Cheap Meals: Good Food On A Tight Budget

Summary: Looking for a way to make cheap meals that hit the spot? The shopping trolley is one of the easiest places to cut spending. Here is our ultimate guide to saving money on groceries and making good food on a tight budget.<br> Most of us<a href="https://www.listenmoneymatters.com/cooking-on-a-budget/"> spend too much on food</a>. You can still eat well or maybe better than you currently are, and spend less money.<br> Here are the five steps to planning, buying, cooking and storing the food you want to eat.<br> 1. The Planning<br> Take a few minutes to plan out what you want to eat for the week so you won’t be tempted by the siren song of the cheese counter.<br> Meal Planning<br> Not food shopping hungry is a hackneyed bit of old advice. If you’re that hungry, eat something while you shop, just keep the package and give it to the checker. Otherwise, you’re a dirty thief.<br> The advice that will save you more money is to make sure you shop with a meal plan. Search sites like <a href="http://www.budgetbytes.com/" rel="noopener">Budget Bytes,</a> <a href="http://allrecipes.com/" rel="noopener">Allrecipes,</a> or <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/" rel="noopener">Epicurious</a> to get some meal ideas.<br> <br> Or go digital. <a href="http://www.foodonthetable.com/" rel="noopener">Food on the Table</a> is a site that asks your preferences, checks for sales in your area, and sends a list of five meals to your smartphone. Go armed with your list, written or digital for a week’s worth of meals and stick to the list. <br> Check The Circular<br> If you don’t get the weekly sales flyer delivered with your newspaper, you can find most store circulars online. Have a browse through that and plan your meals around what’s on sale.  Check out staple items that might be on sale so you can stock up.<br> Don’t want to clip coupons? <a href="https://www.listenmoneymatters.com/ibotta-review/">Then check out Ibotta.</a> Ibotta is an app that gives you cash back on purchases you make in places like grocery and drug stores, general retailers, and online retailers. There are no paper coupons to cut out, keep track of, or annoy the checker and the people behind you in line at the store.<br> Check Your Fridge And Pantry<br> There is bound to be some veg that’s almost past it’s prime that needs to be used up or a can of something that’s been lurking in your pantry for ages. Incorporate what you’ve already paid for into your plan for the week.<br> Throwing away food is throwing away money. Maybe once a month, have a week where you don’t buy any groceries and just live on the bounty of the pantry.<br> 2. Where To Shop<br> Prices from one shop to the next can vary widely. If you’re just in the habit of driving to the closest big box store, do a little research. You might be able to get better deals and even better, more interesting food elsewhere.<br> Shop Around<br> This doesn’t mean driving across town, wasting gas because one store has two things you need for ten cents a pound cheaper than the store nearer to you. Now that most circulars are available on-line, you can shop around before you even leave home.<br> <br> Shop Ethnic Markets<br> If you have an Asian, Mexican, or Middle Eastern market near you, you might hit the jackpot.  These stores tend to be cheaper than their big-box counterparts. They have less overhead, they have less space for storage, so the food is turned over more quickly, and you can find all sorts of exotic things you’ve never tried.<br> Spices and produce in particular tend to be less expensive in these markets. Even checking the ethnic aisle at your regular store can be cheaper. Goya spices are cheaper than McCormick spices in the regular grocery in my neighborhood.<br> Shop Online<br> There is a gorgeous Whole Foods one block from my apartment that is only about five years old. I loved shopping there at first.