Save Money On Groceries The Intelligent Way
Are you looking for smart ways to save money on groceries and increase your savings? Money can be saved on you weekly grocery bill if you follow these smart tips.
Grow Your Own Fruit and Vegetables.
How times have changed. Remember that neighbor who always tried to give you bags of apples and jars or home made jams? You would be amazed how much better home grown fruit and vegetables taste. Do you have the space to grow your own? Yes – well what are you waiting for? You will save so much money by growing your own vegetables.
But what if you don’t have enough space for a full on vegetable garden? You can still have a pot or two of the herbs you use the most. You can even keep them on your windowsill if you are really short on space. Nothing beats fresh herbs and by growing your own, you can pick as much or as little as you need, when you need it.
Make Soup!
Another great way to save on groceries is to make a giant batch of your favorite vegetable soup, divide it up and then freeze it. Every time you feel like some soup, your base is already done and you can add whatever you want to it. Whether it is some bacon and tomatoes, or curry and potatoes – the choices are endless. From one pot of vegetable soup, you can make several different varieties of soup, ensuring you’ll never get sick of it!
Learn to Love Your Leftovers.
Don’t throw out your leftovers. Throwing out food is like throwing out money, because the next day you will have to start from scratch and then end up doing the exact same thing with those leftovers.
Learn to cook slightly more than you need (but refrain from going back for seconds!). By doing this will mean that that left over bolognaise sauce from tonight might just go nicely in a potato and meat pie for dinner tomorrow. Yum!
You might notice that you are beginning to cooking more food than usual, just to get more leftovers!
Don’t Order In. Learn to Cook Your Own Take-Out.
Do you have a favorite pizza joint? If you are on first name basis, you probably go there too often! Why don’t you learn to make your own pizzas? Not only is this a healthier option, you can make sure that everyone gets what they like!
What about burgers or steak sandwiches from the local take away store? It’s true that a burger from the local take out shop is probably better for you than one from one the many franchises out there. But have you tried to make your own? Instead of beef, try chicken! Making your own is not only cheaper; you will know exactly goes into them and, oh – hold the pickles!
Finally, Set a Grocery Budget!
It might sound silly, but if you fail to set a budget or take a shopping list, you end up buying a lot of food that you don’t need. Have you thought about setting up budgeting worksheets to stop you from overspending? Budgeting worksheets will ensure that you know where your money goes and how to increase your savings. Money can just disappear if you don’t monitor what you’re actually spending it on.
You should take a list of items that you actually need – to stop doubling up on things you already have. Beware of the supermarket ‘special offers’… you know the ones – ‘buy one, get one free!’. If you don’t have a set list, you might be tempted to splurge on these items that you probably don’t even want.