5 Ways to Save on your Kitchen and Food Budget

You've made the commitment; you've carefully planned your monthly food budget; and now you're really working on sticking to it (despite the occasional Taco Tuesday splurge or group-coupon binge). So when you are looking back on the month to balance your total budget, it bears paying attention to your expense habits in those fixed areas, especially the ones that you've become so accustomed to that you no longer even consider them flexible. Like your grocery expenses and food budget.

Is your Food Budget Truly 'Fixed'?

Well, if you are like me, and you've set a fixed budget of food expenses, you may have fallen into the habit of always taking that amount for granted. You may even have begun to match your buying habits to your allotted amount, sometimes over-buying (or in some cases, underestimating) the amount of food you'll need for the next couple of days, or weeks. "Okay, yeah, but so what?" you might say, "I usually abstain from major purchasing binges. Plus, my grocery bill has been more-or-less the same for as long as I can remember, so it is what it is." "What does my kitchen budget have to do with saving for retirement when I'm in my 60s?" This is where it gets a little outside the proverbial (ice)box here, so bear with me. Americans waste $165 billion worth of food each year with the average family of four wasting $2,275 annually. $2,275! Yikes! That's literally like throwing 22 Benjamins into the trash. It kind of sickening, don't you think? But all is not lost! If you are on a fixed food budget, it stands to reason that with some reassessment, you might be able to catch areas of waste in your habits and prevent . Here are some ways you can do just that!

Tip 1: Wield your Power

There are many ways the average household like mine is wasteful in the kitchen, and it all adds up to dollars going down the drain. First, check out your appliances. Electronics often consume power, even when they're not in use. Unplug them when they're not needed. You can always unplug the following common kitchen appliances without risking food spoilage (unless you're storing food in them, which we don't recommend):

• blender
• microwave
• electric kettle
• electric mixer
• toaster
• electric oven
• cappuchino maker
• coffee grinder
• coffee maker
• rice cooker
• paper shredder (some of us keep it near the kitchen, so we'll throw that in for good measure too!)

Next, make sure your refrigerator isn't too cold or too hot. Ideal temperatures are between 35 to 38 degrees F. Too cold and your refrigerator has to work harder, too hot and your food may spoil more quickly.

Tip 2: Bring your own Lunch, or Dine Out?

If you're like many people, you understand that preparing food can be less expensive than dining out or buying pre-made meals. On one hand, preparing your own meals takes extra time to do, but on the other, and with the rising prices of commodities like grains driving up the prices of grocery food, the gap in cost vs. convenience is closing for people who would rather eat out than stay in and prepare a home-cooked meal. But even if you often eat out at lunch, there are still very inexpensive alternatives to eating out, so consider making your lunches and bringing them to work.

• Leftovers and sandwiches are easy, cheap options.
• Brewing your own coffee vs. buying it at coffee shops can also add up in savings. In 2011, consumers spent an average of $1,000 buying coffee from coffee shops!

Admittedly, if you have fallen out of the habit (or never got started on it), cooking frugally can be a challenge and is a lifestyle change. For additional reading and help, Hillbilly Housewife and The Frugal Cook are two websites dedicated to providing recipes and tips to help ease you into this new lifestyle.

 Tip 3: Keep it Fresh

If you often buy perishable foods, like veggies and fruits (rock on with your healthy self!), you may have encountered problems keeping things fresh. This can be a big source of unplanned-for expenses—and we don't even realize it most of the time! It stands to reason that if your food spoils, then you have to spend more money to replace it when you get hungry.

• One way to combat food spoilage drain on your wallet is to plan out your meals before going to the grocery store, so you will have some idea of what you need to buy—and can better resist the urge to overspend!
• Stick to what you've planned when you shop and cook throughout the week. This helps ensures two things: 1) you aren't buying impulse foods that you didn't plan for, and 2) you aren't forgetting food until it's a moldy mess in the back of your fridge. Instead, you're buying only the foods you need, and you're sticking to your weekly meal plan, and fine-tuning it to get the timing and recipe amounts proportional to you and your family's eating habits.
• Chopping up veggies and placing them in plastic bags or other air-tight containers makes them conveniently and readily available for addition into various dishes. You can store the chopped veggies in the freezer, so there's less rush to use them in a timely fashion. Depending on the veggie or fruit, in my experience, they can keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week longer than if they had been stored unchopped in your crisper.
• Buying products in bulk is usually a good way to save money on things you use often, but make sure to compare the cost by the ounce or pound. Buying bulk might not always be the best deal. Sometimes packaging is designed to look bigger, but in reality the volume of food inside is less than a rival product on the same shelf. Always check the value per ounce or pound to prevent falling for food companies' "creative license" with brand packaging.

Tip 4: Coupon Queen!

Coupons are great for your budget, if used properly. Resist the urge, however, to buy something you usually wouldn't normally buy simply because you clipped a coupon for it. Remember, it's not how much you save, so much as how much you spend. Don't let coupons entice you into purchasing something you don't really need. With that said, coupons can save you money if you keep the coupons for things that are mandatory buys. You can find coupons in the newspaper, on websites like Shortcuts.com, and possibly on the grocery store's official website. Some grocery chains with buyer's rewards cards, like Kroger, will even monitor what types of items you frequently buy and will mail you coupons best suited to your spending habits.

Tip 5: Buy Produce in Season

Finally, one of the best ways to spend within your food budget is to buy produce while it's in season. This interactive map provides suggestions based on your location and the month. Produce you buy in season are usually fresher and in better condition, in addition to being cheaper. This article may be a lot to take in, but all habit changes start with one small thing, and build from there. From appliances to food to storage, you can see that there are a lot of ways to weed out wastefulness and inefficiency, which will save you money that is better spent towards debt reduction or saving for retirement. For additional reading on saving for retirement, here are some popular posts:

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