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    100 Meals for $5 or Less
    100 Meals for $5 or Less
    100 Meals for $5 or Less
    Ebook174 pages1 hour

    100 Meals for $5 or Less

    By Jennifer Maughan

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    About this ebook

    Easy recipes and a guide to shopping smarter so that you can make meals for your family on a budget.

     

    One famished husband, three hungry children, rising food costs, and a fixed income could lead to disaster, but Jennifer Maughan successfully navigates the world of grocery shopping by pinching those pennies for all they’re worth. She shows how anyone can creatively survive the onslaught of higher grocery bills and still eat tasty, healthy meals.

    She tells frazzled food buyers to: Allocate funds to the most important foods. Stop spending money on impulse buys. Make a shopping plan before heading to the store. Find the best places to shop in your area. Be smart about coupons and sales.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateMar 1, 2009
    ISBN9781423607809
    100 Meals for $5 or Less

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      Book preview

      100 Meals for $5 or Less - Jennifer Maughan

      Introduction

      Proven Money-Saving Methods

      If you’ve picked up this book, you are someone who feels frustrated at how much things cost nowadays—clothing, cars, office supplies, utilities and more. All too often, it seems that there’s never quite enough to cover all the bills and allow for the little extras that life throws at you—from emergency car repairs to school clothes for the kids. Even families who earn enough and live within their means encounter instances when a few hundred dollars extra would really come in handy, perhaps to put toward a family vacation, pay down credit card debts or contribute to a savings plan.

      Short of getting a part-time job or asking the boss for a raise, it might seem like there’s nothing much you can do to change things. While it’s not too difficult to put off buying luxury items, there’s no putting off the need to buy groceries and feed your family. However, many people are discovering that by cutting wasteful spending from their household food budget, they can make the dollars they do earn go further.

      The time has come to take a good look at the money you spend on food. This book will give you tips and advice on how to trim the fat from your family’s food budget—one of the few areas of spending you can actually control. Besides providing you with imaginative recipes made from low-cost ingredients, this book offers advice on budget-saving techniques such as menu planning, analyzing the psychology of shopping, the invaluable price list and more. In a few short weeks, you can develop some good shopping and cooking habits that will benefit yourself, your family and your wallet.

      Cut Wasteful Spending

      A recent study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the average American family spends more than $8,000 per year on food. Compare that to other monthly expenses, and the grocery bill usually comes in as the second biggest after the mortgage or rent. With an average of $700 spent each month at the grocery store, the average family can really use some help. The good news is that the family’s food budget is the best place to cut wasteful spending. You can’t easily change your mortgage or car payment, but with some planning, determination and a positive attitude, you can trim your grocery bill, become a smarter shopper and still eat well. Imagine cutting your family grocery bill by a third or even half! Think of what you could do with a few hundred extra dollars a month. With smart meal planning and savvy shopping, you don’t need to get another job—simply make your current income stretch a little further.

      Imagine that trimming your food budget is a small part-time job. With a few hours of effort each week, you can save thousands of dollars each year, depending on how dedicated you want to be. The great news is that this is a part-time job that everyone can do—no experience needed. Even if you only apply half of the advice presented here, you’ll notice a difference in how you cook, shop and save. Once you learn and practice these smart shopping and cooking techniques, it’ll become second nature to you. Since grocery shopping and cooking meals for your family is something you have to do anyway, why not have a little fun, try some new cost-efficient recipes and save money at the same time?

      Trial and Error

      When my husband was in law school, we managed an apartment complex to make ends meet. We perfected the art of thrifty living; yet, as poor students, it grew increasingly frustrating to stare into the pantry at nothing but spaghetti ingredients. Sometimes we’d walk on the wild side and have tomato meat sauce rather than garden vegetable sauce. I was determined to see how I could improve the situation and serve different foods, instead of spaghetti.

      I quizzed my parents, who raised seven (well-fed) kids, and got lots of good advice there. I scoured my cookbooks for recipes that were healthy and delicious yet didn’t cost more than spaghetti ingredients. Through trial and error and a little research, I was able to make it work. Slowly and surely, I figured out how to bargain shop and still create pleasing meals for my family. As a result, we didn’t have to face three years of spaghetti, nor did we break the bank.

      Even now, with three kids, two pets, a mortgage and a job, I still enjoy managing the food budget to allow for fun extras. I take advantage of sales, bargains and quality discount stores. I love to challenge myself to come up with great meals that cost pennies. It’s fun, it makes the paychecks go further, and I love the compliments my family gives me during a delicious meal.

      Step By Step

      Anyone interested in saving money should really learn the art of smart shopping and budget meal planning. These recipes are some of the best around and use ingredients that are frequently on sale or are generally some of the least expensive at regular price.

      For those of you who have never thought about trimming your grocery budget, the steps are set up in a simple, straightforward way. You can try a few to see how you and your family like them, and then try a few more. Quite soon, you’ll be noticing some significant savings and the quality of your meals will increase. If you are an experienced budget shopper, there are plenty of things here for you to try that you’ve maybe never considered before. Instead of dining for months on spaghetti, try some of these tried-and-true methods to save more money on groceries.

      Your new part-time job is to learn and apply the techniques in this book and mix them with a bit of your own common sense. Take the opportunity to make a change and then decide just how you’re going to spend all the money you save. Join me in preparing low-cost meals and saving a few dollars. See what it feels like to find great recipes that your family asks for again and again. Experience the thrill of really seeing an impact in your budget. I know you can do it, so let’s get started.

      Chapter 1: Before You Shop

      A workable food budget begins not with a skillet or a slow cooker, but with a sheet of paper and a pencil. When you can see numbers in black and white of how much you are actually spending on food, it may shock you. However, it is possible to lower the amount you spend on food without resorting to drastic measures, such as serving boxed macaroni and cheese five days a week. With strategic planning and flawless execution, you can still get good food for less than you’re spending now.

      Have a Plan

      The truth is, the best way to blow your food budget is to go into it without a plan. I know we’ve all been there, staring into the freezer at the frozen chicken and glancing back into the nearly empty cupboard. After a few minutes, you sigh and dig out the take-out Chinese food menu. This scene can be avoided with about an hour or two of your time each week, by planning meals for each night and shopping accordingly.

      Any book, article or Web site dealing with smart shopping will tell you that the worst thing you can do when going grocery shopping is to show up without a list. They also advise you to never, ever deviate from that list. What those well-meaning writers fail to tell you is how to come up with that list. In this section, we’ll take it step by step, and soon you’ll have all the information you need to begin.

      Creating a shopping list is a mixture of detective work, creative cooking and puzzle-solving, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll notice big savings on your grocery bill. You’ll also notice that you’re spending less on unhealthy, expensive fast food.

      There are five important steps for creating a grocery-shopping list, and it doesn’t include quickly writing down some jumbled notes in the parking lot just before entering the store. It doesn’t mean rushing into the store just before dinner and throwing things into the cart. Rather, it is an intricate guide to that week’s food specials combined with great recipes that complement each other. Finally, you must take into account

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