Nourishment, not entertainment
In our modern culture, food and advertising have combined to create a food is entertainment mentality. Certain colors of packaging, for example, are used by food markets to get people to buy their product over another product.
For you the shopper, recognizing that foods nutritional value, not its packaging is what influences your buying decision is a significant step in the money saving direction. With this mindset, it’s a no-brainer as to whether you buy the sack of potatoes or the bag of potato chips.
Cook at home
You may be thinking that cooking at home means more grocery shopping and therefore more grocery expense. This is true. You will spend more on groceries if you start eating in all the time instead of eating out. You will spend less on food overall if you don’t do this because you will be spending money on groceries that you’d normally spend on eating out. Yes, your grocery bill will be more, buy your food bill will be less. I’ve been cooking at home for several years now. I know for a fact that I’ve saved a couple of thousand dollars.
Consider two people going out for a nice dinner that isn’t too expensive, say $30 for two. Now take that $30 to a grocery store, you can buy food for more than one meal for two, so try to make it a habit to cook and eat in for at least one meal every day and work up to eating out being the exception rather than the rule.
Whole food
When you buy food that has been altered from its original state (dried, cooked, frozen, sugared, juiced) you are paying for those items to be processed that way. Buying food as close to its natural state is very important. Whole fish filets, for instance, are cheaper per meal than frozen fish sticks. Flour is in terms of how many loaves of bread you can make from it, cheaper than pre-baked, store bought bread. Fresh apples are less expensive than frozen apple pie. Before you buy food, think about how far it’s come from its original state.
Amounts cost
It’s not just the dollar or cents amounts that make the difference between an affordable food and a too expensive one. For instance, you may be comparing a bag of dry pinto beans with a can of pinto beans. The can is $0.80, and the bag is $1.10. The canned beans are cheaper, actually, you may think, it. The bag of dried beans will give you at least seven cups of cooked beans for $1.10, whereas the can will only give you two cups for $0.80. Once again, greater processing such as canning requires more steps and labor than drying and bagging. This translates to a greater expense. As you can see, saving money on groceries is a lot about mentality Coupons and sales are great and can help, but getting your mind on how food works and how to make it work for you is key.
Jason Butler
Jason Butler is an Atlanta native, as well as businessman, blogger and teacher. Not only is Jason a prolific flipper, marketer, writer and side hustler his number of years in higher education and student support have given him expert knowledge in understanding the economics of the student loan industry.
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