Money-Saving Tips to Lower Your Food Budget

As food prices continue to rise, consumers find it a challenge to stay on a budget. We are spending more money on food this year than we did last year. People are looking for ways to save money on food. As an experiment, for one month, I spent only twenty dollars a week on food. I ate healthy, delicious meals and all of my meals cost under a dollar. This article will explain the foods I ate, the stores I shopped in and other information that will help you lower your food budget.

Everyone can save money on food if they would eat vegetarian foods two or three days a day. You can substitute beans for meat or chicken in most recipes. Bean stew, bean curry, bean burritos are a few examples of bean meals. When you combine beans with a grain you get the same protein as you find in meat, chicken and fish. Beans are high in fiber and easier to digest than meat. For this experiment I ate only vegetarian food, because I am a vegetarian. You can substitute chicken thighs or chicken drum sticks, canned tuna and eggs with some of the items on my list and still stay with the twenty dollars a week budget.
Create a meal plan for a week. Use the meal plan as a guide when you make your grocery list. Buy only the items on your grocery list. Always eat a meal before you go grocery shopping. Eating before you shop will help you buy only the items on yourlist. Wednesdays is the best day to grocery shop. Most stores will honor the previous sales items from the past week and you can get the new sales items for the new week on a Wednesday. Shop in the evening and you maybe able to get additional discounts on produce, bakery items and meat.

I shop for food in a dollar store and a grocery store. Dollar stores have a lot of food items and household products. In the grocery store I buy store brand products or products that are on sale. In the dollar store I buy dry beans, rice, pasta and oatmeal. In the grocery store I buy bananas, carrots, celery, lettuce, frozen mixed vegetables, bread and cheese. With these food items I can create meals that cost under a dollar.
The following menu is an example of some of the meals you can make on a twenty dollar a week budget.

BREAKFAST
Banana
Oatmeal
Toast with melted cheese

LUNCH
Pasta Salad
Marinated bean salad
Grilled cheese sandwich
Curry beans and rice
Carrots and celery

DINNER
SALAD
Stir-fried vegetables and beans on rice
Bean Chili on rice
Bake pasta and cheese
Vegetable and bean casserole

Eat vegetarian food two or three days a week. Shop in a dollar store and only buy store brand products and products that are on sale in the grocery store. Shop in the evening on a Wednesday to get the most sales items and discounted products.

Follow my suggestions and you can create meals that cost under a dollar and you
can lower your monthly food budget.

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