Save Money On Food: Homemade Ideas To Avoid Expensive Trips To The Store

Being able to manage the financing for all aspects of your life is very important if you want to be successful. Monitoring the amount of money that you spend on food each week is just as important as monitoring the amount of money you put towards an investment or use to pay your bills. By teaching yourself to make a majority of your food and snacks at home using inexpensive ingredients, you might find yourself surprised with the amount of extra money you have at the end of the month.

Breakfast, Lunch, And Dinner: Cooking at Home

The price of any pre-made meal at a grocery store, whether frozen or otherwise, will likely cost you quite a bit more than it would cost to purchase the ingredients and prepare that meal yourself. Even worse, regular restaurant visits can add up to a whopping total at the end of the week if you aren't careful. One carefully planned visit to the grocery store a week can save a huge amount of money if done correctly:

• Keeping your fridge and cupboards filled with food that you enjoy eating throughout the day is an obvious necessity if you want to save some money by eating at home. Regular grocery store visits will help you to familiarize yourself with different products and stay updated on any promotional deals or offers.
• Ruining a meal by cooking it too long or in any other manner is a catastrophe if you are looking to cut back on spending. If you aren't quite certain how to cook a specific meat or other meal, avoid buying it until you have the financial backing to afford a mess-up. Remember to always keep a close eye on your meal as it cooks, especially if you are cooking some sort of lean meat such as poultry or fish.
• Canned foods last a very long time and can usually act as a perfect side dish for plenty of the things you cook. Various canned meals and other products can be used in an effort to make meals with a wider range of items, and canned vegetables and fruits are an extremely cost-effective way to get the vitamins and minerals you need without having to spend heavy dollars in your local produce section.
• If you have certain items that you purchase quite often, it is a very good idea to begin buying in bulk. By purchasing a much larger quantity, you will not only have to make less trips to the store, but you will also save a decent amount of money per unit with wholesale prices. Many cities and counties have walk-in bulk markets like Costco, but you can also shop wholesale items online through one of the various websites in existence.

Saving On The Small Things

Even if you eat inexpensive meals that you cook at home most of the time, a large majority of people still find themselves spending money on other things throughout the day. Although many neglect to realize that the cost of buying small edible or drinkable items throughout the day can really add up, this type of small eccentric splurge is exactly the type of thing that will be your financial downfall in a tight situation. Below is a list of various popular items and a few ways that you can either make these things at home or exchange them for an adequate substitute

Ice Cream

Although it might be the perfect treat on a warm summer day, the price tag on any carton of your favorite ice cream flavor might be too much to handle during a tough time. Fortunately, making ice cream at home is quite an easy process, and the ingredients that you will require will almost always be much less expensive than buying any ready-made ice cream brand. Ice cream makers are a great choice for the die-hard fans out there, making it easy for you to create your own delicious frozen treat in a matter of minutes. Making it easy for ice cream and popsicle lovers to make their own frozen treats, these machines can cost anywhere from twenty dollars for the most basic of ice cream machines, to hundreds of dollars for advanced ice cream or popsicle kitchen appliances.

Believe it or not, you can make ice cream at home without any machine at all with the proper ingredients. Simply place your ice cream mixture (this usually includes milk or half & half, cream, sugar, and any flavorings that you desire) in a resealable plastic bag. Take a larger plastic bag and fill it about half way with ice and rock salt. Place the sealed plastic bag containing your ingredients into the larger ice bag and begin shaking for roughly five minutes. This simple homemade batch of ice cream can cost as little as a dollar or two to make, and you don't need to invest in a single appliance.

Coffee

Even though its pretty obvious that coffee can be made at home, countless individuals still find themselves visiting a popular cafe for the morning cup on a daily basis. Retail stores like Starbucks might be the single most paycheck-threatening habitual purchase that one can make. Beyond the big prices and small portions, the addictive nature of caffeine and the delicious flavorings that coffee stores offer for an additional price can total out to an excess of $100 a week for just one person.

Instant coffee mixture is quick, easy to make, usually doesn't require any coffee maker, and can be bought in various flavors that compete with those of any drink made in a cafe. This might save you a decent amount of money each month, but the real savings will come when you decide to make your own coffee from scratch.