With food cost on the rise and my children growing and eating in exponential proportion to their growth; we are feeling the food budget crunch in the Sims family home. We have started to do a few things to help with these "growing" problem.
1. Try and plan a menu for each week. This way you only get the food you need and you schedule out to eat times based on what works and is needed for your schedule, not just when you do not feel like cooking. This is harder than it looks and we are still trying to implement this completely.
2. Stop eating out. We now play a game, how much would this have cost if we would have eaten out. Mexican kills me. I can feed 20 people for what it cost me to take 3 adults and 3 children out for one meal at the Mexican Restaurant. When we do eat out we make it count. We love Tin Tin's in Pineville for Lunch. For about $35 we take the whole family for all you can eat Chinese. It is excellent food too! Chick-fil-a has family night on Mondays here in Lancaster. We can eat as a family for about $18. Planning is the key.
3. When you eat out, order water. If everyone in our family gets tea it is $12 before you order your first meal. How much does it cost to make a gallon of tea at home? Let's just say, drink tea at home and not out.
4. Make a food budget and stick with it. It is amazing the stuff that I will buy, just to have on hand. Do I really need four cans of Anchovies, five different styles of mustards, or three styles of olive oil. By having a budget and a calculator (I use my blackberry) it will help you put back things you want, but do not need.
5. Sam's is your friend. I would much rather eat meat from Trader Joe's or Earth Fare. Yet, I would also like to eat everyday. At Sam's we can get a large cut of meat, a whole pork loin, or large cut of beef and then eat all week off of it. This week I got a whole pork loin for about $12. We had fried pork tortilla wraps on Sunday Night, Fried Pork Sandwiches on Monday night, and Roasted Pork Tenderloin on Wednesday night. I really could have had better portion control and it would have made four meals. That works out to about $0.50 a person per meal. We also buy the large tub of organic mixed salad and that serves us for both salads and sandwiches. I think at Christmas I may buy a whole beef tenderloin and have three meals off of it. Yummy!
We are not perfect in these things, but we are trying to save a little money and still eat well. It just takes a bit of work, but it can be done.
Good Eatings!
The Hungry Preacher
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