10 Food Budgeting Tips I Wish I Followed Religiously

When I had young kids and a full-time job, our dinner rotation varied only slightly from week to week.  Being on autopilot was not exciting, but it took a lot less time and thought than planning new meals.  It had another advantage; it kept our food budget relatively stable.  

Those days are long gone; now my food choices and budget can be all over the map.  There are weeks when we eat yogurt or eggs for dinner 2 or 3 nights and that sure keeps our food budget down, and other times when I save almost by accident because I've got a hankering for simple soups or stews made from beans, vegetables, and a bit of meat.  On the other hand, if I’m not careful, I can spend a bundle making dinners with exotic - and expensive – ingredients.

Those who carefully plan every meal and shop as if it were a chess game hardly need my advice.  These tips are for the rest of us.

My Top 10 Food Budgeting Tips  

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Maryland-style Crab Cakes

Crabs and crab-based dishes have always been restaurant food to me. Maybe that’s because I used to let crabs intimidate me.  But after my recent foodbloggers trip to the J.M Clayton Co. crab processing operation, I got courageous and set out to make my own crab cakes.  

Our hosts told us that J.M. Clayton sells fresh-cooked crabmeat to the MidAtlantic Whole Foods stores.  Sure enough, there it was, in the seafood department of my local (Northwest DC) Whole Foods.  At $22 a pound, backfin crabmeat is an expensive treat.  Still, a home-cooked crab cake dinner would be much less expensive than a restaurant meal, so I gulped and forged ahead.  

After I did the math I felt better.  A pound of backfin crabmeat makes 6 good-sized crab cakes, so each one costs about $4 to make.  My 2 crab cake per person dinner, with salad, wine, and dessert cost us about $15.  Even compared to the prepared Whole Foods crab cakes, I was still saving money.  Those cost $6, 30% more than homemade.  I've tasted them and (not to brag) they aren't as good as the ones you can make using this recipe.

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Money Matters – Tips on Saving When You Shop

Do you ever go food shopping and wonder where all your money went?  It’s too easy to spend more than you planned or want to spend on groceries.  I am in awe of shoppers who use coupons and apps to watch every penny, but that's not me and those aren’t the only ways to save money when you shop for groceries.  

Recently, I saved about $8 dollars on 2 spices and 1 dried herb by buying in bulk.  It reminded me that it’s always worth going back to the basics of how to save money on food.  Whether you bank the money saved, use it for something else, or donate it to a worthy cause, these tips and a few I've provided before can help you save money on groceries. 

6 Tips on How to Trim Your Grocery Bill  

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