15 Frugal Tips to Save Money on my Food Bill #costoflivingcrisis

Time to delve into my tip book and tell you some things I always do to save the pennies.

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Frugal Queen in France

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We are a British couple living in Brittany on a budget.
Frugal recipes, days out, home renovations and day to day making do in France.

We’ll give you hints, tips, advice and an insight into our life in France.

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Editing : iMovie on a Mac mini

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[maryettabeck]

Jane, my mom. Had 7 meals for the week. We as a family of 7 looked foreward to monday chili, tuesday lasagna, wed chicken and baked potato, thursday soup friday meat free toasted cheeze sandwich and tomato soup. Poped corn for treats and oatmeal cookies. Great memories and frugal food. Fresh fruit from garden

[veronicalee]

"Cooking with Clara" was an absolute Treasure Trove of Depression Era Cooking.

[RN-mnjn]

A young man (29 yrs old) I work with eats the same thing every single week. He said he can do his grocery shopping in about 15 minutes becauseof this habit.

He eats healthy, well what I can see at work. Taco salad, bananas, apples, nuts, home popped popcorn.

He said his grocery bill has gone up $10 a week over this year buying the exact same things weekly.

[lavondakrout]

I save all of my tired bread ends and bits, cut them into cubes, toast them in the oven and make croutons. They last ages sealed in a large jar. Used in salads, meatloaf, stuffing, smash them to crumbs to make coating for fish and chicken.

[reasonableandfair]

I bought a too good to go box from our local Booths supermarket. It’s an upmarket store in the NW of the Uk. The box cost me £1.50 . It contained 3 cauliflowers, 2 huge heads of broccoli and 2 of the green pointed cauliflowers and many other things. I processed all the caulis and broccoli and divided them into 2 person portions for the freezer (it made 10 bags) it was so easy to do and we’ve made cauliflower cheese, soups and pasta bakes with it. I was so thrilled to be able to do that. We ate everything in the box and saved a ton of money doing it.

[preppernut]

I measured the amount of rice, barley and pasta that I was going to use, instead of just dumping it in a pot and adding water. Then I made a mental note of how much wasn't eaten at the meal, so the next time, I used less. All of those ingredients are kept in large glass jars, so now it is easy for me to calculate how many meal's worth there is.

[jeansmith]

I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before Jane - I remember having to shop around because we didn't have much money and I HATED IT, but now I will shop around to save money because prices are just absolutely ridiculous, and half the time I refuse to pay the highly inflated prices! Having said that, I genuinely have deep concerns about families really struggling 😔 and it seems to be those in power don't care😪

[pam]

I realize this is off-topic, Jane, but I like seeing how you accessorize your outfit with a colorful neck scarf. Practical for a little bit of warmth and pretty, too. Thanks for this video - your tips are most helpful. And, yes, who would think intermittent fasting would become a thing. For the most part it’s just a matter of not snacking. It’s helped me improve my health over the last few years - but it’s really the way I was raised having been born in 1956. Not the continuous eating we see a lot these days.

[geambro]

Oh, and i've just discovered " poor man's parmesan" : put butter /olive oil in a pan, crush a clove of garlic in it, then add and fry breadcrumbs made from dry bread. Excellent over pasta and salad ! In France, there's also bear's garlic right now in the forest, to make pesto with.

[louisedudley]

Inspired by you Jane, I inventoried my freezer last week and found I had the ingredients for a breakfast casserole, a large fruit cobbler and stew meat and vegetables for a beef stew. I only had to make a couple of dishes to complete a week’s dinner menu. Thanks for the suggestion!

[cathyeller]

We have been just eating out of the pantry this month and will continue to do so for another couple of weeks. I look at the sale ads, see what is a true mark down, look at what I have in my pantry and decide then is it worth trying to "find" the money to get the item. I have no problem going in and buying the item that is on sale with change. It's what we have right now, that is our grocery budget. My husband keeps 5.00 worth of quarter's in his car, when he goes past a grocery store that is know for discounts he will occasionally go in with his quarters to see what has been marked down. Pays for it with the quarters and leaves.. We aren't going hungry and no we don't comply with the food stamp regulations, nor the food pantry. They consider us, middle class, don't judge people by there cars or their homes. You don't know what is going on financially with them. I used to see a lot of that, people sticking up their noses at people due to what they buy or how they are paying. People could have an expensive car and be going to the food pantry, because they just lost their jobs, they need their cars to get back and forth to there new job that pays 1/4 of what their old job paid. We are eating basic foods, buying ingredients, I am rotating meals, rice, potato's, noodles in my meals. At the same time rotating, what we call "slop" meals, some sort of soup or casserole, then a meal where you get your own piece of meat. I find that if I put to many casseroles or soups together in a week it doesn't fulfill the need to have something with texture to it. Our snacks are cans of peaches or some sort of canned fruit, it's what I have. Last night we splurged and he got a banana and I got an orange on his way home from work. We are doing all of this due to our savings taking a great hit, we have to have money to put in our emergency fund as quickly as we can. A little pain now will and can stop us from going completely under and having to go to the bank and remortgage our home. Hang in there the weather is cranky again this year, prices are going to continue to go up. Thanks for the video, and yes the whole backyard and part of the side yard will be a garden this year.

[jessicahollinghurst]

I don't meal plan before I shop I look for bargains and discounts then come home and plan what to make with it. I make a list of staples to top up my stores and that's it. As you say everyone has their own methods and what works for them.

[lindamcconnell]

I've started since last year using leaves and stems from parsley, cauliflower, broccoli, cilantro, etc... and use them as flavorings for soups and stocks. I also sauté the leaves from cauliflower and broccoli in my stir fries; if chopped finely they deliver a world of taste and add fiber to our food.

[gatsbygirl]

I use my freezer in several ways. I put veggie scraps in a container and make broth when it's full. I also have a baking day and make up different loaves of bread, like banana or pumpkin, for busy mornings breakfast. A habit I've recently started is marking prices of items on their package, so when I am looking through sale advertisements, I can see if the sale is really a sale or if the price is on the rise.

[ninajohnson]

I buy coffee for me. And I keep lemonade for my grandkids. And a couple other inexpensive drinks for guests. Doesn’t cost me much but makes me feel like a good host.

[sheilahughes]

After last weeks food disaster where I ended up paying so much for fish and chips, I am glad to say we are eating from the pantry this week! So far so good!

[lindamcconnell]

Also, in Quebec, we have these stores now called Liquipicerie. As you said Jane, they sell produce, products, meats that are close to sale by date. They freeze the meat so that even though the date has expired they freeze it before. As an example, I bought packages of frozen sausages (12) for 1$ instead of $5.99. Cereal bars for 1$ instead of 3.99$. Bags of chocolate chips were 1$. Incredible prices and it does not go to the waste bins.

[bria]

I have found washing citrus in baking soda + water, or peroxide + water before putting it in the fruit bin, greatly increases how long it stays firm and delicious. I have also taken to soaking limp vegetables for a couple of hours in water - think celery, carrots, bok choy cabbage, lettuces, to bring them back to a much better texture. It has made a surprising difference to the dishes I was making. I cook and freeze ahead. Only cooking the veggies separately to al dente, before adding them to the dish to then be frozen, makes them a much nicer texture when you actually cook them later to eat. No more mushy veggies. * It is so worthwhile to plan a week's worth of three simple meals a day, with no snacks. It actually streamlines food prep, really reduces food waste, as well as keeping the budget down. You have to be willing to eat what you have on hand. * I did a trial run with a used bread machine, and I am a bread snob. I donated that machine and have moved back to hand making bread - the no knead bread recipes are awesome, and make a much nicer loaf than i could get using the bread machine. I come from a long line of bakers, and I really enjoy a beautiful loaf of bread, or other baked items. They are much cheaper to make at home, and I consider the time spent making them "entertainment."

[RhondaLorch]

I cook batches of dried beans and chick peas in the Instapot and then freeze them in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Once they are frozen I transfer them to plastic bags. Then I can pour out whatever amount I need for a dish. It’s way cheaper than tins and I like the texture better too. Great video - thanks💕🇨🇦

[Rach_M]

I just keep it simple. I remember reading that most people have the same breakfast of a day & only rotate about a dozen dishes for lunches & dinners over the fortnight. If you take the pressure off yourself to make fancy different meals all the time, and utilise herbs & spices for flavour then shopping & budget is much easier.