 slices of bread.
3. Cut cold cuts in half. You'll find that your sandwiches are just as thick and actually appear bigger. If you stuff them in a wrap with lettuce and tomato, it's a big meal and you're actually eating half as much food.
4. If you buy a family pack of any protein and there are eight pieces in the package. Immediately, when you get home, divide them between four freezer bags and put three in the freezer. The less you cook at once, the more you can make it last.
5. Add rice or pasta, even as a tiny side. to almost every meal. You add a starch and it's filling, causing you not to eat as much of the items that actually cost a lot. Rice and Pasta are about as inexpensive as it comes.
6. Beans!!! - see above. When beans are on sale, they are literally giving them away. Beans make everything better in my opinion. There are few meals I can't find a way to incorporate beans of some sort. Oh and a tortilla wrap, with a 1/4 can of black beans, some lettuce, a slice of tomato, chopped onion and a dollop of sour cream is a great lunch....costs about 75 cents, tops!
7. Stock up on pantry items when they have crazy sales. Especially on items like spices, condiments, grains and pasta.
8. Don't buy anything in a 16oz jar that you can make a gallon of for about twice the money. Make the gallon and freeze the rest. Pre-made and processed foods are so expensive compared to making fresh yourself. Almost always.
9. Don't ever buy paper plates, cups or napkins. Unless you're having 20 people over for a BBQ, this is the single biggest waste of money there is. Washing dishes and having a cloth napkin is the way to go.
10. Leave the junk food in the store. There is absolutely nothing that makes your receipt grow faster than buying chips and cookies. It's the most expensive stuff in the store in terms of how much you spend in comparison to what you receive.
11. Buy inexpensive, good coffee Spanish coffee, like Bustelo. You'll spend less on two weeks worth than you will on one trip to Starbucks.
12. Finally, I'll leave you with one other tip that saved me a fortune...Cook as many meals as you can. When you cook, you'll find you're much more likely to sit down and enjoy the meal, you're less likely to make more than you need, especially when it comes to breakfast and lunch, if you're home.
*12 works wonders if you have kids too. It's a lesson that they will carry on with them forever, they'll appreciate food more and it's quality time. Oh yeah and if they're old enough, you might just wake up one morning and have breakfast served!
1. Iceberg Lettuce - it's fresh, it's crunchy and it fills your sandwiches, salads and more importantly, your stomach. It's also pretty cheap and lasts a while.
2. Wraps over bread - store brand wraps are the same, but generally a little smaller. They are also about $1.69 for 8 as opposed to $3-4 for 16 slices of bread.
3. Cut cold cuts in half. You'll find that your sandwiches are just as thick and actually appear bigger. If you stuff them in a wrap with lettuce and tomato, it's a big meal and you're actually eating half as much food.
4. If you buy a family pack of any protein and there are eight pieces in the package. Immediately, when you get home, divide them between four freezer bags and put three in the freezer. The less you cook at once, the more you can make it last.
5. Add rice or pasta, even as a tiny side. to almost every meal. You add a starch and it's filling, causing you not to eat as much of the items that actually cost a lot. Rice and Pasta are about as inexpensive as it comes.
6. Beans!!! - see above. When beans are on sale, they are literally giving them away. Beans make everything better in my opinion. There are few meals I can't find a way to incorporate beans of some sort. Oh and a tortilla wrap, with a 1/4 can of black beans, some lettuce, a slice of tomato, chopped onion and a dollop of sour cream is a great lunch....costs about 75 cents, tops!
7. Stock up on pantry items when they have crazy sales. Especially on items like spices, condiments, grains and pasta.
8. Don't buy anything in a 16oz jar that you can make a gallon of for about twice the money. Make the gallon and freeze the rest. Pre-made and processed foods are so expensive compared to making fresh yourself. Almost always.
9. Don't ever buy paper plates, cups or napkins. Unless you're having 20 people over for a BBQ, this is the single biggest waste of money there is. Washing dishes and having a cloth napkin is the way to go.
10. Leave the junk food in the store. There is absolutely nothing that makes your receipt grow faster than buying chips and cookies. It's the most expensive stuff in the store in terms of how much you spend in comparison to what you receive.
11. Buy inexpensive, good coffee Spanish coffee, like Bustelo. You'll spend less on two weeks worth than you will on one trip to Starbucks.
12. Finally, I'll leave you with one other tip that saved me a fortune...Cook as many meals as you can. When you cook, you'll find you're much more likely to sit down and enjoy the meal, you're less likely to make more than you need, especially when it comes to breakfast and lunch, if you're home.
*12 works wonders if you have kids too. It's a lesson that they will carry on with them forever, they'll appreciate food more and it's quality time. Oh yeah and if they're old enough, you might just wake up one morning and have breakfast served!
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