How Busy, Working Families Can Save Money on Food
Busy families often resort to eating out a lot because they’re too busy to make meals at home all the time, but the costs can add up fast. Learn how to save money on eating out and groceries so you can stay within your budget and meet your financial goals.
When both parents are working and you spend all of your available time shuffling kids around to activities and trying to keep your house at a basic level of cleanliness, it can be hard to also figure out what to make for dinner. And if you’re making a decent salary, you might feel like it is worth it to pay extra to eat out or buy prepared meals. Or maybe even that you deserve to eat out a lot.
Sometimes that’s true. If you have enough money, you don’t have consumer debt, and you’re saving enough for your future, there is absolutely nothing wrong with choosing to spend money on eating out and buying premade meals.
However, if you’re not careful, this is one area that can quickly get out of hand. It becomes a habit that starts to eat into money that should be going to other places. You might be using debt to pay for it, sacrificing your savings, or just finding that there’s not enough money for all of the other things you want to buy.
If money stresses you out, that’s often a good sign that you could benefit from reigning in your spending, particularly when it comes to eating out.
So how do you stop eating out so much?
Unfortunately, it is not as simple as many financial gurus tell you. You can’t “just stop” eating out without a great deal of planning and preparation. Changing your behavior requires a big shift in mindset and habits to be successful.
Luckily, I have some tips on things you can do that will make preparing less expensive meals at home without spending hours a day cooking.
Ways to Transform Meal Prep
1. Move down one step
You are never going to go from eating out 4x per week to making homemade meals at home every single day. Not. Going. To. Happen. Attempting to do so is just setting yourself up for failure.
Instead, think about incremental change. There are a couple of ways to do this:
Reduce the number of times you eat out per week rather than stopping altogether.
Switch to a less expensive place. If you’re getting takeout from an expensive restaurant, switch to one that costs less.
Choose one thing on this list to try and master that. Then come back and add in another one. Don’t try to do them all at once.
If you have big goals and lots of motivation, you are welcome to attempt more significant change, but understand that most people can’t sustain it over the long term. If that happens, forgive yourself and come back and try to make smaller changes. Then work your way into bigger change over time.
2. Try pre-made meals from grocery stores.
Getting food at restaurants costs a lot more, especially once you factor in tips. If the reason you’re eating out is that you’re too busy to cook, try picking up food from a grocery store with a deli section instead. Think rotisserie chicken, pre-made sandwiches and salads, or anything else your store offers.
3.Buy ready-made foods from the freezer section.
Frozen items that just need to be heated are a great way to get a meal on the table. Many people love the orange chicken from Trader Joe’s. Pair it with some pre-cooked rice and some fresh or frozen vegetables, and you’re good to go!
Other ideas:
Frozen hamburgers or veggie burgers and a package of buns in the freezer
Chicken strips
Meatballs
BBQ meat
Here are a few ideas from Delish to get you started.
4. Try meal kits
Online meal kit services offer a wide variety of options and a variety of price points. Find a few that match your dietary preferences and needs and then look for coupons and discounts. Ask friends if they have any referral codes to share.
Most grocery stores also offer meal kits that come with all of the items you need. For example, you can buy a roast that comes with carrots and potatoes to put in the crock pot. I’ve also seen pasta and fajita kits sold in grocery stores.
If you’ve been using these already, try to find a less expensive option or use them less often (by replacing it with a less expensive meal option).
Learn more about some of the options here.
5. Make big batches and freeze portions.
Having a big freezer makes a huge difference in meal planning. You can make large batches of things like soup, chili, spaghetti sauce, etc and freeze enough for subsequent meals. Then all you have to do is thaw it, add noodles or whatever, and voila—you’ve got a meal.
My freezer currently contains lasagna sauce and chicken pot pie filling that I can thaw and more quickly put together when I’m ready. You could also freeze completely prepared versions that you just throw in the oven.
For more ideas, check out these freezer meals from Happy Money Saver.
6. Make a list of staples and keep them on hand at all times
Those of us responsible for meals in our homes know that thinking about what to have is 75% of the battle. So, it can help to have a list of default meals that you can always make when you just can’t handle the mental load.
For example, you could make sure that you always have eggs and toast or pasta and sauce on hand. Try to have some fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables on hand. Once you have those, it’s a lot easier to get creative with the rest of the meal or throw a frozen pizza in the oven and call it a day.
7. Meal Plan
Can you believe we made it all the way to #7 before I mentioned meal planning? I mean, that’s like the first piece of advice you usually find.
And I will admit to being terrible at meal planning. I’m sure it would in many ways make life easier, but I manage to get by because I always have some basics on hand that I can use to make a variety of meals. My freezer and pantry are well stocked and we always have fresh fruit and vegetables. That means that I can get by without planning all of my meals on the weekends.
That said, there can be a LOT of value in meal planning both in terms of cost and time saved. So many people swear by it, so it’s worth a try.
The biggest advantage is that you do all of the thinking about meals at one time so you don’t have to scramble at the last minute. Because we all know that when you’re scrambling for ideas is when you’re most likely to say “screw it” and go pick up food somewhere.
Once you have your ideas for the week, make a grocery list and go shopping right away so you at least have the ingredients. You don’t want to let “needing to go to the store” derail you from making meals.
8. Buy your groceries at a less expensive store
I’m not an advocate of shopping at five different stores to get the absolute best price on everything. You don’t have time for that. But buying at least some items at a less expensive store can make a huge difference, particularly if you have an Aldi near you. I spend way less than the average family of five and most of it is just from shopping at Aldi. (Shopping at Aldi can be a bit of an adjustment for some people. Keep an open mind and don’t forget a quarter for the cart.)
9. Take advantage of sales
When you’re doing your meal planning or writing your grocery list, take a quick look at the store’s weekly ad to find out what’s on sale. Then plan your meals around the sale items. For example, if boneless chicken thighs are on sale, maybe that’s one of your meals for the week. Typically, you should stick to the produce that’s on sale, as it is usually in season and tastes better in addition to being cheaper.
10. Use a money-saving app
It’s a good idea to use your grocery store’s app for using digital coupons and saving more money, but you can also use apps like Rakuten or Ibotta (or similar) to earn more cash back on the things you already buy.
11. Order groceries online
I’ll be completely honest and tell you that I don’t do this because my husband and I have enough time to go shopping, and we find that we can do better by shopping at Aldi and watching for sales at our usual stores. However, I’ve heard from others who swear that ordering groceries online saves money.
Here are some ways ordering groceries online can help save money:
You don’t go into a store and get tempted by all of the other things. We all know how hard it is to stick to your list.
Many apps and online grocers allow you to save your orders so it is easy to replicate. This means that you don’t have to spend as much time doing it and are more likely to have staples on hand when you need to make dinner (preventing you from going out).
Some online grocers offer a subscription model, which allows you to standardize your grocery costs, which is then easier to plan for in your budget. If you shop at a store, your grocery costs are more likely to be all over the place, making it harder to plan for a consistent amount each month. It also takes away a lot of the thinking that you have to do when it comes to grocery shopping.
Some online grocers, like Misfits Market or Imperfect Foods sell leftover or slightly flawed produce and other items at discounted prices. While you can still probably do better with sales, Aldi, etc, programs like these are almost certainly cheaper than if you’re currently buying all organic produce from Whole Foods.
If you’re considering one of these, I recommend you check out these reviews and tips from The Kitchen Chalkboard.
12. Reduce food waste
The USDA estimates that 30-40% of the U.S. food supply is thrown out. Not only is this incredibly wasteful, filling up landfills and reducing the amount of food available to those experiencing food insecurity, but it also means you’re losing a lot of money.
If you find that you throw away a lot of food, you can save money just by trying to reduce your food waste. Eat leftovers for lunch. Have a meal each week where everyone just eats whatever leftovers they can find in the fridge. Transform leftovers into other meals. For example, you could take leftover chicken and put it in soup or make quesadillas or sandwiches. Or, simply buy less of things that you frequently throw away.
13. Limit packaged snack foods and sugary drinks
If you have kids, your first thought might be that there would be an insurrection if you took away the snack foods. But these items can be expensive and overpriced. Food and beverage companies know they can price gouge you on these items because you’re addicted. (Have you seen how much they’re charging for a 12-pack of soda or a bag of chips these days?!?!).
You and your kids may need a snack, but there’s a high likelihood that many of the snack foods are being eaten out of boredom or just because they’re available. (Speaking from personal experience…) So maybe limiting them or just buying super cheap generic versions might be a good thing to cut if you’re spending too much on food.
PS: It’s okay to tell your kids “no” once in awhile.
14. Have theme days as part of your meal plan
Again, thinking of what to have for dinner is 75% or more of the battle. Anything that makes the thinking part easier will reduce the chance that you give up and order in.
One thing that can help reduce the thinking part is having themed days. For example:
Meatless Monday
Taco Tuesday
Pasta Wednesday
Leftover Thursday
Restaurant Friday
Pizza or Sandwich Saturday
Slow Cooker Sunday
Decide on your themes and make a list of a couple of options under each category so you always have default ideas. Obviously you can diverge from the plan, but at least you’ll have a backup plan if you can’t think of anything else.
Need more affordable recipe ideas? Check out these sites with recipes to help you save money on groceries.
15. Get your kids involved
Meal planning can be a great time to spend time with kids and it teaches them important skills. It might take time to develop a rhythm and teach them skills, but it can turn into a meaningful experience after a while. And once they learn how to do things, it makes your life a lot easier!
