Did you know that Americans spend roughly 12% of their income on food?

According to Gary Foreman, who writes a blog called Financially Fit, a “great place to reduce our spending is in feeding ourselves” because you “buy food every day, and you can make small changes that won’t seriously affect your lifestyle”. Our website has been emphasizing this concept since our inception through our meal plans, coupons and recipes that encourage home cooking, but it’s nice to know that these kind of changes CAN make a big difference in your bottom line.

Mr. Foreman has two pieces of advice for those looking to save money on family meals. His first is to USE YOUR FREEZER. It seems like a “no-brainer” but his point is that if you cook multiple batches of meals (and freeze half) when you DO cook (i.e. a double batch of spaghetti and meatballs), it doesn’t take that much more effort. And in the end, you’ll have a simple and easy meal on another night that will keep you from busting your budget by ordering out.

Mr. Foreman’s other piece of advice regarding food also utilizes the freezer. He claims that each time you cook a meal, you should PACKAGE YOUR LEFTOVERS IN MEAL-READY SERVINGS on paper plates covered with zip-lock bags. Because we’re “eco” as well as “thrifty”, we’d suggest a freezable, microwavable plate and a gallon-sized zip-lock bag that could be reused, if rinsed. This gives you individual frozen dinners for when members of your family straggle in at different times from all their events. This is an idea that truly rubs nickels and should help keep you and your family members out of the drive-thru or take-out line.

Let’s hope these strategies can get your 12% down to 10%…

Darcy Ratner and Julie Arnheim
Founders, Rubbingnickels.com

Reference: G. Foreman, “Financially Fit”, a Yahoo Finance Blog, May 13, 2010.

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