Comments on: A Little Food Planning Goes a Long Way

By: Me

Me — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 18:11:02 +0000

If you dont want to spend alot of time to save 10% on your groceries (probably 1% of total income). Follow my simple rules:
1.) Goto superstore for the spend $250 get $25 gc deal (like getting 10% back), and load up on everything that is cheap that week, plus things that almost never go bad (ie Olive Oil, Flour, jello, vitamins, you get my drift).
2.) Use PC MasterCard to get PC Points (=additional 1% back)
3.) Eat significantly less meat, eat cheaper meats (i find chicken is cheaper than beef. Sandwhich meats are arround $1.50/100g, thats $6.80 a lb, just slice your own meat)
4.) Eat cheaper foods, apples are cheaper than pineapples, bread is cheaper than focaccia, beans are cheaper than meat. etc etc.
5.) Treat eating out not as necessity (ie “I need food”), but as luxury (”eating out is entertainment and convenience expense”). This means pack a lunch, keep a box of granola bars in the glove box and have some will power.

By: sioux city used cars

sioux city used cars — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:53:50 +0000

My freezer is so small that I can barely fit anything in there.

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:29:26 +0000

My family eats a lot of meat, but spend very little on it. I have a chest freezer and it is filled with wild game that I hunted for and only super deals, bought on sale, placed in freezer for later on. At least my favorite hobby, fills the freezer.

Also, we have a garden, which we can veggies and fruit in the fall. All we normally by is side dished and canned goods.

By: Ms Save Money

Ms Save Money — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:40:52 +0000

These are great tips – but it’s really hard to do grocery shopping for one.

Anyone have any ideas? I’ve always had problems buying groceries since I live on my own.

By: Briefcases

Briefcases — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:30:27 +0000

This sounds like something we definitely need to start doing. We are terrible at planning meals ahead of time. So we are often scrounging things together at home or making a quick run to the grocery store just before we cook. Each of those quick trips is wasted time. Sometimes we also end up wasting food as we don’t properly plan to finish up vegetables or other perishables.

By: valletta

valletta — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:09:24 +0000

I think these are great tips but I actually do almost the opposite and it works for us :)
I cook “from the pantry”. I keep a stocked pantry of staples/basics and shop a couple of times per week for fresh produce, and nightly dinner. I find I spend less money and time and enjoy cooking more.
My husband is a chef and I’ve learned a lot from watching him.
I might spend an hour or two on a Sat or Sun afternoon and prep the “mise en place”, pre-cut onions, celery, etc. Keep fresh herbs in pots or garden. Doesn’t work for everyone but I’ve tried the planning dinner out a week and it just work for me. But we also don’t have kids, that would make for a much different situation, I’m sure :)

By: Ms Save Money

Ms Save Money — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:05:31 +0000

I know that I scan my local flyers for deals and discounts. I mean, if I was going to buy it anyway and now there’s a coupon for it, even better right? Thanks for the tips! It’s always useful.

By: TheRat

TheRat — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:33:00 +0000

I think the freezer idea is great; a lot of people I know don’t use them enough for meat, etc.

Another tip would be to hunt a wild animal (or get someone to get you some wild meat) such as moose or caribou and eat the wild meat throughout the winter. Take what you need from the freezer when needed. I grew up a lot eating wild meat and you can save a boat load of money!

Nice thread!

By: saveING.ca - This is why I opened an ING account

saveING.ca - This is why I opened an ING account — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:51:32 +0000

When I moved out to my first apartment, soscuisine.ca was a lifesaver! try it out.

Also when you freeze stuff, be careful to wrap it well, so as to not get it “burnt” by the cold.

By: Nolan Matthias

Nolan Matthias — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:06:05 +0000

With nearly all other things financial in my life well organized, this has been the one area I have struggled most, but not from a budget standpoint, from an eating properly standpoint. I like the idea of planning meals weeks ahead, now I just need to find a freezer that doesn’t burn the hack out of my food.

Cheers,

Nolan

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:47:56 +0000

The more you prepare the more you can budget, this will take away from impulse buys at the store.

By: sco

sco — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:52:12 +0000

I agree with most suggestions in the article. However, I spend on food less than 10% of my after-tax income so I think some things take too much time to be useful (like single product coupons and storing food in the freezer).
My main focus is on healthy eating, so I avoid eating out when possible. I think that the recipes with high star recommendations from allrecipes.com are mostly unhealthy so I can’t use those. I select recipes from a few healthy cookbooks.

(Congrats on the great choice to be childless.)

By: Nilu

Nilu — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:16:37 +0000

I think labelling the items in the freezer with dates is a great idea. I always end up looking suspiciously at food in the freezer trying to guess if its a month old or a year old. I think i will take this idea to the next level by putting up a list on the freezer with the stuff inside and the date I put it in and trying to use the stuff on a first in/first out basis. That way I can ensure that the oldest food in the freezer is always used first.I will strike out items form the list as they get used. This will also fix the other problem I have which is I have no way of knowing the contents of the freezer without emptying most of it.

By: Elbyron

Elbyron — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:52:37 +0000

I like to use allrecipes.com as well, the user ratings is what makes it superior to any other recipe site. Just note that your search results are usually sorted by relevance to your search terms. After searching, look just below the search box for the SORT BY and click on “Rating”, and this will give you the highest rated ones first. Pay attention to how many reviews there are… a 5-star rating with 2 reviews is not going to be as certain as a 4.5-star rating with 299 reviews. And before you start on the recipe, read some of those reviews – they often contain some helpful tips. You can vote on the reviews too, and the most helpful ones are displayed first by default.

Oh yeah, and if you’re trying to use up some veggies that are getting old, but don’t know what to make, try using the ingredients search!

By: Elbyron

Elbyron — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:38:09 +0000

Joe, it may help you to know that a small chest freezer would cost about $19 – $35 per year in electricity (lower end is for Energy Star certified models), whereas a typical 16 or 17 cu.ft. freezer uses $43 – $68. You should also consider that modern freezers don’t last as long as they used to; expect some repairs every few years and replacement in 8 to 10 years. Once you’ve chosen your size you can divide its cost by it’s expected lifespan to get an annual cost.

So those are the costs, but there are a lot of ways a freezer can pay for itself:
1) No longer throwing away food that could have lasted longer with a freezer
2) Buying freeze-able items (especially meat) in bulk can result in savings of 10 – 20% on those items.
3) Storing garden produce. Things like stewed tomatoes, sliced carrots, beets, or many other garden products can be frozen for a long time. So grow extra in the summer and save money on produce through the winter.
4) Less trips to the grocery store saves money on gas, not to mention saving you time!

Sometimes a little extra work is required to protect things from freezer burn, or to split up warehouse packs of meat into meal sized portions before freezing (my local Sobey’s butcher does this for me for free). But there is also the convenience factor of having a wide selection of food available for dinner, which can give you more flexible meal options.
Also, buying non-perishables in large quantities can save a lot too. If you don’t seem to have room in the pantry/cupboards, try re-organizing and finding a new home for those serving dishes you never seem to use.

By: nobleea

nobleea — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:08:12 +0000

I’ll second Kathryn’s suggestion about Allrecipes.com. It’s a canadian site, free, and has thousands and thousands of great recipes, all user ranked and searchable.

We always make more for dinner to leave extras for lunch. Sometimes we’ll make 3 times as much and then freeze in to individual plastic containers. Sometimes you use the next day, often we don’t and they pile up. Then one day when you don’t have time to make dinner, you have meals for dinner and lunch.

We haven’t practiced any food planning yet. Our schedules are a little too unpredictable to be planning meals a couple weeks in advance.

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:00:16 +0000

My monthly grocery bill is one of my family’s largest expenses. I took a look at my spending habits on food a few months ago and was able to easily shed 20% off the monthly grocery bill. There is still some more pruning that can be done. Some of the ways that I reduced the bill was to plan meals, reduce the amount of waste (i.e. frozen vegetables are sometimes more economical because there is no waste), stocking up on sale items. I am debating whether to purchase a deep-freeze. I am wondering if the increased electricity use will out-weigh the savings. I am leaning towards yes.My monthly grocery bill is one of my family’s largest expenses. I took a look at my spending habits on food a few months ago and was able to easily shed 20% off the monthly grocery bill. There is still some more pruning that can be done. Some of the ways that I reduced the bill was to plan meals, reduce the amount of waste (i.e. frozen vegetables are sometimes more economical because there is no waste), stocking up on sale items. I am debating whether to purchase a deep-freeze. I am wondering if the increased electricity use will out-weigh the savings. I am leaning towards yes.

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:59:35 +0000

By: Amanda

Amanda — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:48:07 +0000

We do the dinner planning on a weekly basis, since it’s not possible to shop during the week with our schedules. I couldn’t do two weeks, though, since there aren’t a lot of fresh veggies that last that long. One thing that really helps with the menu planning/brainstorming is a “master list” of all the dinners we’ve made and liked. I think there’s about 80 ideas on there, and we add new ones if we’ve tried them a couple times and liked them. It’s great for when you’re drawing a blank or in a rut.

We also plan to make enough for lunch leftovers during the week, as much as possible, and taking those to work cuts down on spending. Not much goes in the freezer that way, either, though your tips are reminding me that we really need to organize ours! Most of it is frozen veggies, jam, and bread… okay, and a leeeeetle ice cream. :)

By: In the Money

In the Money — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:44:03 +0000

Great points. I used to have roommates who didn’t keep track of the groceries they bought. I would always see them throwing food out because it had gone bad. That is such a waste of food. I always plan two to three weeks ahead (in my head) of the meals I plan to make. Of course, since I don’t have a family to feed, it’s a lot easier for me to remember these. I’ll probably write it all down when I have a family to cook for.