Easy Ways to Cut the Cost of Every Meal

If you’re looking to cut the cost of every meal, it’s not just about shopping for the cheapest items. It starts with rethinking how you menu plan and cook. With a few smart strategies, you can reduce your grocery bill without sacrificing variety or nutrition – and, yes, it will taste good, too. (I promise!)

For the longest time, I struggled to keep my grocery budget under control—until I realized the key wasn’t just what I was buying, but how I was planning and preparing meals. With a few simple changes, I started saving more without sacrificing taste or variety (yes, it’s possible!).

In this post, I’m sharing the exact tips that worked for me to cut the cost of every meal. These ideas are practical and easy to put into action. I’ve used them all! Best of all, the whole family ate it, liked it, and no one staged a “food mutiny”.

No matter the size of your family, if you are trying to get more bang for your buck on your grocery trips, being intentional about how you use ingredients to prepare food can have a big impact on your savings.

If you’re ready to take charge of your food budget without feeling deprived, this one’s for you!

Breakfast

Ditch the Boxed Cereal

Boxed cereals are often overpriced and loaded with sugar. If you find some on sale at a terrific price, consider what we did when our boys were growing up.

Sunday night dinner was always boxed cereal night. It was the only time they ate boxed cereal and it was quite a treat.

So, what did we eat for breakfast if it wasn’t cereal from a cardboard box?

We always had a hot breakfast and rotated between oatmeal and cream of wheat. We would add seasonal fruit that we got on sale.

I also made homemade granola frequently. Dried fruit and nuts are expensive. So, figure out the cost of basic granola and then decide which additional ingredients you can add and still stay within the cost per bowl that you are comfortable with.

In general, you can make a week’s worth of oatmeal for a fraction of the cost of even a single box of cereal, especially if you buy the ingredients in bulk.

Source Cheap Ingredients in Bulk

Buying in larger quantities reduces packaging costs and gives you more product for your money. Stock up during sales to get even better prices and store dry goods for longer shelf life.

Here’s an example.

We just paid $36.50 for fifty pounds of rolled oats on a recent trip to buy bulk food at an Amish store. A pound of dry oats is approximately four cups. A cup of dried oats equates to two cups of cooked oatmeal.

Since the serving size generally recommended is one cup of cooked oatmeal, that means there are 400 servings in that big bag of oats. If we divide $36.50 by 400 servings we come up with approximately $.10 per serving.

If you add some fruit, milk, and sprinkle a few nuts on your oatmeal, you will be spending a maximum of $.50 to start your day with a big bowl of oatmeal.

When it comes to cream of wheat, we pay $.69 a pound. There are 32 servings per pound, making each serving about $.03. Add some raisins, nuts, a splash of milk, and a sprinkle of sugar and cinnamon and you have breakfast for about $.25 per serving.

If we rotate cream of wheat and oatmeal every other day for our family of four, we are spending just $11 for a week of breakfasts.

Shop for Ingredients on Sale

Keep an eye out for deals on breakfast essentials like milk, bread, and fruit. Stock up on items that can be frozen or stored for later use to take advantage of discounts. Planning your meals around what’s on sale is a great strategy for long-term savings.

Prepare Breakfast Sandwiches or Burritos

Making breakfast sandwiches or burritos in bulk at home costs a fraction of what you’d pay at a restaurant. Freeze them and heat them up on busy mornings for an easy, low-cost option. This can also save you from splurging on pricey fast-food breakfasts when you’re in a hurry.

Here’s a prime example of how finding ingredients on sale can dramatically lower your overall costs per recipe.

Our friend, Julie, buys her ingredients on sale and makes her breakfast sandwiches with homemade English muffins and either bacon or sausage, egg, and cheese for about $.15 per sandwich.

However, even if you decide to use store-bought English muffins and ingredients off the shelf from Walmart (not on sale), the cost is just over $1.00 per sandwich. 

Bake Your Own Muffins or Quick Bread

Baking homemade breakfast items like muffins use inexpensive pantry staples.

You can control ingredients to reduce sugar and fat, making these healthier and cheaper than store-bought versions. Plus, you can batch-bake and freeze them for future breakfasts.

Most store-bought muffins are often WAY too big. Honestly, it’s enough for two people. If you follow the serving size, you, most assuredly, are overeating.

To open your eyes even further, here’s a look at the ingredient list for SAMS blueberry muffins.

That’s a LOT of unknown and unpronounceable ingredients!

Homemade muffins are easy and can be made in about 30 minutes. My muffins cost me between $2 and $4 per batch of 12 muffins – depending on what I add in.

Sweet potato muffins will cost very little if the sweet potatoes are purchased when on sale. Buying cranberries after a major holiday means that I get them for half price and freeze them until I need them for cranberry chocolate chip muffins.

If I add fruit and nuts the price goes up. I generally get things like chocolate chips on a terrific sale or discount. So, that actually doesn’t drive the cost up too much. You can also add less of the add-ins to bring the cost down.

The cost per muffin is between $.17 and $.34 per muffin.

Make Homemade Pancakes

These are easy to make ahead and freeze them for later use. Basic pancake mix can be make for just a couple of dollars and is substantially less expensive than buying the boxes of ready-to-make pancake mix.

Basic Pancake Mix:

• 3 cups flour – $.84
• 2 Tbsp baking powder – $.27
• 2 Tbsp white sugar. – $.05
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 ½ cups milk – $.80
• 6 tablespoons melted margarine, butter, or a neutral oil – $.26

• TOTAL COST: $2.22 for 12 pancakes OR $.19 per pancake (2 pancakes = $.38 PLUS toppings and syrup).

Use Leftover Ingredients

Repurpose leftover rice, bread, or even veggies into breakfast dishes like rice porridge or veggie-packed frittatas. There are no rules against veggies at breakfast.

Even leftover pizza from the night before is fair game for the first meal of the day. However, honestly, I believe it is best eaten cold. If you feel the need to reheat a slice before eating it, try it straight out of the fridge. It’s a game-changer.

Lunch

Repurpose Leftovers

Instead of letting dinner leftovers sit in the fridge, turn them into quick lunches. You can easily transform last night’s stir-fry into a wrap or toss leftover roasted vegetables into a salad. This minimizes food waste and gives you a free meal the next day.

Getting creative with what you already have can lead to surprisingly delicious meals.

Large Batches of Soup or Stew

Making soup or stew in large batches is a cost-effective way to feed your family. Use inexpensive ingredients like beans, lentils, or root vegetables, and freeze portions for a future meal. Having pre-made soup on hand means you’ll always have a healthy, budget-friendly lunch ready to go.

Italian Lentil soup is incredibly fast to make and goes together from start to finish in about thirty minutes. I roast and freeze butternut squash in the fall. Then, when the cold winds blow, I make Curried Squash Soup. Smoky White Bean Soup and Garbanzo Bean Soup are also my personal recipes and family favorites.

Here are some examples of our favorite soups –all of which cost between $3 and $5 to make an entire crockpot or Instant Pot full of soup.

Each batch is 8-10 servings (or between $.30 to $.63 per serving).

Add a muffin (leftover from breakfast) and a piece of fruit and you have lunch for less than $2.00 per person.

You can’t get lunch out for anywhere near that! That’s why simply bringing lunch from home instead of eating out will save you THOUSANDS of dollars a year.

Homemade Wraps

Buying tortillas in bulk and filling them with ingredients like beans, cheese, or grilled veggies saves you money compared to buying pre-made wraps. Plus, they’re customizable and perfect for using up leftovers.

These wraps can also be packed for school or work lunches, cutting down on eating out.

If you want to cut costs even more, make your own tortillas. Mine cost $.04-$.05 each.

The nice thing about tortillas is that they are incredibly versatile. Your fillings can be savory or sweet, meaning they are appropriate for any meal of the day, including breakfast.

Salads

Buying pre-packaged salads can be expensive and offer limited portions.

Create your own salad bar at home by prepping large amounts of veggies, proteins, and toppings in advance for easy, affordable lunches throughout the week. This method also allows you to mix and match ingredients to keep lunches interesting.

You need to think outside the box when it comes to salads. Start with a base of rice or pasta and you can create a salad which will last all week without wilting or becoming soggy.

Some of our favorite salads, do not contain greens, like my Chinese Rice Salad, filling Greek Pasta Salad, or colorful Black Bean Broccoli Quinoa Salad. You can serve them as a stand alone dish, but it’s also super easy and healthy to throw them over a bed of arugula, kale, or romaine right before serving.

Supper

Meatless Meals

Reducing or eliminating meat from meals can cut costs significantly, as plant-based proteins like beans, lentils, and tofu are much cheaper. Try adding a meatless dinner once or twice a week to stretch your grocery budget.

Even just cutting down the portion size of meat and adding more vegetables can make a big impact on savings.

Stretch Meals with Starches

Adding rice, potatoes, or pasta to dishes, especially if you are going to include meat, allows you to use less of the more expensive ingredient while still having a hearty meal. These starches help bulk up meals without adding much to your grocery bill. This trick works especially well in casseroles and stir-fries.

Use Seasonal Vegetables

Buying fruits and vegetables that are in season is often much cheaper than out-of-season produce. Seasonal veggies also tend to taste fresher and have more nutrients. Consider buying extra in-season veggies to freeze or can for later use.

Plan Meals Around Ingredients You Got on Sale or Markdown

Centering my weekly menu plan around items which I got on sale is one of the primary ways I have fed my family of four for under $250 each month for many years.

To find the sale items, consult the weekly store flyer. Loss leader items are generally those on the front of the flyer which are advertised at an ultra-low price. Stores use these items as a way of getting people into the store, hoping they will not only buy the super sales, but also fill their cart with additional items.

Markdowns are found at various locations throughout the store. Items at a local grocery store may be marked down for several reasons, including approaching expiration dates, overstock of certain products, seasonal changes, or packaging damage. Finally, stores need to clear out inventory to make room for new shipments, especially for perishable items.

Most Kroger stores have a special shelving unit for Red Bags.

Each mesh bag from the display is $.99. Items may be slightly past the “freshest” date or the produce manager may have ordered too many of that item. I’ve used produce to create a week’s worth of dinners for my family for around $10. That’s how powerful this savings can be!

This can be a fantastic opportunity to stock up on produce to use now or to preserve for future meals.

Related Posts:

• How to Cut Your Grocery Bills (without Eating Ramen Every Night)
• 30 Items Frugal People Don’t Buy at the Grocery Store
• How Frugal People Find all the Best Deals at the Supermarket
• How to Cook Inexpensive Family Dinners for $10 a Week

Your Turn!

How do you stretch food to feed more people for less money? Tell us in the comments.