1. Eat in. When you fix your own food at home it costs far less per serving then eating out. In addition to that you do not waste as much. For example, if you were to eat a hamburger for lunch at home, you would not likely make fries as well, or at least not as many as you would get at a sit down restaurant, thus, you save. When you eat in you do not pay for service. When you eat in, you do not pay the inflated food costs. For example, if you were to drink a soda at home it would cost you roughly 50 cents. Whereas at a restaurant it would cost you $2 more than that.

Inexpensive meals: Soup. Soups are one of the most inexpensive meal ideas out there because they generally feed several people, or make several servings, and they allow you to clean out the odds and ends you have. A vegetable soup will let you use up the end of the bag of baby carrots, the half of an onion you have left, that partial can of chicken stock, the last few stocks of celery, etc. and have a tasty meal. In addition, if foods start to go soft, or are not as fresh and crisp any more, you won't really notice if they are used in a soup, which allows you to prolong the life of the produce you buy. Stirfry. You can use the same concept and make a stir fry. Use up the odds and ends in your produce drawer before they go bad, and eat it with rice, a very inexpensive side. In addition, the more expensive food items, like meats, can be used sparingly and go further in a meal like this. Pastas. You can make a gourmet pasta dish for a really low cost. Throw in some veggies, chicken, etc. and it is still going to be really cheap because pasta is cheap, and you really do not need much sauce to cover a large portion. Thus, the most expensive part, the cream sauce, or tomato sauce, goes far, and is simple to make.




2. Make menus. Making a menu for the week is a great way to save money on food. It saves you money in several ways. For one it gives you a plan for your meals so that you do not just pick up take-out or stop for fast food because you do not know what to eat. And, in another way, it allows you to create meals that use what you have in your fridge and pantry, or overlap ingredients so that you can spend less on food. For example, you might buy chicken for a meal on Wednesday and not use it all, so on Saturday you could make a soup and use the rest of your chicken as well as the odds and ends in your produce drawer, etc. A menu should be created with efficiency in mind. Look at the recipes of the meals you intend to prepare, and plan the menu so that each item used gets used in full. If for example you need 1 cup of kidney beans for a taco salad you are making for lunch, you would be left with another cup as cans of kidney beans are typically 2 cups worth. So, plan another meal, like a bean soup, or a casserole, etc. that would call for the other cup.
3. Cook smaller portions. Have you ever cleaned out your fridge and found that you threw away a garbage bag full of leftovers? Leftovers are great if you are going to eat them, but if you do not eat them, they turn into wasted money. So, one way to save money on food is to cook only what you will eat for that meal. Or, cook a lot, and freeze the leftovers in portions equivalent to what you would eat in one meal, then plan a day to eat them. Just freezing them is not enough, you have to eat them at some point, so plan it out so that you do not actually waste food. Cooking smaller portions saves you money by not wasting, but it also makes for healthier eating. For example, if you make a big pot of spaghetti, everyone at the table may fill up on spaghetti and neglect eating salad. However, if you make a smaller amount, and each person gets a portion, but not enough to fill them up completely, they are more likely to eat the healthy side dishes as well.
4. Do not waste. The average American family throws away 14% of the food they buy. If you want to save money on food, only buy food you are going to eat. This means, no matter how good of a sale yogurt is on, if you can't eat the amount you purchase before it goes bad, do not buy it. It means, buy things with a plan for using them so that they do not sit in your fridge and rot with good intentions. For example, you might buy a head of lettuce, but if you do not make a plan to use it, it very possibly will wilt and go slimy before you get it used. So, this tip goes along with tip 2, plan out your meals, and buy what you need for those, nothing more. At least nothing perishable more.
5. Do food/meal sharing. This is a concept where you cook one thing for several people, and they do the same, then you swap out meals. So, maybe you have 5 people who each cook one meal for all 4 of the other people, then you trade. This can help you save money on food because often you can cook for more people without needing a whole lot more stuff. For example, making a lasagna for two only costs a little less than making one for eight. Why? Because you have to buy cheese, you have to open a whole can of sauce, etc. So, you pay 40 cents more for the larger package of lasagna noodles, or for the bigger brick of cheese, etc. and make far more food.
6. Use coupons. Coupons are not something you should turn your nose up at, especially manufacturers coupons. Why? Because all too often you can use a manufacturers coupon on a sale item and get it almost free. Coupons are an ideal way to save money on food. So, how do you get coupons? You clip them from magazines and newspapers. You print them off websites. You trade them, etc. One of the best places to get coupons is online. There are many sites dedicated to coupons, and even ones that require a paid membership can be well worth it if you can find coupons on items you buy regularly. For example, if you eat cereal on a regular basis, coupons can save you hundreds. If you eat frozen foods at all, coupons can save you a lot. Look in store ads for coupons, look in the Sunday paper, and check out websites for specific manufacturers, as well as store websites.
7. Stock up when it is on sale. If you want to save money on food, you need to pay less for the food you eat. This means that if there is a week when something you eat regularly is at a reduced price, you need to take advantage of it. Stores put their food on sale in cycles. This means it will be about 10-12 weeks before the item comes on sale again. So, for example, if your child drinks a lot of apple juice, and the brand you like goes on sale, buy ten weeks worth so that you never have to pay full price for their juice. Even if you do not have room for ten weeks worth, it is always wise to stock up on items that you use on a regular basis while they are on sale. This can be pancake mix, or it can be cereal, but whatever it is, if you can pay less, do. Obviously this tip is not for perishable items like vegetables and fruit. However, if you have the freezer space you can use it for meats and some dairy. Just be sure to individually package things into the portion size you would typically use and freeze in freezer bags, etc. so that they do not get ruined.
8. Use less meat. One way to save money on food is to make meat an ingredient in the meal, not the main focus. One chicken breast as the main focus of the meal feeds only one person, however, when you use it in say a soup or a stir-fry, for example, it could feed three or four. Meat can be the most expensive part of the meal, so make your meals more affordable by not making it the focus. Add it to less expensive ingredients like rice, pasta, potatoes, etc. Sliced chicken breast, or sliced sirloin is great on salads, alfredo pasta, in stir-fry, in soup, etc. and you can use a lot less and make it go a lot further.
9. Cook from scratch. Cooking from scratch is a great way to save money on food. Mixes, pre-made meals, and frozen meals are convenient, but you are certainly paying for that convenience. By cooking from scratch you get the benefit of knowing what goes into your meal, putting what you like most in, and saving money. For example, you can buy a bag of frozen pasta with vegetables and chicken. It is easy to make, but what if the veggies in it are almost all carrots and you prefer broccoli? Also, you are paying around $5 or $6 for pasta? Pasta is cheap, you can make it on your own for far less. In some cases it is cheaper to cook from a mix, for example, if you get a good deal, chocolate chip cookies might be cheaper from a mix than a from scratch, but knowing how to distinguish will help.
10. Buy generic. Many stores have their own brand, or may offer a line of generic brand items, and these are typically cheaper than the brand names by about 10%, and often are made in the same plants, and with the exact same ingredients. So, when brand does not matter, such as when it is for something being mixed into something else, or when it is for things that brand won't make a difference, like pastas, etc. then buy the generic brand and save. When you have your canned corn mixed into your taco soup, no is going to know if you bought the Western Family of the PictSweet brand.

There are many more ways to save on food, depending on your preferences, but one of the best ways to save is to never go shopping hungry, and always go with a list. It is far to easy to impulse shop, and stores know you are going to, and make it even more difficult to resist by offering brightly colored displays to attract the eye, aromas and smells that make you hungry, and all sorts of other things to entice you to buy more than you had planned. This inevitably leads to more waste, and money being thrown in the garbage in the form of spoiled or out of date foods.