At Home:
- Make food from “scratch”–many foods are less expensive when made at home rather than prepared
- Use leftovers–include in other meals and snacks
- Use food before if spoils–food thrown away is money lost
- Make brown bag lunches
- Double the recipe and freeze–1/2 to be used later for another meal
- Include meatless meals 2-3 times in a week–meat is typically the most expensive item in a meal
- Extend your meal with whole grains and vegetables
- Make soups and stews–foods that have a high water content are filling and use less meat-great for using leftovers and freezing extra batches
- Use smaller plates and bowls–decreases portion size to help with reducing cost and calories
When Grocery Shopping:
- Set a budget
- Consider discount stores
- Use store ads-shop for weekly sale items
- Make and use a shopping list–saves time and money
- Use unit pricing to check for best prices–most stores post the unit price on the shelf below the food as part of the pricing label.
- Don’t shop when hungry–we buy more food when we are hungry
- Shop when the store is not crowded–it’s quicker and allows for you to spend less time spending money
- Shop alone
- Use coupons wisely–only use them to get best price on foods that are needed and will be used
- Buy foods on sale
- Buy produce in season
- Choose food with less packaging
- Buy larger packages-usually it’s a better buy if you can use the product before it spoils. The unit price will help you know if it’s the best buy.
- Shop at farmer’s markets–seasonal produce is usually less expensive
- Shop the perimeter of the grocery store–the least processed foods are placed in the perimeter of the store
- Purchase store label products–compared to name brands they are usually less expensive
Courtesy of the County of San Luis Obispo Public Health Department