Family Finances: 7 Ways to Save Time and Money on the Food Budget

Time and cash are a trade off. When we have plenty of income, we turn that resource into time by purchasing convenience foods and eating out. When we don’t have as much income, we spend time cooking at home more often and using more staple items as well. I look at it this way. When I’m working, I’m adding to the budget and I can afford more conveniences. When I’m not employed, my job becomes saving. Both ways, I’m helping the quality of life for my family. But in the real world, how do we manage the time drain while we try to save? Here are seven ways:

Think of your family as a team. Every member of the team should participate in the process of providing food for the family, whether it’s hauling in groceries from the car, helping with meal preparation, or stacking the dishwasher.

Consider co-op cooking with another family of similar size. Once or twice a week, one family will cook a larger meal and share half of it with the co-op family. This will give one or two kitchen-free days to each participant. Sharing can work well when people live in close proximity and are very good friends.  I would not try this with strangers or with people whose taste in food is quite different from yours. Planning the shared meals together would be a big help.

Assign breakfast prep to various members of the family on a rotating basis so that Mom is not always the one rushing around in the morning.

Choose breakfast meals that allow for advanced preparation the night before. Recipes that can be prepared after dinner, placed in the refrigerator, and then popped into the oven the next morning are perfect for this.  Also, crock pot breakfasts can be prepared before bedtime, and they will be hot and delicious in the morning for a tiny fraction of the cost of cold cereal or breakfast bars.

Make double or triple amounts of breakfast baking and supper casseroles that do not contain pasta or potatoes and freeze the extras for quick warm up after a busy day.

Cook several pounds of hamburger and freeze the browned hamburger in portion-sized containers to dramatically reduce the time for supper preparation.

Plan meals for several days, a week, or even a month.  This saves decision-making time each day and will also make your shopping trips more efficient.

Most of these tips not only save time, but they also save resources. Cooking larger amounts and planning for the leftovers reduces cooking energy, and more efficient shopping trips save gas and time.