Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Greetings Thrifty Friends,

Food takes up a large portion of our lives and consequently our budgets. If you spent a month recording every penny you spend on food you would be astounded. This makes your food budget a prime place for saving money!

A lot of people get caught up in convenience foods. This includes eating out. No dishes, right? However, this is almost always more expensive (and less healthy!) than doing it yourself.

You can create your own convenience foods by preparing for several meals at once, buying family-size packages of ground meat, and cooking and storing food in meal-sized amounts in the freezer!

Scroll down for some more great kitchen ideas.

Keep pinchin' those pennies,
Penny


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TODAY'S THRIFTY TIP:

Keep a well-stocked pantry of staples like pasta, rice, tuna, canned beans, canned vegetables, salsa, ready-to-eat sauces and hearty bean and pea soups so you can whip up quick and easy meals without going to the store for missing ingredients.


BONUS TIP:

Base meals on planned leftovers. Consider doubling basic recipes in order to use the remainder in a new way the next night. For example, black beans can be used in burritos tonight and then pureed into a delicious soup tomorrow. Roast chicken or turkey one night can furnish the basis of a salad, soup or casserole the next day.

Buy and cook in quantity and freeze the extras. This can save you money now, by using foods bought at a good price, and save you time later, which really has a monetary value too!