There has been a lot of doom and gloom in the news this week. In the past month, food prices have risen and fuel is turning into an extravagance instead of a necessity and best of all wages are staying the same.
As I always say over here at The Lean Times, when facing adversity we need to think smarter. There are a few changes we can make to ease the financial pain. A lot of them have to do with how and what we eat. The reason I seem to keep going back to food is that is one area where we have choice in how we spend our money.
1. Lessen your meat consumption. In the post Eat like a Peasant. I spoke about making meat a flavouring instead of the star of the meal. Many families are having Meatfree Monday and if the economy gets worse it will probably extend into more days.
2. Eat seasonally. It is always cheaper to eat local produce as you are not paying as much for the transportation. Have a look at the website Eat the Seasons, it gives you a weekly list of what is in season and recipes.
3. Cook the right amounts. Throwing away food is a crime and one that is easily avoided, know how much to make and plan for the leftovers. If you make a bit batch of something like chili or stew immediately freeze the leftovers then in a couple of weeks time you will have a pre-prepared meal.
4. Feed the freezer. Your freezer runs more efficiently when it is full so take advantage of sales. So many things can be frozen from milk to mozzarella. To freeze mozzarella, you drain the water surrounding the ball. It will not be firm enough to use in salads but fine for a bake.
5. Hunt out the bargains. The big supermarkets are going to be fighting for sales so visit My Supermarket to find out who is selling what you need at the lowest price. I still vistit the site when I am going to shop in store and I have a choice of stores. I want to know who is selling toilet paper the cheapest.
Great post Viviana! I couldn’t agree more! My food budget seems to be the only outgoing left I have any control of!
At the moment I can’t believe how expensive it is to buy fresh vegetables! I find myself getting creative with bags of frozen veg…….this does have it’s perks though. Less chopping to do 😉 hehe
It is shocking when we should still be having summer’s bounty. Do you have a local market they tend to be about 30% cheaper than the supermarket. I have been loving squash. We experimented with a Blue Hubbard at the weekend, it was tasty but I cooked it a bit too long. This week it is onion squash.
Actually we are quite lucky where I live with markets and independently owned food shops but I love a variety of vegetables so unfortunately it all adds up!
Thanks for the ‘Eat the Seasons’ link though, think that will help me a bit.
I’m daring myself to try a few pumpkin recipes from Pinterest since they are going very cheaply and they are big enough to feed a large family!
You will love cooking with pumpkin – it makes a great risotto.
price and quality depends on the locality and the markets.. you need to be more concious while purchasing
vegetables.
I think you always have to be concious of everything you buy but when comparing prices markets nearly always come out the better buy.