5 Budget-Busting Foods

(and How to Enjoy Them for less)

 

Over the past couple weeks, I have been reworking and updating our budget. I had to do a double take when we realized what our #1 expense is. I was certain that our mortgage or taxes would be at the top of that list, but I was wrong. The biggest drain on our wallet and the enemy of our savings account is food. FOOD!

We spend what we think is a small amount of money per meal per person, but it really adds up. We rarely go out to eat at sit-down restaurants, and recently we have been really cutting back on drive-thru value menus. Eating still costs real money though, even when we are menu-planning and grocery shopping responsibly.

We still want to be able to enjoy the foods we like, so we came up with a few alternative ways to enjoy these same budget-busting foods for less. We found that we have largely been paying a premium just for the convenience of things. With just a tiny bit of planning, we can save money and still eat/drink well!

5 Budget-Busting Foods

After taking a good hard look at what we have been spending on food, we started thinking of ways to cut back. We don’t want to starve ourselves, so we have been trying to get creative about how to still enjoy some of these budget-busting foods.

Update 09/01/2021: Read about another budget-busting food– The Cost of Coffee!

Pizza

Of all the budget-busting foods on the list, pizza is the worst for our wallet! There are several pizza places in our town, so when we have a busy day, it’s really easy (and tempting) to order pizza. We have our two favorite local pizza shops saved in our phones, so we can call and order without ever looking at a menu. It usually costs close to $30, and we still end up snacking on food we have at home.

It is so much cheaper and much more fun to make our own pizza at home! We started buying personal size pre-made pizza crusts at the grocery store, along with pizza sauce, cheese, and a few toppings. You could make your own crust and sauce to save even more, but we still need a quick meal sometimes!

The really neat thing about making personal size pizzas is that we can experiment with toppings and use up leftovers in creative ways, and we all end up with something we like. Last night we made three personal size pizzas with sauce and cheese we had left from the last time we did this, and we used leftover meat and veggies for the toppings. We had a great time and a great meal for just the cost of the pizza crusts ($3.29).

Ice Cream

My kids are suckers for an ice cream cone, but the cute little ice cream shop in town is not cheap. One scoop in a cone is close to $4. Multiply that by four people, and that’s about what we try to spend on an entire lunch for all of us.

We just have to have the willpower to drive past the ice cream shop when we go through town! I buy ice cream on sale at the grocery store (I usually get a 1.5 quart container of ice cream for less than a scoop costs at the ice cream shop), and cones are cheap. Plus, we have so much fun eating our cones on the rocking chairs on our porch!

Bottled/Fountain Drinks

I mentioned earlier that we had been doing a lot of drive-thru value menu lunches until recently. It was the easiest thing for us because we could have the kids with us, drive around hoping that baby E would take a little nap, and we could get some food fast in the middle of another crazy work-from-home day. The downside to the value menu is that it doesn’t usually include drinks. It took awhile to realize that sometimes a drink cost more than the cheap food we were ordering.

If we are out and about and need something to drink, we try to stop at McDonald’s and get a large drink for $1; it’s definitely the best drive-thru drink value. Better yet, we try to fill up a large insulated metal cup (I use this one) with water or tea and take it with us. It pays for itself within a couple weeks!

Bottled Water

At approximately $5 for a case of 24, water bottles won’t break the bank if used occasionally, but we became too dependent on them. I drink a lot of water, so it wouldn’t be unheard of for me to drink 5 or 6 over the course of a day.

So many people say water is free, but it rarely is. We live in an area with really hard water, so it takes a lot of softening and filtering to make it taste very good. Still, it is so much cheaper (and healthier) to invest in something like this Brita pitcher than to constantly go through store-bought water bottles. We also like these Brita water bottles for traveling; they include filters that make water taste better wherever you are, whether you’re filling it up at a water fountain, hotel sink, or country home.

Baby Food

We’re just getting started on baby food with our second kiddo. The first time around, we tried to buy wisely and stock up when those little jars were on sale, but at $1 for a tiny jar, it can add up quickly by the time a kiddo is eating solid-ish food consistently.

We’re just getting started on baby food with our baby girl, but I have cooked and frozen two batches of homemade baby food and hope to do more. So far I’m enjoying it!

I’ve made applesauce from apples picked off our neighbor’s trees (free!) as well as sweet potatoes (paid $1.50 for two large sweet potatoes that made 14 oz. of baby food!). It was easier than I thought it would be. I just prepared it in the crock pot the same way I would if I were making applesauce or baked sweet potatoes for a regular meal, then put it in a small blender, then froze it in a BPA-free ice cube tray. After it was frozen, I put the cubes into a freezer bag and stored it in the freezer. I now have 28 ounces of baby food for $1.50 and about 20 extra minutes of work.

As my family continues to work on our budget, we keep trying to find ways to enjoy life for less. Finding better ways to enjoy these budget-busting foods in one step in the right direction.