If you have noticed the price of groceries ever increasing, then you will not want to miss out on these money saving techniques. They do not include hours of coupon clipping, shopping sales, or buying in bulk. No, friend, these money saving tips start in your own kitchen. You won’t believe how easy they are, and how you can incorporate them into your every day routines! Curious? Then let’s get started!
Money Saving Tip #1: Don’t waste produce
Do you purchase produce with your ideal self in mind? “Those avocados look great,” you think. You buy six bananas instead of three, your bell peppers begin to shrivel before you can use it, and your apple overripe before they’re eaten.
Don’t judge yourself too harshly, friend! This happens to all of us. But there are some really great tips you can implement before tossing all that money into the trash or compost pile.
Bananas
We like our bananas a little on the greener side. When bananas are past their prime, peel them, cut them into chunks, slices, or into two pieces and freeze them. Frozen bananas can be used in oatmeal, banana bread, smoothies, and protein shakes.
Bell Peppers
When bell peppers begin to shrivel, not only are then unappetizing, but they begin to soften as well. While not ideal for fresh salads or salsas, they can be diced and frozen for later. Frozen bell peppers can be used in soups and stews, meatloaf, stir fry, and omelets. We dice ours up and store pull out what we need when we need them.
Apples
Apples can also be cut up and frozen for later use in pies, cobblers and crumbles. If you only have one or two and want to stash them away for later use, simply dice them up and soak them in salt water before freezing. The’ll be ready for you when you want them, and when baked, fried, or cooked, you cannot tell they were overripe.
Tip #2: Hard Boil Eggs
With the price of eggs having their own tax bracket as of late, saving every single one has become high priority. Okay, maybe not high priority, but a pretty good priority. There are some tricks with eggs that you may or may not know.
Good vs Bad Eggs
If you have eggs with questionable expiration dates, it’s a very simple test to see if they are still good, or if they should be tossed. Simply fill a bowl with cold water and place the egg in the water. If the egg sinks to the bottom, it’s still good. If it floats to the top, it’s bad. Use your best judgment if the egg hovers somewhere in the middle. I usually risk it, but I have cracked a bad egg a time or two.
The nearly-perfect recipe
Every Monday I hard boil between 8 and 12 eggs. The recipe I use was given to me from an older lady we used to attend church with. She said, place the eggs in cold water with a teaspoon of table salt and bring them to a slow boil. Let them slow boil for eight minutes, then remove them from the heat for five minutes. At that point, drain the water, add ice cubes and cold water. Let them sit for another five minutes and they will peal clean nearly every time. We store ours in an airtight container.
Once the eggs are hard boiled, they can be used for salads, egg salad, deviled eggs, in potato salad, or simply as a quick breakfast. Since I started cooking eggs every Monday, we rarely throw them away, and at the price of eggs these days, that’s quite a savings!
Money Saving Tip #3: Use veggie scraps
While I would love to tell you this was my idea, it is not. I heard it from Josie on YouTube. She has a background in nutrition from the UK. She says that she makes her own veggie stock – and I’m telling you, it could not be easier!
Every single time I chop vegetables like carrots, celery, and onion, or peel potatoes, I simply save all of those scraps in a large ziptop gallon bag in my freezer. In fact, I often snip off the celery greens, the carrot tops, and save the onion peel. They’re full of goodness you don’t want to go to waste.
Once the freezer bag is full, simply place it in a pot of cold water with salt and pepper and simmer for about an hour. At that point, drain the veggie stock and save it in the refrigerator or freezer it for later. It makes amazing soups and stews, and can even be sipped if you’re feeling under the weather. It’s chock full of nutrients, you control the salt, and you don’t have to spend the money on boxed veggie stock.
Separate Celery
I don’t think I’ve ever used a whole bunch of celery. I used to use what I needed and before I could use the rest, it turned to mush in my crisper drawer. But not any more! When I buy a bulk of celery, I chop and use what I need immediately. What remains gets separated into two categories.
The first is fresh chopped celery. This is usually no more than one to two cups. It can be used in soups, stews, tuna salad and chicken salad. You can also toss it into prepared stuffing mixes to jazz it up. It’s fresh, it’s ready, and it’s already prepared.
The second category is chopped and frozen. Whatever is left I also chop and freeze. Frozen celery is perfect for soups and stews, pot roasts, beef stews, pot pies, shepherds pies, gravies, or homemade cream of celery soup. It too can be added to a prepared box or bag mix of stuffing.
Tip #4: Rotisserie Chicken
Ahh the rotisserie chicken. I could write an entire blog post about it. Where do I begin? Have it for dinner, have it for lunch, make it into chicken salad, chicken stew, or pot pie. Add it to a chopped salad for added protein. Eat it with a little bbq sauce as a snack.
I purchase my rotisserie chicken at Meijer for $6.99 (there’s usually a dollar off coupon if you search the app.). I can’t buy and cook a chicken for that. So I’m already saving money. But once you use up the chicken, please don’t throw away the chicken carcass.
Just like the veggie stock, the chicken carcass makes amazing chicken stock. The chicken is pre-seasoned and roasted so it is full of flavor. Simply take the skin and the bones and place them in a lidded pot covered with cold water. No need to add salt or additional seasoning. Simply simmer the water for around an hour on low and let it cool. Once cooled completely, you can store this stock in glass jars, freezer containers, or even heavy-duty freezer bags.
It is far better than anything I’ve purchased at the store, and it’s full of vitamins and minerals. Plus, it was basically free. From one chicken I got four cups of chopped meat, and two quarts of chicken stock.
Money Saving Tip #5: Prep your produce
This last tip is more a best practice than it is a money-saving tip. I can’t tell you how often I purchase strawberries only to toss half of them in the trash because they went moldy or mushy. What I’ve learned, however, has saved me from throwing out strawberries more times than I can count.
First, you need to save the little plastic container the strawberries come in. It has air circulation built in, and that is the secret to success.
When you get home, rinse the strawberries in cold water and take the green tops off. Slice them or quarter them if you want, but you can leave them whole if you like. Line the bottom of your refrigerator dish with a folded paper towel. This will absorb any excess liquid that causes the berries to mold. Finally, place that little plastic container into your refrigerator dish on top of the paper towel. You may need to trim the height of the plastic container to fit the refrigerator container.
The berries are prepped and ready for snacks, salads, or smoothies. Best part is, they stay fresh for up to a week without going soft or getting moldy.
Following these tips will save you money
If you are looking for simple ways to save money on your grocery budget, these five money saving methods will absolutely help. They may seem like common sense, but actually putting them into practice will make a dent in your budget. Things like prepping the berries need to be done when you purchase the produce. Saving bananas, celery, or peppers can be done when you notice they are getting close to past prime. The rotisserie chicken needs to be done within the first 24 hours of bringing it home for best results. However, none of them is time consuming, and many of them can be done while you’re doing other kitchen chores.
Try them and see if you notice any money savings. I’m pretty sure you will see the difference, and I’m also sure you’ll find some of your meal prep is easier because you’ve already done some of the work ahead of time!
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Great info