Topic: Methods to cut food costs - page 4. (Read 1404 times)

Buying in bulk and cooking your own food is cheaper and more convenient. It’s also healthier. Supposing the canteen where you normally eat cheap fresh cooked meals suddenly doesn’t open for the day or the week, you’re going to have to go hungry or go on a new journey looking for another canteen that suits your tastes and needs.

If you’re single and have to cook for yourself, Have you thought of cooking a small portion? Just enough for yourself. A better option is to get a good place where you could store perishable food items. I heard a freezer does a good job of keeping food items frozen and ready for whenever you would need them.
But you could always do whatever works for you.

I built a rocket stove to save on cooking costs and it is fun hearing the fire rumble through. Mine was built using old fire brick, 3 square cement blocks, a metal plus sign made out of rebar to create an air space that a pan can sit on and the fire can escape out of the chimney, a metal screen to provide an air gap and to aid in starting the fire, a metal cooking surface for two of the pans to rest on and mud/clay to fill in the gaps.

Dumpster diving for some sweet trash can...dy...

Everyone thinks differently but I think that purchasing food item from restaurants are more expensive than cooking that food items in home and one more benefit is that home cooked food will be more healthy as compared to the ordered one from restaurants.

everyone cannot have access towards those areas where natural fruits and vegetables are grown so it will be better to occupy a small land and then grow some fruits and vegetables there so you will easily save your money and also time will be save by avoiding going out to purchase it.

Im guilty with this on which im not really that fan of cooking plus my wife does have that same job hours as mine and also busy as well where we do really sleep late at night and on the time morning comes then
it would really be that tiring on making some preparation when it comes to food cooking or whatsoever and this is why we do really decide on making up some breakfast on restaurants on which we could directly
able to eat with but if we do have the time then my wife do make out preparations.This is why we cant really be able to save up with this kind of set up and does really spend up money with this kind of style.
Its true that it is really that adding up on the expense but if it do really make things efficient in terms of your work related and not that time consuming then its still a considerable act
to be done.

In the economics section I was thinking on a larger scale for entire populations so hydroponics and other similar ideas to increase production.  Without a doubt we have a food shortage for a growing world.   The tokens thing is great, I like it but its short term and so what they had people do in countries with failing currency, inflation is send home government employees for 1 day a week to grow their own food.  This was their pay in lieu as the people were desperately short of the money to buy the increasingly costly imported food; that's economics and the damage when it goes wrong.

Not everyone loves cooking. For all that people who keep on spending on restaurants for their food need, switching to a canteen or to Home food provider is a better choice. Probably he/she will end up spending half the amount spend on restaurants and hotels.

Another choice we friends used to practice is have our food on the sharing basis. In Asian countries main dish with some side dish is consumed. The main dish used to be less expensive and the side dish used to be costly and we can see big volume. So we buy three main dish and a side dish to be shared within us. This used to reduce the cost on food when calculated individual.

How do you come to the conclusion that buying food from a canteen that sells cheap food is much economical than having to cook that food yourself while your living alone.
I think getting the ingredients and cooking your food yourself while living single or as a family is more economical than buy food where ever.

The only thing you have to worry about is storage. If you've got proper storage facilities, then you've got no issue. Besides, you get to eat to your satisfaction than you can do in any canteen.

You don't get to pay any transport fair or have to seek the sort of comfort you would have in your home. I doubt there would be any much comfort in a canteen that sells cheap.

Actually it would depend if you live alone or if you're with your family.
If you live alone you should find a canteen that serves fresh cook meals and cheap because if you would cook for yourself the portion would be to much.
But if you live with your family buying ingredients in the market and cooking it yourself would be the most efficient way to save money on food.
Vouchers and coupon would only works on those who live alone and couldn't find a canteen.

Recently, I was with my girlfriend at a discount store where the prices of all products are half the price of regular grocery stores. 

We bought a bottle of milk there, sliced ​​sausage, sweet shortbreads (there was no bread in the discount store, unfortunately), tomatoes and greens.  The price came out very cheap.  We had a great picnic on the river bank! 

We also bought an excellent fruit marshmallow there - in a regular store it costs twice as much.  In my country, stores very often arrange sales of products with discounts (such products are marked with yellow price tags). 

You can also save significantly if you purchase a branded card of the store where you plan to make purchases.  This will save you a lot of money.

That depends from a country. There is such thing as seasons and climate. For example in north countries vegetables are always expensive. Here in Europe sometimes a 1kg of tomatoes can cost more than 1 kg of chicken or pork, especially during winter.

Seeking for a higher nutritional value isnt the best solution either. One of highest nutrition value products is salmon. I dont think that many can afford it as a daily meal for dinner and lunch. Another example - beans. They are also nutrient-rich, but would you be able to eat them all the time? several times a day, during week or month?

To go for alternatives aside from the regular choice one would normally make is one way to cut food cost.
One just has to seek out nutritional value first before price.
I also think vegetables have more cheaper rates compared to always eating meat or beef which is rather expensive.
The other one is to cook less quantity of food to prevent spoilage and wastage. Or it is better to refrigerate food one cannot finish instead of forcefully finishing it or giving it to someone to finish.

The best way so far I have found to cut expenses on food is to go shopping with a list. For me this is the only way to resist temptation of buying something tasty just to have it, when I already have a stock of something tasty at home. Also take basket but not trolley. Large and empty trolley will make you feel uncomfortable and you will fill it less needed food. That is one of the tricks marketers use.

I'd add this Subreddits to cut costs on food, remember to sort by year/month/week to find quality posts: r/EatCheapAndHealthy, r/Cheap_Meals, r/BudgetFood.

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Note: I've added Troddit (One of Reddit front-ends) so you don't have to register/login to check-out stuff.

For me to be able to cut food costs first is you need to plan your meals for the week and make a shopping list, it could help to avoid buying unnecessary items and so that you could reduce food waste. Buying in bulk can save money especially for non perishable items like grains beans and pasta. Cooking at home is cheaper than eating out, and you can control over the ingredients needed. Using coupons can help also to save it depends on location if there are grocery stores who offers discount coupons. Try also buying generic brands because it is much cheaper compare to branded goods. Then you can use also the leftovers instead of throwing them.

Atimes i do see some citizens asking for food to eat from others and i give a look at their conditions to discover that they are able enough to work with their two hands but being lazy to do so, while some will till the ground and make life affordable for themselves using their energy to work irrespective of the kind of job they offer as long as it put food on their table, if you cannot established one then work for others so you cab find a means to earn a living according to how you could afford and feeding could not be any longer a threat to you as long as you can work, you can also afford buying them.

You make a good point that some money-saving methods may not be available in all countries or regions. However, the principles of frugality and mindful spending can be applied universally, regardless of the specific methods or tools available.

Food costs being high and being an agricultural country both has a reason and also irrelevant. The main issue is that you do not go to the farm and buy it directly, you end up buying it from Walmart or whatever you have that is close to Walmart, a big grocery store that exists everywhere basically. This means, between the farmer using gas to use their tractors, then the truck that goes to each farmer, fills it up, goes to warehouse of the Walmart of your nation, then goes to each different store, these are all gas used, and that's just gas, and if the gas prices high, then it is not going to be cheap.

Aside from that farmer needs to make a profit, and Walmart needs to pay the salary of the truck driver, the warehouse worker the grocery store worker, all of that is profit on top of that. When you calculate these all, if your nation has high inflation, then even a very cheap food will become expensive by the time you buy it. Go buy directly from the farmer and you will pay 50% less.

A more reasonable idea and feeding them for days and months is not the answer, as our government has practiced, it just makes people even more lazy to find work. Providing fishing media for a fish man is far more correct, because they can catch fish for their daily needs and fish that can be sold to buy other needs.

Providing food for a lifetime is an impossible job and I'm sure no one wants to bear that burden, except for the head of the household who has such a responsibility.

This trend is decreasing even further and people prefer to endure hunger and hope for help from the government, rather than finding solutions for their lives. The current human mindset is instantaneous because they don't want to bother with the process, so relying on anything that is important is no longer working as hunters, fishing and farming. What's wrong with all this? Why do people prefer to wait? There is a lot of available land, but don't want to use it?

This is nothing more than a government program that pampers the people with monthly fees and in my country there are many sources of assistance from the government which are given every month, thus making the head of the household even more lazy to work. I prefer the government's presence not to help in the form of assistance, both in the form of money and food, but to provide access for the people to work, but unfortunately this is not done and the people are increasingly spoiled because of the sources of assistance they provide even though the amount cannot be said to be more than Enough.

The question is how long can it last? will the supply of naturally grown fruits and vegetables be sufficient for future generations?

Meanwhile, debts are becoming increasingly arid, rice fields and agricultural land have lost their function because magnificent and tall buildings have been erected, so that future generations will find it increasingly difficult to find land that they can use. Imagine the next few decades when our children and grandchildren kill each other because food is increasingly difficult for them to get, so they have to compete with one another to get food. If no one thought about it today, wouldn't it be impossible for our children and grandchildren's lives in the future to be even more cruel to preserve their lives?

Government policy to protect rice fields and not give full permission to construct buildings. Cut any permits that are not profitable for agricultural land and provide access to the community for agricultural land that is supported by technology and no longer uses traditional farming methods that take a long time to work, every harvest time the government must come down to buy everything from the community and the market is well controlled concerned with price, so that farmers are no longer confused about who to sell their crops to.

Restarting a progressive agricultural system by incorporating technology, so that people don't feel bored cultivating and growing vegetables, in some Asian regions agriculture is a little advanced and even many undergraduate graduates are involved in agriculture because they see good prospects in agriculture. Their existence is not enough to represent the total population in Asia as a percentage, which means that the presence of the government is considered important to socialize this program as a continuation.

I think, There are many effective ways to cut food costs, one of which is like Look for sales and discounts where we can find around the local grocery store in our respective areas it can be Coupons and promo codes as the OP mentioned but taking into account the user must Sign up for a loyalty program or use those digital coupons and I think that's an option too to save more money but I'm sure it's only for a certain time, not all the time.

Well, I think there is a better strategy and this should be a habit for every family where we can save money while still enjoying good and nutritious food, namely, Cook at home because eating out can be expensive, so consider cooking food at home instead. Cooking your own food not only saves you money but also allows you to control the quality and nutrition of your food.


Yes, coupons may be scarce and can be abused in some countries, this does not mean that they are not worth pursuing. By acknowledging the challenges and limitations of using coupons, while highlighting their potential benefits and best practices, my view is that they can at least help consumers make informed and responsible decisions about how to save money on their purchases.

They are business people, so I don't think they are willing to discount products that benefit consumers and they don't get any benefit. I agree with what you said, if we want to be bought at a high discount, then we will spend more than we want to spend and buy a lot of unnecessary things.
Today, using raw materials is a cost-effective solution, but it will take us longer to process. All have advantages and disadvantages. I am quite a busy person and do not have much time to cook, so I will choose to eat out, and my way to save money is to just eat by meal, not snacking and not buying extravagantly.