my money saving food tips

I must admit, I am the queen of cleaning out the fridge, using up everything I buy from the grocery store before it goes bad and getting creative with meals to do so. That skill did not come over night though. Sure, having a plan and list walking into the grocery store is key. Going grocery shopping hungry is definitely a big no – but there are a lot of other tips & tricks to take into account to save money when it comes to grocery shopping and food waste and still eat healthy and nutritious food at every meal. Take a read if you’d like to keep some of that money in ya wallet.

Shop in season

Buying produce in season will not only get you the best bang for your buck, but you’ll notice a difference in the taste. Fruits and veggies in-season are more plentiful and thus less expensive and taste better because they are harvested closer to the peak of their freshness. In the month of May go for apricots, asparagus, cherries, mangoes, pineapples, strawberries, swiss chard and zuchinni.

Buy frozen

When fruits and veggies are not in-season, opt for frozen to save money. Frozen produce is picked at the peak of ripeness and frozen to seal in nutrients, plus you tend to get more bang for your buck as the volume in what you are paying for is usually double or triple the volume you are paying for with fresh produce. I personally like to mix in frozen veggies like spinach, peas and other greens in with my fresh veggies, and love having frozen fruit on hand for smoothies.

Know when to buy organic and when you can pass on it

When it comes to shopping organic, it is a non-negotiable that I shop for organic dairy, meat and eggs. However, when it comes to produce I follow the Dirty Dozen rule and the Clean 15 rule – meaning I buy organic produce if it is part of the Dirty Dozen because those are crops that farmers typically use the most pesticides on, versus the Clean 15 which is a term used to describe the fifteen fruits and vegetables that have the lowest amount of pesticide residue. The Dirty Dozen list includes: strawberries, spinach, kale, nectarines, apples, grapes, peaches, cherries, pears, tomatoes, celery and potatoes. The Clean 15 list includes: avocados, sweet corn, pineapple, onions, papaya, sweet peas, eggplants, asparagus, cauliflower, cantaloupes, broccoli, mushrooms, cabbage, honeydew melon and kiwi. A cart full or organic food can be scary expensive, so following this rule of thumb with produce can help save some money.

Check out the store-brand options

It is easy to be lured in to buy products based on brand recognition, but often times there are equally good store-brand options on the shelves. Versus look at all the marketing lingo on the front of the package, check out the ingredient statements to compare store-branded options to branded options and see if the ingredients are indeed the same (or very similar). Take peanut butter for example. All I want in a peanut butter is just (organic) peanuts and salt. The Trader Joe’s brand of organic creamy peanut butter runs for about $4.99, yet there are so many brands out there trying to sell you organic peanut butter for double that.

Skip prepackaged stuff

I know grabbing the prepackaged salads is easy and convenient, but you will save a good chunk of change if you buy all the ingredients you need to make salads for the week separately. Plus, those dressings in the prepackaged salads are often crap and you’d be better off making your own with olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt and pepper or keeping some bottles of Primal Kitchen dressings or Kaari dressings on hand. I know making your own salads doesn’t seem as convenient, but if you lay everything out and have invested in (glass) Tupperware, then you can make a couple salads at a time versus make one salad everyday.

Get creative with leftovers

First off, always save your leftovers – whether that’s at home or dining out. Wraps, salads and omelets are a blank canvas for leftovers and are an easy way to get creative with the leftovers from the night before.

Go meatless for a few meals

Paying for quality meat adds up, and as I mentioned before, if I am buying meat or poultry it is organic. Versus sacrifice on the quality of meat you buy, choose to go meatless for a couple of meals each week. To build a meal that still gives you a good source of protein, opt for beans (black beans, refried beans, garbanzo beans), edamame, oatmeal, yogurt or cottage cheese and choose vegetables with a higher protein count, like broccoli, spinach, asparagus, artichokes, peas, potatoes/sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts. My favorite meatless option is definitely eggs. Eggs are so versatile that you could have an omelet or soft scrambled eggs for one meal and poached or fried eggs for another.

Shop the store perimeters

Avoiding the middle of the store – where most of the packaged goods are – will save you money for sure. This tip also goes hand-in-hand with having a game plan walking into the store though too – because if you are perusing the aisles in the middle of the store without a plan, you’re going to end up with a lot of snacks in your cart.

If you skipped rule #1 and don’t have a plan, don’t grab a cart

If you are walking into the store aimlessly, opt for the basket versus the cart so you are not physically capable of grabbing too much at one time.

Get a credit card that will reward you for shopping

I did quite a bit of homework on the ideal credit card for me – someone whose credit card statement is literally a list of grocery store purchases and restaurant bills. I really like the benefits my American Express Preferred card gets me. I earn 3x Membership Rewards points at US supermarkets (not including warehouse stores like Costco) on up to $6,000 of purchases annually.

Now, when you get home from the store, don’t just treat your fridge like a closet for your food. Knowing how and where you store your food in your fridge will help to keep it fresh longer and avoid you having to throw food (and essentially your money) out before you get a chance to enjoy it all.

First, wash and dry all produce before putting it in the fridge.

I simply wash my fruits and vegetables with hot water, lay them on kitchen towels on my countertops and let all of it dry completely before putting it in glass containers or straight into my fridge. If your fruits or veggies are still wet when you put them in the fridge they will spoil faster, especially if they are in a glass container (as mold will develop).

Now, when it comes to where to store everything…

There is definitely a right way to store veggies and fruit properly so that they don’t go bad so quickly. Different compartments in your fridge have different temperature zones, for example – the lower shelves are where it tends to be coldest and thus where you will want to store your eggs, dairy and raw meat. Your top shelf is where you’ll want to keep leftovers, drinks, herbs, and ready-to-eat meats like deli meat, hummus and bread. The doors of the fridge are the warmest part of the fridge and thus where food can spoil the fastest, so you’ll want to avoid putting milk or dairy products here. Reserve the doors for condiments.  As for the fridge drawers, it is important to know that many fruits produce ethylene, a chemical that helps them to ripen – and you don’t want that ripening to happen to your veggies because they will yellow and get limp in your fridge, so you should keep fruits and veggies in separate compartments in your fridge. A few other random tips: I like to store my nuts in Weck jars in the fridge to preserve the quality of them. Just keep them away from onions and other high-odor foods. I also like to buy tall carrots, cut them and keep them submersed in an open container with water to keep them fresh longer. To keep my kale from getting limp, I keep the stems submersed in water by filling a drinking cup up halfway with water and putting the kale stalks in the cup and storing in the middle of the fridge. If I know I am not going to finish bread, tortillas, pasta sauces or spinach before they go bad, those are four things I always put in my freezer. Just remember to pre-slice your bread if it is not already, so you can easily pull out one piece at a time from the freezer. Lastly, don’t store stuff on top of your fridge, because the fridge’s condenser coil pumps warm air out and that heat rises around the top of the fridge. Definitely don’t store your good wine up there.

That concludes my money saving tips & tricks for grocery shopping and storing your food best so that you can be a savvy shopper and still eat like a damn king or queen … a healthy king or queen, of course.