I make almost all of my food and rarely eat out because doing so saves me money. Call me cheap if you want, but yesterday I bought a fried egg, a piece of scrapple, and a bottled water for around $7. Had I made it myself, the cost would have broken down about like this:
1 egg: $.30
1 slice scrapple: $.35
Filtered tap water: free
Total cost: $.65
Total savings:$6.65
Um, CA-CHING! So why did I eat out? Because it was convenient, I was too lazy to scrounge around my kitchen looking for something to eat, and I didn’t expect it to add up to almost $10 for one breakfast. If I ate breakfast out five days a week, I would spend nearly $40. And that, my friends, is why I have so many cooking single tips up my sleeve and why I share them with you.
So my tips today are ones to help you save you money and eat well (yes, you can have your cake and eat it too).
Tip: When short on cash, opt for buying a few items at the grocery store instead of eating out. If you shop smart, you can purchase items that will make a small variety of meals and feed you until you’re back on your feet. Smart items include boneless skinless chicken breasts (hopefully on sale), rice, broccoli, carrots, spinach. You can make these items into salads, square meals, one-pot meals, or snacks.
Tip: Make a budget and keep track of it. I recorded my spending on an Excel spread sheet every day for six months. I tracked each category of my spending, for example: gas, groceries, eating out, rent, utilities, clothes, car insurance, doctor’s appointments, medicine, etc. After six months, I averaged the amount spent in each category and made that my budget. Now, I record my spending every day so I can see how much I’m spending in each category and compare it to my budget. It helps me spend less and not go over my budget.
Tip: Even if you don’t think you can make something at home, you probably can–and save money doing it. For example, I MUST have a latte each morning in order to function and make it to work alive. I was spending almost $5 every day on those little pick-me-ups, adding up to about $25 a week, $100 a month! I tried to refrain, but my body wasn’t having it. So I searched on Amazon.com for a single-serving espresso maker and found one for $45. I now buy ground espresso ($11/lb) and sugar-free caramel syrup ($13/bottle) from the cafe where I used to get my lattes and make them myself. Now my latte breaks down about like this:
Espresso: $.55
Soy milk: $.50
Syrup: $.33
Total cost: $1.40/day, $7/week, $28/month, $336/year
Total savings: $3.00/day, $15/week, $60/month, $720/year
How are you spending your food money?
