10 Practical Tips for Cutting Your Grocery Budget

I’m over at Raising Homemakers this week to share some helpful little ideas for how you can easily cut your grocery budget!

 

 

If there is one thing that all of us homemakers are likely looking to do, it is find ways to cut down on our grocery bills each month. Food costs continue to skyrocket, so we can use all the help we can get! What follows is a list of 10 easy little ways to decrease your food bill that I have personally found very helpful.

1. Make your own chicken broth.

This is a big money-saver in many ways! For one, you get more bang for your buck, in that you can make larger amounts of chicken broth for the same cost as what you would spend in the store on the small little cartons. In fact, if you use the method I’m sharing today, you will, in essence, be getting your chicken broth for free! So, here’s what you do (thanks goes to my own sweet mama for teaching me this little trick when I was still living at home!):

• Buy a tray of split chicken breasts (the kind that you would cook and use as shredded chicken in casserole and soup recipes)
• Place the chicken into a large pot, cover with water (and seasonings, if desired), and boil for 1-2 hours or until the chicken is done, adding more water as needed)

Voila! When you remove the cooked chicken from the pot (chicken that you bought to use in another recipe, anyway!), what you are left with is a tasty broth that you can now use in any recipe that calls for chicken broth!

Because you are using split chicken breasts which still have the skin on, your broth will contain a lot of the great chicken flavor that is found in the skin. If, however, you are concerned about fat content, all you have to do is refrigerate or freeze the broth, which will cause the fat in the broth to harden and rise it to the top, making it easy for you to skim it off!

2. Have Meatless Mondays.

A fun thing we’ve done before is experiment with meatless main dishes. Because meat (especially certain cuts of beef) can be so expensive, this can be a great and easy way to cut down on the amount of money you spend on food each month! And, as long as you are sure to pair things like beans or lentils with rice or quinoa in the same meal, you will still be getting a complete protein!

 

To read the other 8 tips - as well as the bonus tip! - head on over to Raising Homemakers!