Hi everyone!
Welcome to the maiden voyage article of Thrifty Thursdays, part of the Weekly Wisdom division of this blog. I’ll be submitting one post each Thursday to help us become lean, mean, thrifty gleaning machines!
What is Food Money?
How much money do you think you spend on impulse food buys in a month? Take a guess, write it down. Now, go figure it out from your bank statement. I’d bet dollars to donuts the actual figure is higher.
The purpose of the Food Money series within Thrifty Thursdays is to help us find ways to eat delicious, mostly healthy foods for less. The cost of food can get really expensive, really fast. Having the ability to buy food and create meals for less is a huge asset in keeping your expenses as low as possible. That’s my intent with Food Money – to provide a resource for readers and myself to use to keep our Food Money low.
Why Should I Care About Food Money?
The average american spends over $600 per month on food alone. Using Food Money, you can cut those costs considerably, enabling you to put those savings somewhere more lucrative than your stomach. Of course, you deserve to eat your fill, enjoy the taste of what you eat and to eat healthily. That is all still possible when you pay attention to your Food Money!
How to Save with a Crock Pot
Today, we’re talking about crock pot meals, and how you can make delicious slow-roasted dinners on a budget. My wife happily stumbled across 5 Dollar Dinners whilst mindlessly thumbing through the endless pages of Pinterest a few weeks back. We tried this gluten free meal plan and it has been an outstanding value, and the recipes are good, too! We’re about half way through the meals currently, and they have been great so far.
When my family eats with our Food Money in mind, we typically spend around $400 per month for a family of three. If we don’t pay attention to our Food Money, we can easily spend anywhere from $800 to $1,00 per month in food alone. That’s insanity! That savings alone could pay for my retirement if I kept on top of Food Money all of the time.
Look, the point of Food Money isn’t to get you to eat Ramen noodles, rice and beans for life – even if rice and beans are delicious. You deserve to be satisfied with the foods you eat, and you can! The point is to get you to think about where your Food Money goes and decide if it can be better spent. For us, getting a tasty, healthy dinner for $1.87 per person is astronomically better than grabbing a $15-20 pizza because we didn’t plan ahead.
I’m recommending 5 Dollar Dinners because I’ve tried their meal plans and they work great for my family. If you know of any other good cheap crock pot meals, don’t be stingy! Share them in the comments.
– Sam
Manage Your Means 