Feast
A young couple decided to host their first big holiday meal, inviting 18 people. They were concerned about cost but decided it was important to do it up right. They prepared a big turkey, a ham, loads of colorful vegetables, fruit salad, punch, tea, coffee, and fruit pies. Their cost, under $50! They were stunned. The secret to eating well, they discovered, was to prepare food at home, from scratch, and avoid overly processed foods.
Price Notebook
The price of individual grocery items fluctuates tremendously from one week to the next and sometimes from one aisle to the next. Just because something is featured in a grocer's weekly ad does not mean it is a good value. Keep a price notebook, with a separate page for each item you routinely purchase. Jot down what price you paid for an item, the size or quantity of the item, where you bought it, and the date. Over time you will see that a gallon of milk can fluctuate from $1.60 to $3.75. Based on that, set a benchmark price of $2.00; check the ads to see who is selling it at or below that price. Overall, you will realize 30 to 50% savings by using a price book. There are two caveats, however: don't make yourself crazy and waste gas running to six stores--and sometimes, when you just need a gallon of milk, it makes sense just to pay whatever is costs at the corner store.
Staples
Weave low-cost nutritious staples into your diet, such as rice, oatmeal, eggs, popcorn, apples, beans, carrots, and nuts. You could have one serving of each of these eight foods for about half the cost of one fast-food "value" meal.
SNAP
SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), formerly known as the food stamp program, hired nutrition educators to help people understand purchase and prepare healthy foods inexpensively. One of their offerings is a recipe database, allowing you to filter recipes by cost per serving, as well as by ingredients, cooking method, and type of food. For example, a search for a main dish under $1.25 per serving brings up 92 recipe suggestions. Each is rated by others who have prepared it, and also lists nutrition facts, ingredients, directions, cost per serving, and cost per recipe.
Tags: cost serving, gallon milk, They were