A Recession Proof Food Budget

By Jackson Brown

We have all heard that the recession is technically over. Well, employers are still not hiring and you may have been lucky enough to keep your job, but with a reduction in salary (or no salary increase in the last couple of years) you need to watch your food budget. How can you do this?

You can do it the old fashion way and take a look into your pantry and refrigerator and jot down and make a list of what food you already have. Then, pull out your dusty cookbooks and take a look at what you can make with what you have. Write down the ingredients you need to buy and head off to the grocery store with your shopping list. That's not a bad method at all, but very time consuming. Why not use technology to make your life easier.

With all the different recipe websites now on the internet that will help you find awesome recipes, you shouldl use them. Here's how: Perform a google search on "recipes by ingredients" and google will return a list of recipe websites that you can select from.

Simply, type in the ingredients or groceries you already have at home (some of these recipe websites actually store your ingredients in an ePantry so you don't have to keep adding the different groceries you have to the website each time) into the website and search for what recipes you can make with those ingredients.

I try to do this each Sunday for the entire week because I have the most time on Sundays to grocery shop. I grocery shop early in the morning because the grocery store is not crowded and it's most efficient. I add in all the ingredients I already have at home and then select 5 recipes for the week. The website I use will allow me to print out a list of groceries that I need and I take this list to the store.

I usually spend around $50 for the both of us (my wife and I) for the week (Monday through Friday). We take our lunch every day to work (this is very important!!!). This means we spend around $200 per month and this saves us probably around $100 each month or $1,200 per year in savings. These sites are free, so give them a shot! - 29857

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