If you are keen about saving some extra cash, you can do so by learning some tips and tricks to cut food expenses at home. It is a highly accepted fact that eating out at restaurants might increase your expenses. It will always cost you more than home-cooked meals. At the same time, even if you are cooking your own meal and using pricey ingredients, or if you’re wasting food or don’t plan your meal properly, then you’ll end up spending more money than you should. Not only is this, but proper, smart and planned decision making also required when you are ready to hit the store. You end up buying stuff that you shouldn’t at the moment or is more than what you want.
For this, a carefully planned visit to the grocery store and conducting thorough research is going to be a wise thing to do. This way you will only look for items on sale and avoid items that you can get at a cheaper rate from a different store. Also, you won’t end up buying stuff that you don’t want. Here are some things that can help you avoid buying stuff that is not required and avoid spending money unnecessarily:
Use Items That Are Still In Your Pantry
One of the things that should be included on your grocery list has to be the items that can last longer. Stuff like canned food, pasta, cereals can be graded as an ideal choice. When an item goes on sale, buying stuff that you think you might end up using regularly is a better idea and save them for later use. Of course, you should keep in mind that you keep your budget in front of you. You will be able to enjoy benefits in the long-run if you save a considerable amount on items that you use more frequently. If you haven’t got a pantry in your home already, make sure that you get a simple space for that. Moreover, if you really want to have a pantry, you can build one for yourself.
Have Basic Cooking Ingredients
You don’t have to repeat having the same kind of meals every day to save, but using some of the key ingredients that can help you save rather much. Your meal plan should revolve around items that one can purchase at a cheaper rate in a bulk quantity. This will help you to save more as you will be using all the ingredients before they’re expired.
Keep a Track of the Leftovers
People often disregard leftovers or they don’t find it appetizing as a next-day meal. If you just cook anything out of leftovers or simply re-cook them. It doesn’t taste that bad after all. For a safe side don’t cook more than what you need. You can watch some of the personalized meals made from leftovers using the most affordable cable TV services included as xfinity triple play deals where there are different channels with different cooking shows on your favorite channels
Use Apps That Help Reduce Food Waste and Track Leftover Items
Planning meals and keeping a track of the leftovers actually saves a lot of time and a lot of food from getting wasted. If you create a list and take it to the store there is a high chance that you will spend only on items according to your budget. So plan meals ahead and lessen the probability of getting too much food to end up in the waste bin.
GoMkt
The app connects restaurants all over New York City that have food left unsold with customers looking for food at a discounted price. Using the app, one can purchase food as take-out and customers can save around 75 percent off the original prices. This reduces the potential of food from getting wasted. The B2C platform is looking forward to expand to bigger names in the food industry and connect them to composters, charities and institutions facilitating anaerobic digestion.
Feedie
The app turns food photography into a donation. To make this workable, users can visit a participating restaurant in USA and take a picture of the meal they ordered and post it using their Facebook or Twitter account and the restaurants make a donation to The Lunchbox Fund on your behalf.
Food Cowboy
The app helps arrange efficient communication between people who are willing to donate food for different charities. Also, the app focuses on the fast delivery of excess food from restaurants and homes in the US. Caterers, Delivery drivers and people who are working with leftover or rejected food create an alert in the app which is received by food pantries, composters and processors and arrange delivery of the food from the source.
Conclusion
During the current crisis situation, many people have lost their jobs and many people who cannot work from home are forced to stay home without getting paid. Hence, the next big thing that people should are worried about is starvation and shortage of food. So, rather than throwing the leftover food or food ingredients in the bin, donate it so that nobody sleeps without having a meal.
