Are food costs eating into your financial well-being? They are for many of us. A recent article from financial-planning journalist Michelle Singletary indicated that the average American household spends almost 10% of their income on food, and for some households, food is more than 30% of their household spending. It’s clear that many of us need to reduce food costs this year.
One statement from Michelle’s article really hits home for us: “Food is always one of the hardest areas to trim in a household budget…And eating out is the biggest culprit of budget busting.”
You can feed a family of five at home for the cost of a one-person mid-priced restaurant meal.
And we don’t even always enjoy what we eat out to boot – it’s often over spiced, too salty or too rich. We leave the restaurant with a thinner wallet and an uncomfortable bloated feeling.
So why do we do it? Because for most of us, making dinner is a chore best avoided.
The good news? It doesn’t have to be that way and we’re here to help!
There are a few key steps to really making a difference in your food spending, and the good news is that they don’t have to be that hard, and there are tools out there to help.
Just eating out less one time per week can reduce food costs more than you think. A couple can save over $1000 a year and a family can $2000 to $3000 a year.
Here are three key steps to really bringing down your food costs:how to get started
- Have a plan for what you are going to make. Whether you decide to subscribe to our meal planning service that provides a ready-to-go personalized weekly menu base on your store’s sales, or just refer to our post on how to get started with meal planning, taking a half hour on Sunday night to plan out a few meals makes a huge difference and can save hours later in the week.
- Shop the deals – Plan meals using the meat sales at your store. Sure if you have time use as many as you can, but using the meat sales, and buying value packs on sale will give you the biggest bang for the buck.
- Keep it simple. Pick meals that don’t have too many ingredients or require fancy preparation. Good home cooking is often best when simple and is so much less stressful. If you are working out of home, add in a slow cooker meal once or twice a week.
That’s it – if you follow those three steps, you’ll not only save money, but you’ll save time and your sanity!
If those seem overwhelming, then for just about $1 a week we’ll do it for you, and you’ll save much more than that on your weekly food costs. Try it for free for two weeks to see if it might just be your solution.
As Michelle Singletary says: “ Yes, you have to eat. But don’t let this basic need bust your budget. If you’re not watching your spending in this area, you could be eating your wealth away.”
