My wife and I are off to a good start on our food budget.

[Tobin S.]

We decided to set aside $150 a week for food and other items you might get at a grocery store (toilet paper, hair care, etc). We've spent $100 since last Friday and have gotten a few things that we won't have to buy every week. If we're talking strictly food, we spent $83. We have not eaten out at all. If anything busts our budget, eating out is going to be it. Neither one of us is exactly Top Chef. We're doing well so far, and we certainly have enough.

Any extra money we have at the end of the month will go to pay down our school loans.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. That sounds great, my dear Tobin!

Who knows, maybe you will get to be Top Chef by the time you get through this!

[Tobin S.]

2. My wife is a pretty good cook when she sets her mind to it.

The main problem we have is that we lack imagination when it comes to food. We fall into a rut of eating the same thing every week. Then we tire of it and hit the restaurants.

Well, we can't do that anymore unless we are just talking McDonald's. We're going to have to do better than we have in the past.

[underahedgerow]

3. The good thing about eating at home IS the variety! Jamie Oliver kicks butt on recipes

that are simple, economical and fast and they're all free, online. No need to buy a book!

I never create new food... I follow recipes from trusted sources, Oliver being my always go to guy. For baked goods, Mary Berry or Nigella Lawson. Nigella does great meals too.

You should actually be able to cut that weekly spend in half with good planning. Buying meat on sale and chucking it in the freezer, using a lot of frozen veg is a great way to economize and eat healthy.

Good food doesn't have to be complicated and expensive. I bet for any favorite meal you can find in a restaurant, you can find the exact recipe to make at home for pennies. That was exactly the reason I started cooking to begin with. I got tired of going to restaurants and spending a fortune for something that cost them pennies to make. So I learned how to cook anything I want at home. (I eventually became a professional cook and baker, but that's a whole 'nuther oprah!)

This week I've been going crazy on mexican food.. burritos, quesadillas, salsa, guacamole (avocados are in season!), cupcakes, a nice steak and cheese sub sandwich. Toast for breakfast, my Nespresso microwave cappuccinos, iced coffee... I tell you, there is nothing out in restaurant world I can't make just as good, and more often much better, in my own kitchen.

What is important though is having the right tools and kitchen gear. The right pots and pans and knives and various gadgets make all the difference in the world. YES I HAD to have that lovely italian planer, but it was only 8 bucks.....

You can even find all the popular chain restaurant recipes online... Usually prefaced with 'copycat'. Hello Cheesecake Factory!

[Tobin S.]

5. Thanks, I appreciate the tips.

We will check out Jamie Oliver.

[ms liberty]

10. don't freeze uncooked hamburger meat...

It doesn't hurt it per se, but it just doesn't taste good either. Cooked hb meat tastes fine after being frozen.

[WinkyDink]

4. Recipes abound on the Internets! :-)

[underahedgerow]

7. Recipes do abound on the internets! BUT if you're fussy like me, you learn real fast that not

many of them are that good. Anything by julia child is wonderful, and hers is actually the only BOOK that must be in every kitchen. The TV chefs have got it down pretty good, is what I find. And like I said, Jamie Oliver is tops when it comes to simple, fresh and fast and healthy. I can't even imagine any better 'learn to cook at home' chef out there.

Most of the collective recipes sites are not very good. I find the ingredients are kind of tragic, lots of processed food ingredients 'add your Thousand Island Dressing' or your Kraft cheese slices, etc... scary stuff.

I wanted to make 'cake batter' flavored ice cream a couple weeks ago. EVERY recipe called for using packaged cake mix... I haven't used packaged cake mix in 30 years, I always do cakes from scratch! Still haven't found that recipe..... and it's been too hot to experiment, lol.....

[flygal]

6. I paid off my loans in 5 years by being a tightwad!

We had the Tightwad Gazette books. We weren't that cheap but it kept us from giving in to buying new cars, furniture..etc. All our stuff was either from garage sales or on super clearance. We did a month challenge of only buying food and it gave us a huge start. You can do it!!

[marked50]

8. Congrats

The first step to your goal is to know where you are starting from.....

[pamela]

9. Check out Bountiful Baskets

See if your state/town has a Bountiful Baskets location near you. We started getting their produce baskets last winter when we were kind of in a food desert for a few months and just wanted to get some good produce. We ended up eating sooo much better, which was our goal, but then I noticed I was spending much less on food, too. Fifteen dollars for a big basket of produce. It's a co-op, so you don't have to qualify or anything like that-just pay your 15 bucks and pick it up.

[fizzgig]

11. come hang out in c&b

you will get the world's supply of helpful advice there.

[alphafemale]

12. Set aside some of rhe the money saved on groceries for a dinner out now and then

Even if it is once a month.

Date nights are important.

[mackerel]

13. I shop at a place the is similar to Grocery Outlet and I spend about $80 a week on food

for me and the kids.

[Cairycat]

14. What helped my family save $$$

was not only eating at home, but planning meals and having a weekly menu. What you might do is list the meals you like and can make, and some you'd like to try, and use that to plan your meals and shopping.

[Wounded Bear]

15. Good job!

It's amazing what you can do with a little care and planning. Buying storable items in bulk and on sale whenever possible is a great start. Paper products especially, if you have room to store them. Laundry items and all cleaning products fall here also. You can often squeeze a month's supply of these items into a single week's budget.

You're discovering that two can eat fairly cheaply with a little sacrifice and hard work.

One little hint, if do have a surplus maybe set aside a little bit of that for a treat once a month or so. Don't forget to reward yourself, within reason of course.

[DebJ]

16. If you used to eat out regularly/frequently, you might now discover

your blood pressure improves. Almost everything in restaurants has extra fat and extra salt, and it really adds up.

My husband and I pretty much stopped eating out because I'd look at what was on the plate whenever the bill came,
and the astronomical cost of eating out, for the quality received, was just completely appalling.

Now, he can NEVER again eat in a restaurant (chronic kidney disease stage 4), and I'm healthier for that myself! And also,
enjoying my meals much more.