Frugal Habits When It Comes To Food

I have always said “If we did not have to eat, we could save some money”. Admit it, food takes a huge chunk our of our income. However, we can do something about that part of the budget. Unlike the mortgage payment, food can be had somewhat cheaper. Once we sign those papers to purchase a new home, the mortgage is set in stone. That amount will have to be paid each month or we will no longer have a roof over our heads. The power bill can be brought down if we really are committed to doing it. Food bills can be brought down also. We can be frugal.

We all want good healthy food for our families. We try to give them the best but just how well are we really doing that? Are we preparing homemade food without preservatives and additives or are we purchasing more expensive prepared foods and mixes? These commercial mixes are filled with additives that our family does not need.

It is difficult to just change our cooking and eating habits. We seem to get in a rut and our first solution is to purchase a quick meal. We tell ourselves that it is “just this once” but we continue to do it. We keep putting off the steps that are needed to save money on groceries while protecting our families from added preservatives and additives. We have to begin with baby steps or habits. Steps that are doable without being overwhelmed.

Following are some common steps that people make when it comes to food. They are habits that have become so common that we are the best at being “frugal”.

Habit 1: You buy what you need when you need it, period. You do not
understand how other people find such good deals and you know or suspect that they are
either lying or eating a dangerously unhealthy diet.

Habit 2: You buy what you need when you need it, using coupons and
buying from sales when either is convenient. You do not understand how other
people find such good deals and you know or suspect that they are either lying or eating
a dangerously unhealthy diet.

Habit 3: You discover big box stores. You now have an overstuffed freezer
in your garage and a lifetime supply of toilet paper in your pantry. You still
use Habit 2 methods, but Walmart doesn’t give you goose bumps the way
Sams Club does. You don’t understand how some people find such good deals
and you know or suspect that they are either lying or eating a dangerously unhealthy diet.

Habit 4: Here you cross the divide from normal thriftiness into extreme
frugality. You become a coupon junkie! You just can not believe that coupon organizers aren’t sold everywhere. You join coupon exchange groups and purchase the Sunday paper without hesitation.
You pride yourself on getting X amount of merchandise for X dollars—fill in
the blanks yourself. Never mind that you are living almost exclusively on food
that comes from a box and you aren’t exactly sure how the boxes of toothpaste are in the
closet. It isn’t whether you need it or what it cost  that matter—it’s all about how money you saved. You don’t understand how some  people have such low grocery budgets without using coupons and you know or suspect that they are either lying or eating a dangerously unhealthy diet.

Habit 5: You start doing the math, calculating the cost-per-serving of every
meal in your repertoire. You realize that junk food at any price is still too
expensive. You cut back on using all those coupons when you find that even with all the
“savings,” you are often spending more. You return to Sams Club stores, but
limit yourself to items that meet your increasingly stringent price guidelines.
You’ll follow a good deal anywhere: big lots, dollar stores, and damaged food stores. People at this stage have been known to buy half of a whole beef and cut it into pieces themselves to save money. Yet, even with all of  these measures, you still occasionally meet someone who spends less. You do not understand how they could find such good deals and you know or suspect that they are either lying or eating a dangerously unhealthy diet.

Habit 6: You develop a chronic obsession with consumer math. In an
attempt to further bring down your price per serving, you begin making most
foods from scratch with bulk ingredients bought at cheap prices. People in
line at Sams Club ask if you own a bakery.

Then you suddenly realize:

1. There indeed are sources of free food.

B. Nothing is cheaper than free.

You grow a garden, and not the kind with flowers. You convince your husband
that Catch-and-Release fishing is cruel because it subjects the fish to being
hooked repeatedly. Hunters, gardeners, orchard owners, backyard chicken
farmers, and your entire freecycle community all know that you’re the person
to call when they need to get rid of food. The North American lifestyle is full of
waste and you are more than willing to benefit from the excess. Your extreme
frugality spreads to other areas of your life. Suddenly Levi’s seem
astronomically expensive; even at clearance prices they cost enough to feed
your family well for a week. Except for those people who live in the third world, you don’t know anyone who spends less than you do on food than you do.

Most frugal people follow this pattern. There are however some variations to the habits. I have followed these habits all my life. I was raised with these habits being followed by my mother and I taught my children to do the same thing. However, there are still ways to save that I don’t even know about. I am always trying to learn more ways to be frugal.
Though food is defiantly a way to be frugal, we have to learn the habits that it takes to save “real” money. You are on a natural “high” and are proud to be called “frugal”.

What habit are you on now?

Do you do other things to be frugal when it comes to food?

Is there a Habit 7??