Saving money on food

   When it comes to saving money on food, period, there are thousands of tips and suggestions. However I find hardly any that actually work for my lifestyle. When I want to save money, a few things run through my mind - I don't want to spend more money to save money. Example: this Sundays paper held a coupon that offered to save 30 cents when you buy TWO rolls of Grands biscuits. I really only want to buy one. I don't like to spend more money to eat healthy. How many meals can I get out of this? That item is on sale, will we really eat it? What about snacks and easy lunches? I need a bigger breakfast variety.

Here are some tips I actually use and find useful for my lifestyle:
When you go out to eat to a restaurant, there are numerous ways to save money. I practice these -

1. Don't order an appetizer. If you just love appetizers, ask about half orders (they are half as expensive, and usually more appropriate sized) 
2. When ordering an entrée, look at daily specials or even kids meals. I like to continue eating healthy at restaurants. I cut things out of my order, ask for no butter or salt on my veggies or potatoes or even the entire meal. 
3. I have yet to convince Andrew to share an entrée but this is also an EXCELLENT way to save money. Entrées are usually huge. I can hardly ever finish mine, if your date is willing to share, find one you'll both like. You share appetizers, why not the main course, too? I know Chiles is thriving on this tip. 
4. Order water, it's free. Most drinks cost from $1.25 - $2.50 You could save around to $5.00 by ordering water. Plus it's the healthiest drink choice. 
5. Doggy bags are the bomb. Repeat that. Don't force yourself to finish a meal. It can be your lunch the next day. I am currently eating soup from Avila's that I ordered yesterday, when Andrew insisted on going out to lunch. It is todays lunch. Sometimes meals taste better after reheating. True story! Plus your not bloated and tired after the meal, which is unhealthy unless your planning on walking it off for like an hour or two. 

At the grocery store:

Grocery shopping is my biggest challenge. Buying healthy food on a budget is quite a task. I like light breakfasts, quick things for lunch, and light but satisfying dinners. I don't want a meal at home to cost as much as going out to eat. I have looked at $5 meals and such online and think they are really expensive items that you can use for a couple meals, or three. Or its $5 per serving. Like I mentioned, coupons aren't really worth it to me because they are usually for items I don't really need to buy. I want items that don't cost much at all that will make more than one meal. I love to cook from scratch rather than buy frozen meals because I can monitor how much salt or fat makes it into the meal. I also enjoy natural flavors more than seasonings. But this has proved quite expensive. My mom makes a menu for two weeks, then buys the items it requires to make the meals on the menu. She will put a meal on there more than once, or an item like chicken or beef in more then one meal. I have not found a method that works for my family, but she has six people to cook for while I only have two.

Dinner:

Tonight I plan on making shrimp tortellini alfredo. I had a coupon for the Buitoni package. It saved me a dollar. I bought a 20 oz package that was $5.98 before the coupon. The package says there are approximately 5 servings per package, so I will get two meals and maybe a leftover lunch. I bought a 14 oz package of large shrimp for $5. I'll put 1 - 1 1/2 cups of shrimp into the cooked pasta. I can use the rest for another meal or two. The alfredo sauce you can get for a dollar for about 25 oz. which is like 2 meals for us. So the way I see it is I spent about $11 on items that will get me two meals. Plus my husband loves shrimp and alfredo pasta, so he will be happy. Pasta is filling and light at the same time, at least I think so. I personally would like it better with tomato sauce in it but Andrew likes alfredo much more. Plus I think tomato sauce (spaghetti) is more expensive.... I spent $65.84 on groceries for the next two weeks this Friday. That is including Hubbys $2.85 egg nog treat, and basically giving in to things like lean pockets, toaster strudels and hash brown patties. A big money saver is not buying sodas and chips. Andrew drinks Lipton sweet tea. I buy the tea bags that come in $1.50 packages of 100 bags. They last about 2-3 months. He also recently started drinking cran-blueberry juice which is about $2 and lasts about 3 weeks. I drink water and WIC bought orange juice. His parents buy so much soda. I think they spend like $30 a month on it. It is so unhealthy for you. If your trying to lose weight, don't drink soda! You can eliminate bloating. Plus we all know its bad for you teeth and bones in many ways. Andrews parents have noticed and voiced a serious difference in the color of his teeth since he stopped drinking so much soda. (since he is going to read this, YES I know you get them at your moms house and work still). Tea is pretty bad for you too, but his mom trained him to it and he almost can't live without it. Chips are salty, full of sodium, and fall under the empty calorie list, like pretzels. They cause you to bloat too. Buy apples and peanut butter instead for a yummy snack. Or rice cakes (I love the chocolate ones), oranges, Craisins, fruit and nut cookies (or better yet MAKE THEM YOURSELF! You'll burn calories while your baking).

1. Looking online is a good way to find and print coupons for the items you actually buy. I have found coupons for Andrews tea, bread, and cereals. 
2. A fun way to save money is with your neighbor. Split the cost of things like meat, raw veggies and canned goods. If you want to buy that huge brisket but its $20 and 3X what your family would eat, ask your neighbor if she wants some. Chances are she'll give ya ten bucks for half the brisket, or half the chicken legs, or half the veggies that will go bad in a week. My neighbor and I do that every once in awhile. 
3. We also pantry swap. Sometimes you think your going to eat stuff but it's been there for months and you don't want to throw it out. My neighbor and I ask if she needs this, or wants this, or if I have that. Grocery shopping without spending money. 

This is all I have for today on saving money on food...