Topic: Methods to cut food costs - page 9. (Read 1417 times)

There are many different methods to cut food costs, such as buying in bulk to take advantage of discounts, planning your meals ahead of time and making a shopping list to avoid unnecessary purchases, looking for store specials and discounts, and taking advantage of coupons as you mentioned.

One could also buy food items in a season as they are usually cheaper, as well as buy generic or store-brand items. Buying frozen or canned items can also be cheaper than fresh items, and avoiding pre-packaged and convenience items can help you save money. And, buying whole chickens, fish, and other large items and then dividing them into smaller portions, and freezing them can be a great way to get the most bang for your buck.

Most importantly, it's always a good idea to compare prices at different stores to get the best deal.

It is also healthier than buying food outside. You can really save by cooking, mostly if you have other people to feed, like two or more, rather than buying food outside. I've been cooking since I was a child, thanks to our parents' training, and I still do it now, but the spices and ingredients are very expensive. What's best when you cook is that if there are any leftovers, you can still heat them later so that you can still eat them.

This is true in my nation, my parents live in a different city then I do, and they have different prices than I do. Since they live in a small local town, they have some food stuff that are cheaper, because there are farms and orchards and so forth around them, which makes the food cheaper because they don't really have to travel to anywhere to get it, or the food doesn't have to come to them, it is literally just a walking distance away.

However, some other stuff like internet, or electricity is higher. Because they far further away from any big city, which means the providers of that service needs to spend a good chunk to get it to them.

True, not all countries will get a discount like that even for 1 full month. In fact, in just one country, different regions can have different prices and also discounts.

My method on saving money is that the most important thing is being able to buy rice first, because it's not usual to have breakfast with bread and consuming a lot of bread is also expensive. Then the side dishes are optional, if you already have rice, with just the fried tofu is delicious. All will depend on income and save as much as possible.

U really want spend less money with food?

Here some hints to u all


-Plan meals ahead: One of the most effective ways to reduce food costs is to plan your meals ahead of time. This can help you avoid impulse buying and reduce waste.

-Shop smart: Compare prices at different stores and look for deals and discounts. Buy in bulk for items that won't spoil quickly, such as rice or pasta.

-Cook at home: Eating out can be expensive, so try cooking at home as much as possible. This not only saves money, but also allows you to control the ingredients and portion sizes.

-Use leftovers: Don't let leftovers go to waste. Repurpose them into new dishes or freeze them for later use.

-Buy generic or store-brand products: Generic or store-brand products are often just as good as their branded counterparts, but cost less.

-Use coupons and loyalty programs: Take advantage of coupons and loyalty programs to save money on groceries.

-Avoid convenience foods: Convenience foods like pre-packaged meals and snacks can be convenient, but they're often more expensive than making the same thing from scratch.

-Avoid waste: Avoid food waste by storing food properly, using up perishable items before they spoil, and composting any food scraps.


And if you want to make some drastic changes I have two more tips for you.

-Grow your own produce: If you have space, consider starting a garden to grow your own produce. This can save you money and provide you with fresh, healthy food.

-Reduce meat consumption: Meat is typically more expensive than other protein sources, so try reducing your meat consumption and incorporating more plant-based proteins into your diet.

What attracted me to come into the sea or respond to this is because of the food price that have seen there but cause of food price is being determined by the country kind of governance so it is when the price of food will go up and when the price of food we go down if the leaders of that particular country have sympathy to the people who hold there are governing for The society

Yes, it can help you to save so many bucks. I learned to cook when I started to left home and live with my own. Though at first it is really hard since cooking is not my thing and also it will require you time too much time which is the main reason why I end up buying foods again. But all in all, since the market is kinda  expensive these days sometimes buying food is good rather than cooking.

Methods in the Op are all good and very effective to cutting the cost of food, but unfortunately, many of those methods wont or can't work for everyone, depending on the type of area we individually live.

Taking myself as an example, back in the days when I was still in my village, I knew how to fish, farm and even hunt wild animals, cost of food was never a problem for us in the village.
But then, I grew up and moved to town, I lost opportunities to doing this things because I become more busy, and most importantly, the area where I live, there are no rivers, if any, it is very far away, there are no nearby lands to farm on, no forest in sight to hunt for wild animals, and I believe this is same for most people now living in town and cities outside their villages.

Learning how to cook really good and luxury food gets you far. You won't even want to eat outside when they can't offer half as decent food as you make.
It is cheap and If you get good enough you can make money with that skill.

It's also a really cool way to impress your date.

There are many ideas that can help reduce nutrition expenses, especially in big cities where fast food is expensive and lacks the necessary ingredients as a complete healthy meal:
- Get used to cooking at home, because this is much less expensive than street food.
- To cook the exact quantity needed for consumption and not more than it to avoid spoiling part of the food after its taste spoils.
- If you consume a product in large quantities, it is better to buy a large quantity of it at the wholesale price to win the difference compared to the retail price.
- Maintaining a balanced diet to avoid excess weight, as it makes consumption greater.
- If you live with a group, one of the best solutions is to share the expenses.

I lived a long period of my life in a countryside far from cities and did not have all the services available in urban cities. The opportunities offered by living in the countryside to reduce food costs are unlimited, since most food raw materials can be planted.

Subscriptions all the freaking way. I usually purchase value for money subscriptions from apps that I frequently order from which ends up cutting taxes, delivery fees etc and ultimately helps cut food costs.

They help save a lot of money in the long-term as long as you regularly order from those apps.

It is a bit ironic, actually.
It seems that those offers and options for people to save money on food are mostly available in countries like the United States, France, Germany, ect. Where food production and access to it should not be a problem. On the other hand, in countries where there is crisis and high inflation, because food is more expensive and scarce, no business or grocery store would be willing to offer their products at discount, regardless one is a student and coupons are nonexistent. 

We can only opt for cheaper food and decrease portions.

Best way is to purchase bulk but with moderation especially to avoid decay or wasting of food. But bigger amount means bigger sicount especially if you would biy on local markets unlike with supermarkets wherein price would stay as is. Also, to avoid cooking that much or more than what would be taken for that instance because there is a high chance for it to turn into leftover. But I don't really like the idea of repressing oneself when it comes to food. I'd orefer making adjustments on other expenses especially leisures. We won't live that long so eat as much as you alwant as long as your health won't be in danger.

Certainly what I was looking out for and you got it down on the first comment.this tells how opportunities are spread out differently in some nations. I was looking out on that and I can say, I don't find any of those in my nation except for Amazon that could attempt a worldwide delivery but still, it takes those who have a stable income in status and the society to make those shopping. Those that the $10 - $20 discount won't matter to and so they don't go about looking up coupon codes.

About student ID and discount, I think I can recall when I was in high schools while going to the movies, we had that and I like to believe they still have such packages operational still.

When it comes to cutting cost in part of the world,
It's basically scale of preference and seeking out alternatives.

Here in our country, that kind of online discount will not work, especially for students. In short, it is not practical in my country.

   Maybe, that will be popular with those who love things like that that they can afford, For the poor people here it will never work because they can't afford it, besides that, most of them also have their money budgeted.

Liked reading this post as this is so true. Strategically make people getting used to increased prices is a very interesting concept and honestly, even though I know how they do it, I still fall for it myself. Or do I even have a choice? Probably not. There are certain things you have to buy and I am not talking about toilet paper. There are a couple of things that we just like and want. It is those items that we either cross off the list or pay the premium. No need to talk about whether it is smart to keep consuming, but as you just said you made a real cut back in the days.

Those promo codes and coupons aren't available in my country, but I think most stores do have this loyalty rewards system that allows any of their customers to rack up points and avail of perks. For instance, one local grocery chain here offers 30% off of on one of your purchase should you hit the threshold that they require in a month. A lot of average income earners will not be able to hit the requirement, but at least it's there though the system could be better.

Then again, the rising prices on basic goods is really taking its toll on a lot of people's finances. Urban garden might help, but the output will be significantly less and isn't really worth it unless you do have a large space wherein you could grow produce and be self-sustainable on them.

As others have pointed out, these methods as you put them out to be only work on the country where they are issued and will not work elsewhere, considering the fact that there are also countries outside America (lmao), I think these methods aren't as useful really, but still a helpful tip nonetheless for those who live in the US.

Personally, I choose cooking my own meals, it is way cheaper, and more healthy. Cheaper in a sense that you can choose the weight and portions yourself and are therefore gonna help you with cost effectivity and all that stuff, but also since you are the one that's putting the ingredients together, you can dial down on some ingredients like sugar and salt, therefore making it healthier than ordering take out.

I suggest you look into this option because obviously, this works globally.

You guys must be living outside the city because you have some extra spaces for planting but I think there are still people who are lazy and they don't plant at all despite of being blessed to have an area like that.

Planting crops is not free because you will still buy the seeds and some tools that you will be use to effectively grow them but indeed that you can save a lot of money later on because you can harvest your veggies and fruits in greater quantities. They are also fresh so they are more healthy and more delicious to eat than the ones that we see on the market. Other than to save, we can also make this as a business to be able to earn extra profits.

Yeah I have seen lots of discounted food sales in malls and marketplace but the expiry date is almost up.  But did you know that food can be consumed more days than its usual expiry date?  It is set as standard by the manufacturer but actually doesn't mean that the food is not consumable after the expiry date.  This is one good article[1] about expired goods.

While bulk purchase is advised since merchants often give discounts on bulk or wholesale orders.


I agree, since buying things in bulk that you never use is just another way of wasting money. 


Precisely, bulk buying in terms of cost-cutting means buying necessities at a discount.


True, that it is a mistake of calculation on food preparation but then eating leftovers fixed it

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[1] https://www.bhg.com/news/expiration-dates/#:~:text=But%20as%20long%20as%20you,nutrition%20compromised%2C%22%20Petre%20says.