Saving on Groceries: Part 1

Staying on budget can be difficult at the grocery store. They are designed to entice us into making unplanned purchases with bright, flash-y sales and strategically placed treats. When we began our debt-free journey, I honestly had no idea how much we were spending at the grocery store. There was no rhyme or reason to our shopping trips. I knew (vaguely) what we were out of, and stocked up on whatever sounded good. (Usually with some extras that weren’t at all grocery related. #WalmartFail)

Creating a grocery budget and finding ways to stick to it (or stay under) was one of my top priories when we began our debt-free journey.

There are affiliate links in this post.  Read my disclosure policy to learn more.

Creating Your Budget

Find an amount that works best for your family. The general rule of thumb is around $100 per person each month. Since cost of living and food availability can vary depending on your location, find what works best for you.

Our food quality is very important to Bryce and I, so we did allow ourselves a little more room each week for organic and grasped options. We began using Misfits Market as a way to supplement our fresh produce and give us access to organic options we don’t have available in our area. You can check out my previous blog post on Misfits Market here!

Shop Your Pantry First

Before heading to the store, check your pantry, fridge, and freezer for items that need to be used up soon. Write down what you’re low on, what is expiring soon, and definitely toss out anything no longer useable!

I prefer to keep most of our food stored in glass jars so I can see what’s in them easier and whether or not they are starting to go bad. You can use ball jars or repurpose old pasta sauce jars.

Having personal sized storage containers makes packing for lunch super easy! I love these glass containers!

• 

• 

Meal Plan and Prep

Almost every week we have the same staple meats to cook with. We raise our own meat chickens, rabbits, and have fresh eggs so most of our meat comes from our own property. I’m fully aware that isn’t available for everyone or you may choose to raise other animals (Or have a strictly plant based diet! That’s totally fine!) But a normal weekly protein menu for us consists of:

• A full chicken or rabbit
• Venison or grasped beef
• Soup (Usually with left over meat from the chicken and left over vegetables from other meals)
• One night we eat supper at my in-laws
• Fish (Usually wild caught salmon)
• Grassfed/grass finished organ meat
• Left overs

Hard boiling a dozen eggs and pre-peeling them ahead of time makes for a quick lunch option for egg salad sandwiches, an easy snack, or add to salads for extra protein!

Ingredient Prepping

This has made meals during the week so much easier for us (and has definitely cut back on food waste!)

Each time you get fresh produce, take some time to wash and chop your vegetables. If you’re feeling extra ambitious, chop up portion sizes for specific meals you have in mind later that week. Ex: Carrots, onions, garlic, and broccoli will get sliced in to small chunks and stored in a large mason jar to toss into a soup later that week. Or onions, sweet peppers, and garlic for a stir fry.

Figure our a main side dish you want for a few meals and do a large batch cooking of it. I try to pick one for each week and serve with two or three separate meals. Ex: Rice, lentils, zoodles, mashed beets and potatoes.

• 

• 

You can find the plastic lids for the jars here!

Use it Up

Find ways to reuse your leftovers. If you’re struggling with having the same thing, then add in some extra spices, turn it into a soup, or freeze for a later date!

Save. Your. Bones! Keep your bones to make your own bone broth. It’s wonderfully packed full of good things and we will even drink it by the mugful on cold days! For this same reason, keep a container to store your vegetable scraps in and they can be added into your next broth batch! Chickens will LOVE you for your bone broth scraps, so make sure you don’t throw them away once you’re finished!

Bone broth is super easy to make in your pressure cooker! We use the 8 quart Instapot for most of our meat and ingredient prep! It fits two whole rabbits, or an entire frozen chicken!