8 Small Ways To Save Big On Food Expenses

It's pretty gloomy these days with unremitting news about people losing jobs, homes and the decline of our country's economic prosperity. For me personally, the threat of unemployment and its consequences added an extra jolt to my awakened sense of what's important in life and what is not worth losing. With the same humble regard, the gloom makes me contemplate the things I'm ok with losing, and even makes me rethink whether these items and lifestyles are worth the additional money and energy to sustain during any market condition, really. If being frugal and modest means added security and a heightened sense and focus for what's really important, then why ever deviate from that?

Here are eight easy actions that can save hard earned money and reduce frivolous spending on food items. Consequently, these minor changes will also reduce our individual impact on the environment's well being. I mean the truth is, without clean air to breathe or clean water, there will be no use for that organic cotton polka dot bikini anyway.

1. Make your daily caffeine fix at home, and carry it with you
   I calculated personally saving about $650 per year by making this simple switch. I'll spend $10 on one pound bag of organic coffee which makes about 30 servings (12 oz. each). The costly alternative is to spend $2 for one serving of organic coffee (approx. 12 oz.) from my local coffee shop. I also decrease my carbon footprint by eliminating the extra waste generated from buying to-go coffee in a paper cup.


2. Grow your own tomatoes and herbs during the warm months
   Tomatoes can cost anywhere from $2 to $4 per pound in my local organic market, and herbs cost between $2 and $4 a bunch. Tomato and herb seeds cost pennies and they are easy to plant. All you need is some soil, a pot and great sun. I alone eat at least three tomatoes and cook with fresh herbs weekly, so it really makes sense to spend the upfront cost, around $10, to buy seeds and soil to pot my tomatoes and herbs. The delicious food these bear are then free of charge for weeks to come. Environmentally speaking, the closer our food is raised to the table, the less oil used to get it in to our mouths. So grow as many types of food your green thumb can handle.


3. Use that lunch box
   Remember that colorful lunchbox we proudly carried to school everyday? Stop ordering food delivery and takeout, make meals at home and carry them around within a lunch box, not a brown bag which will create more landfill waste.
   
   I used the Feed The Pig calculator to estimate how much I can save by bringing lunch versus buying it— whopping $100 per month, or $1,200 per year. Besides saving a lot of money, I'll also eliminate throwing away all that superfluous packaging that takeout food usually warrants.


4. Bike ride or carpool to your food market
   Save money and reduce our dependence on oil by biking or carpooling to and from the store, and don't forget the tote bags to abstain from using a stores paper or plastic ones. If going to the store to purchase a large quantity of items, walk or bike there and then ask a friend or family member to pick you up when done shopping. This is also a great way to get a daily dose of cardio exercise.
   
   The Rideshare calculator helps figure out how much a person could save yearly by simply biking or carpooling places. This calculator is setup to estimate cost savings for carpooling to work, so to make it relevant to grocery shopping just substitute "shopping" where they've used the word "work."


5. Stop buying water bottles and start using a canteen
   Water is a free resource, tap water is regulated by the EPA, and the National Resource Defense Council reports that approximately 25 percent of bottled water is really just tap water in a bottle. So why spend $1.50 for a bottle of water that we can easily drink for free? At this rate, purchasing one bottle of water each day can cost around $547 a year.
   
   Back To The Tap Filtered Water Bottles are an option if someone doesn't have a water filter accessible—these bottles are reusable and are actually built with a carbon composite filtering mechanism inside the bottle, so we don’t have to worry about the safety of our municipal tap water.


6. Buy from your grocery's bulk bins
   Did you know that every time we buy that 10 minute quick-cook rice or barley, we're not only paying for the food but we're also paying for its pretty packaging and the process that it went through to get from the farm in to that tiny little package and to our grocery store? The USDA estimates that packaging alone contributes at least 8 percent to the retail cost of food. Food Logistics reports that bulk foods, including organic and natural varieties, are priced lower than their packaged counterparts, often as much as 50 percent. So start saving some cash and eliminating the need for wasted packaging by buying foods like barley, rice, pastas, oats and nuts in bulk.


7. Make your own packaged food like breadcrumbs, soymilk and peanut butter
   A package of breadcrumbs can cost anywhere from $3 to more than $20. Save those dollars and start making these crusty crumbs at home from left over bread slices, namely those end pieces that no one likes to eat. Simply freeze these pieces until there are enough slices to make the serving of breadcrumbs needed.
   
   Check out these DIY cost-saving recipes:
   
   
   • Breadcrumbs
   • Soy Milk
   • Peanut Butter


8. Eat one vegetarian or lacto-ovo meal a day
   Save money by cutting out the expensive meat and fish portions of a meal, and replace costly animal protein with leaner, cheaper protein-rich plants or legumes. There are many sources of vegetarian protein, but most are not complete protein sources. If complete protein isn't part of the recipe, combine incomplete sources like legumes and grains to get the sufficient amount.
   
   Here is a list of vegetarian and lacto-ovo recipes providing complete protein:
   
   
   • Emeril's Toasted Quinoa
   • Hemp Seed and Brown Rice Salad
   • Buckwheat Pancakes
   • Egg Salad and Watercress Sandwich
   • Legumes + grains—Emeril's Green Lentils and Basmati Rice

Eating a meatless diet also reduces our carbon footprint tremendously due to the earth-tolling process involved in raising, slaughtering, transporting and packaging animals for human consumption. It’s also worth mentioning, according to The American Prospect's Ben Adler, the international livestock sector produces 18 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions.

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