Methods to cut food costs

[Hydrogen]

Coupons and promo codes



Image link:  https://i.ibb.co/NpcLm8f/promo-code.jpg

There are many websites on the internet offering promo codes and coupons for items in stores.


Student Discount



Image link:  https://i.ibb.co/CMNcQZn/student-id-discount.jpg

Students can receive many discounts by showing their student ID.


Amazon

Amazon has good deals on food items with free shipping.


Food Delivery

Walmart, target and other large retailers offering food delivery services were offering big sales for delivery only. Not certain whether the trend will continue into the future but it was nice while it lasted.

edit:


Learning to hunt and fish

Give a man a fish, and you might feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you could feed him for a lifetime.

While it seems that hobbies like hunting and fishing are on a decline. Perhaps current era food prices are exactly what they need to make a return?


Foraging in the wild

There are places in the wild where fruits and vegetables grow naturally. Some are located close to official hiking trails and natural landmarks like waterfalls.


Working part time in the food industry

The food industry is known for sometimes giving away free food and cost benefits. Bakeries and restaurants and known for throwing food away. Which employees sometimes are allowed to have.

....


What are other good methods of cutting costs on food items?

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[Hispo]

I would like to point out that these methods are exclusive to countries where those services are available. It is usual that, for example, some franchises offers those discounts in United States but does not in Latin America. The same happens with food coupons.

My methods on saving money on food are mostly based on buying cheaper food and prepare one's meals oneself.
Sardines and beans are cheaper than beef and chicken.

[MoonOfLife]

I would like to point out that these methods are exclusive to countries where those services are available. It is usual that, for example, some franchises offers those discounts in United States but does not in Latin America. The same happens with food coupons.

My methods on saving money on food are mostly based on buying cheaper food and prepare one's meals oneself.
Sardines and beans are cheaper than beef and chicken.

But with today's development, e-commerce sites, as well as online stores, have covered all countries. I live in a 3rd world country and discount sales like this are held daily to stimulate people's shopping needs. I am also using this method to save quite a bit of money but it will take a bit of time because you have to find those discount codes.

[Cuenta Alternativa]

As I said in the thread on investing in the food related industry, I think the best thing to do is to try to earn more.

If I have to cut back on something I prefer not to cut back on food, and by earning more I don't have to cut back.

But since this thread is about cutting back, I will say that the best way to cut back is to prepare your own food and not take advantage of McDonald's and BK coupons as some of the options in the OP reflect. You buy healthy food, and cook from scratch. You always have cheaper options, as Hispo says. If you have to cut back, you're not going to buy prawns and lamb. You'd better buy eggs, chicken and pork. Seasonal fruits and vegetables, etc. And don't eat out or order food from home.

[Bialke]

I come from the sports and entertainment business. And I had a little bit to do with living cheap on the road/tour.

There are macros in nutrition, and the important one is protein. So there is a protein/human protein-ration (biological value) and proteinor biological value/Euro-ratio. Biological value means that a certain amount of consumed protein is changed to a certain amount of protein in your biological system. Eggs are the benchmark of 100. And often to eat two different proteins with different biological values is better as to eat just one high value protein.

But this is not the biggest deal. The biggest deal ist the protein or biological value/Euro-ratio. In 2019 there was a 1g protein/0.8-1.2 Cent (Euro)-ratio the normal thing. So nearly every food in a supermarket had that range of ratio. But there were some special things. F.E. chicken hearts has a ratio of 1g protein/~0.2 Cent (Euro). So my tipp: Eat chicken hearts!

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And the best free protein source is roadkill.

It is easy: What everybody does not like to eat, buy it/eat it!

[xSkylarx]

Coupons and promo codes



Image link:  https://i.ibb.co/NpcLm8f/promo-code.jpg

There are many websites on the internet offering promo codes and coupons for items in stores.

I've noticed most of this coupons are only in US or UK as they putting coupons in news papers, magazines,in products as well as in social media but the problem is that they dont usually use it only those in need but here in our country we rarely have one of it since people going to abuse it mostly those no minimum to spend as other people are so greedy on saving money. I remember before that there are coupons given only to new user but still getting abuse by those not a new user by making a lot of accounts and changing identity. Yes we can save from it but it is rarely happening in our country

[browsiek]

Tips for saving food expenses
1. Buy raw materials as needed
2. Cooking yourself, because if you buy outside it will be more expensive
3. Collect coupons or vouchers
4. Find a food shop that is low

Besides having to choose the needs that must be purchased, you can also look for large discounts and promo prices. In my country discounts or promos are held only when there is a big event and weekend while weekday prices return to normal, therefore you should buy food ingredients for weekly to be more efficient. Whether it's happening in my country or in your country too?

[Despairo]

You need to know if those big brand restaurants are charge premium prices and those discounts has few requirements in order to use it. Let's say a big mac cost for $5 and you only want to buy 2 because you can't eat too much, but the 10% discount can be used if you buy in McDonald for minimum of $20. So you're actually spend $8 more when you're only need to spend $10 at the beginning, it's actually make you to spend more money.

While if you buy a burger from street foods, it only cost you for $3 which mean cheaper without any discount.

The best way to cut food costs is grow your own gardens or buy a raw materials, then cook it yourself.

[Bialke]

There is a legal hack of the most of the create-a-burger-terminal-software. You can create a burger with various petties and substract the pettys again. So in the end you get the burgers (with no meat) for a few cents. I do not remember exactly. But it is worth to experiment with that.

McDonalds Monopoly is also a good thing to go with it: Most people do not use the stickers - and often you can collect them on the cups/burger packages and get free burgers.

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In some countrys it is legal, in some it is not:

You can use the old 4-is-5-trick. It meant that you cut 1/5 (80 percent) of a note from the note. In most countrys you can change a note with more of 70 percent to a full note. So you do it with 4 100-notes and you have 4x20 percent extra = 1 extra 100-note.

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You can buy food (with others) one the wholesale market.

[Fiatless]

Thanks for sharing because this could be helpful to many people, especially me. Although we have these companies in my home country they don't offer such a discount that would be activated with a code. And I have never seen such a special discount sale for specific groups like students. They usually advertise for discount sales or promos.

These discount sales can indeed help citizens to save money but sometimes these products might be close to their expiration date which might not be ideal for a person that wants to buy in bulk and store them for future use.

[BRINIRHA]

I am also a person who often collects discount coupons. but I shop more at the Supermarket by shopping at a certain time period. because if we shop at the supermarket quite often, actually every month and on certain dates there are always special discounts. But of course with a limited supply of goods. so we have to compete with other buyers speed. like every Sunday in my area there is a Supermarket that provides a special bonus buy 1 get 1 free. I also recently bought 2 liter cooking oil and got a free cooking oil bonus with the same brand and size. but that only applies to the first 20 buyers. every week there are always discounts and bonuses like that with different types and products every week.

Another way I do to cut food costs is to plant some types of plants that can live in front of my yard. I have plants like chilies, green onions, spinach, and many more types of vegetables. so that some of the ingredients for cooking are already available in front of the home page without having to buy it. because by chance my yard is quite wide

[LoyceV]

Coupons and promo codes

Am I the only one who hates those? We've had "bonus cards" for years, and once in a while coupons to use or stickers to collect. Now more and more supermarkets are switching to apps to give you discounts spy on you and give you notifications. I really hate the fact that they overprice items, unless you join their marketing scheme that's designed to tie you to their shop.

[Fortify]

What are other good methods of cutting costs on food items?

Maybe it's too obvious, but learning how to cook from basic ingredients and herbs/spices will save you a heck of a lot of money over buying prepared meals. Not to mention it is better for the environment (less plastic packaging) and can be done in bulk to get several meals for the future. It's a very useful skill to have and might even get you a job as a cook if you found it more interesting. Most people go for the ready meal type food, which can be packed with a lot of preservatives and unnecessary chemicals to extend the life of the food, which might not be so good for your health. The only slight downside is it takes a little longer to prepare, but like anything you practice, it gets faster and faster - plus the food can often come out much tastier.

[Jawhead999]

Am I the only one who hates those? We've had "bonus cards" for years, and once in a while coupons to use or stickers to collect. Now more and more supermarkets are switching to apps to give you discounts spy on you and give you notifications. I really hate the fact that they overprice items, unless you join their marketing scheme that's designed to tie you to their shop.

I also hate too, so far I never install or join a membership of the supermarket even though the cashier always offer it, but I don't care with it. The cashback is really so low and doesn't worth it, it's like I need to spend for $1000 in order to earn $5. I only interested with a coupons card, but usually I lose it because I forget where I keep it lol. However some stores do give a direct discount, but most of them because the stuff is near to expired date or the package get damaged.

[LoyceV]

I also hate too, so far I never install or join a membership of the supermarket even though the cashier always offer it, but I don't care with it. The cashback is really so low and doesn't worth it, it's like I need to spend for $1000 in order to earn $5.

I actually installed one recently, it got me a €5 discount on a €40 grocery bill. But I refuse to carry it with me, so I installed the app on my kid's tablet, and printed the QR-code. The weird thing is: it used to be only the most expensive shops doing this, now the cheaper ones joined too. And don't get me started on home improvement shops.

[DrBeer]

I would like to point out that these methods are exclusive to countries where those services are available. It is usual that, for example, some franchises offers those discounts in United States but does not in Latin America. The same happens with food coupons.

My methods on saving money on food are mostly based on buying cheaper food and prepare one's meals oneself.
Sardines and beans are cheaper than beef and chicken.

believe me - this way is much better than eating incomprehensible things, such as quick-cooked vermicelli, and a lot of carbohydrates with palm oil ... Sardines, beans, vegetables - quite a quality diet, with limited options.

And that chicken and its derivatives are really expensive in your country? I have always believed that chicken / eggs are everywhere very affordable, inexpensive and, in general, a quality product. At the same time, they can sufficiently diversify your diet - from this you can cook quite a lot of dishes, albeit not intricate, but varied and of quite high quality.

[Jating]

We don't have that kind of coupons here, so this is a big no-no for us. And i think the best is to just buy raw, everything and cook it by yourself. Or unless you have some farm, organic vegetables that you can just get and cook.

Of course sardines and bread could be cheaper though, but there could be more alternatives. Maybe you can buy poultry from time to time. You can't just eat the same food over and over again. And those sardines might not be good for our health in the long run. It should be balance though, vegetables, we need that and maybe just small portion of chicken and beef.

[TheUltraElite]

Growing your own food is an option but may not be available to everyone on this forum. It is costly as well but can be a long term source of food and income if done correctly. It will cut down the cost of buying the same from the market, however if you are not a professional in agriculture you might not produce good quality veggies like those available in the market, but it will suffice the needs of the family.

Those of us living in cities do not have this option and for them coupons and cashbacks are good but something that is not always available. The companies running such stores would not go into a loss when making a sale everyday would they? You would have to hunt down the nearest supermarket giving the max discount but even then the gross amounts would be similar.

In short, if you want quality food, you have to pay.

[hugeblack]

I don't remember ever buying Online food before.
Most of the food comes to us from abroad, but there are many supermarkets and shops and food is rarely sold like that.
Therefore, there are no coupons for food.
The only way to save is to buy in large quantities from suppliers, but I don't remember once that we suffered from supply chains.

So your methods won't work for everyone.

[jrrsparkles]

Coupons and promo codes

Am I the only one who hates those? We've had "bonus cards" for years, and once in a while coupons to use or stickers to collect. Now more and more supermarkets are switching to apps to give you discounts spy on you and give you notifications. I really hate the fact that they overprice items, unless you join their marketing scheme that's designed to tie you to their shop.

Those big supermarkets also killing the small businesses which is a great threat to the upcoming economical ecosystem cause we all know what monopoly can lead to us when it reaches certain state. I do remember 30 to 40% offers on food delivery apps a few years back which made people not to visit the restuarants but now they also offer coupons but the prices are higher than actual price of restuarant menu and also adds lot of hidden charges to steal from our pockets.

I am now against those kind of bonus because these sre done with the intention of doing something big later which will certainly affect us.

[franky1]

you lot do realise that retailers raise the prices. and then do silly "discount" schemes where only certain populations get the regular price (higher price - discount=old regular price) as the mechanism to get people to not complain about new prices and get used to new prices by having this "saviour" discount period

i could (dont have to) but could save alot of money by avoiding processed final product/ready meal style groceries. and instead cook from scratch and batch up meals in the freezer

back in my early bitcoin days where i was saving fiat to buy coin. i stopped what i would call "toilet flush" money wasting. you know the wsted money that just results in a bowel movement and toilet flush the next day
this wa no longer buying fast food but cooking it from scratch

in the UK 6piece drumstick/thigh KFC was £10 yet i can get 10 plain drumsticks/thighs for £4
KFC= £1.66 per drumstick/thigh
plain=£0.40p  per drumstick/thigh
seasoned flour/breadcrumb chicken=£0.50 per drumstick/thigh

300% discount.. not just 10%

[crzy]

Cutting the cost of food can be done by reducing its volume just to remain its price and still be affordable to many. Giving out coupon and discounts can also be a good one but I think it will just a temporary solution and offers.

You also have to analyze the reason on cutting the cost of food if its good to economic and good for everyone, this is not an easy decision to make especially to some businesses they have to do their budgeting as well.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

What are other good methods of cutting costs on food items?

Learning to cook for myself has helped me save money on food. Constantly buying food from restaurants and some eateries, paying delivery fees, and paying taxes all contribute to the cost of food, but when an individual learns how to cook for themselves, you just have to go to the market once and get some food items that can serve you for some period of time, then you can just be in your house and prepare whatever you want to eat. I cook for myself because I know how, and if I don't finish what I'm cooking, I refrigerate it for another day.

Hunting and fishing are under the control of some agency in most regions; you don't have the right to hunt unless it's during a hunting period, where individuals are generally allowed to do so. However, those with enough land can cultivate some vegetables and forages, which will save them money on food because they may not need to buy vegetables from the market because they can simply eat them from their garden. Depending on the country and environmental regulation in such an area, an individual with enough land space can have a poultry farm and may not need to buy chicken and egg 😉.

[lionheart78]

There is some advice given by this sites[1][2] on how to cut food costs and they are as follow:

Have meals in mind before you shop

Meal planning means having a strategy in place for what you eat. Taking the time to plan what you’ll have for breakfast, lunch, or dinner can help you avoid expensive and unhealthy meal purchases and will likely save you time. Some people plan meals a month in advance. Others do a week or a couple of days in advance. Adopt whatever time frame works best for you. To start your meal planning, you could:

• Search for delicious and easy-to-make recipes by browsing blogs and cooking websites.
• Save recipes by jotting them down, bookmarking pages online, or printing them.
• Keep a journal of recipes you enjoyed cooking (and eating!) as a way to remember your favorites.
• Create a calendar for what you’d like to cook over the next few days, week, or month.

Make an inventory check

Before you head to the grocery store, look inside your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. Write a list of the ingredients you already have on hand. By regularly taking inventory and keeping track of what you have, you’ll likely make a better plan for your meals.

Be on the lookout for sales

Most grocery stores will publish a weekly flyer that highlights new food items and sales each week. They may offer coupons for additional discounts too. Some stores also have clubs with rewards for frequent shoppers. Signing up for email updates from your local grocers or download their apps can help you stay up-to-date on the latest deals.

Consider bulk food purchases

Buying items in bulk could save you money in the long run. Warehouse stores are everywhere these days, so it’s easy to stock up for less. When you buy in bulk the idea is to minimize your cost per unit. Just be prepared as you will likely spend more money upfront. Look to purchase items with a long shelf life. Canned goods, butter, dried pasta and beans, and household essentials like toothpaste, trash bags, laundry detergent, and batteries are good choices. It’s also a good idea to keep your storage space in mind when you buy in bulk to help make sure you can store whatever you purchase.

Make food from scratch

Swapping store-bought for homemade is a great way to potentially cut down on costs. If you have flour, water, and yeast, you could bake your bread in an oven, for example. Try exploring to find easy recipes for your pantry staples. You may be surprised by how simple it can be to make items like yogurt, oatmeal, pasta, and more.

Eat leftovers at least once a week

A good way to potentially save both time and money is to plan with at least one night of leftovers per week. If you don’t like eating leftovers, try using them to make a new meal. If you have leftover vegetables, for example, you can easily toss them in an omelet and have breakfast for dinner one night.

Limit Eating Out

It's probably obvious, but takeout, that delicious ramen place, and even quick "cheap" burgers add up quickly. That's why hitting up your go-to restaurant less often is one of the most effective ways to lower your food budget. Of course this doesn't mean to stop eating out entirely. Restaurants are cultural, they're social—they're not the enemy. But, when it comes to your budget, they can turn into a bit of a black hole.

So how often should you eat out? It’s up to you. The key is moderation and balance. If you can’t stomach the idea of eating out less, know that you’ll have to cut your budget in other categories. Just remember that eating out truly is one of the largest chunks of your food budget, so think critically and carefully about how much you’re currently spending at restaurants and how much you want to be spending.

[1] https://www.midlandnational.com/learn-and-plan/budget-friendly-ways-to-cut-food-costs
[2] https://banzai.org/wellness/resources/reducing-your-food-bill

[franky1]

order of priority(top is best advice)

Limit Eating Out

Make food from scratch

Make an inventory check

Consider bulk food purchases

Be on the lookout for sales

Eat leftovers at least once a week

eating out usually costs 3-5x more then cooking from scratch

bulk purchase and looking for sales. dont work well, because most sales are of items near their use by date. and if buying in bulk you are buying more then you may need before use by date
only find the reduced stuff for small meals you are likely to eat same day/next day
only find the bulk deals on the regular items you consume the most often

also its counter intuitive to make an inventory to limit buying more then you need then say buy in bulk/stockpile
short answer is buy in bulk only items you use alot and only if they are in good discount by buying more then one

eating left overs means you didnt portion control the preparation very well

[Vaskiy]

Being self reliant to grow vegetables is the best to cut the food cost. Almost every vegetable and fruits required can be grown in home. These days we've got more and more ways available to grow. Something like rooftop garden and different other concepts. Maybe it'll cost initially to set it up, then onwards based on our choice we can grow the required vegetables to meet our daily needs. It cuts the food cost as well as helps in consuming good food as most of the vegetables are grown only with pesticides.

[arallmuus]

bulk purchase and looking for sales. dont work well, because most sales are of items near their use by date. and if buying in bulk you are buying more then you may need before use by date

Aside from that, some people might not even have the storage / fridge large enough to store all these foods or ingredients that was purchased in bulks though so this wont work well unless you have your own space

eating left overs means you didnt portion control the preparation very well

I find it way cheaper to eat the left over though but to be frank about this, it doesnt really matter if you didnt portion it well as long as you are going to eat it and not throw it away. Im totally cool with cooking / buying food that is way larger portion of what you usually need then store it away in fridge afterward

[Hispo]

-snip-

And that chicken and its derivatives are really expensive in your country? I have always believed that chicken / eggs are everywhere very affordable, inexpensive and, in general, a quality product. At the same time, they can sufficiently diversify your diet - from this you can cook quite a lot of dishes, albeit not intricate, but varied and of quite high quality.

Here in Venezuela, during the worst times of inflation, chicken was not affordable to most of the people, it I was quite expensive so was eggs (they are still are a bit). Most of the people had to switch to full vegetables or sardines and cassava.

Beef and pork were actual luxuries, so were many other things, not long ago I still had people begging for food around here, both adults and children, knocking on my front door.

[xSkylarx]

Being self reliant to grow vegetables is the best to cut the food cost. Almost every vegetable and fruits required can be grown in home. These days we've got more and more ways available to grow. Something like rooftop garden and different other concepts. Maybe it'll cost initially to set it up, then onwards based on our choice we can grow the required vegetables to meet our daily needs. It cuts the food cost as well as helps in consuming good food as most of the vegetables are grown only with pesticides.

Lucky on us that we have still free area in backyard that you cam garden for vegetables. It really saves you a lot and its free and you are sure that it is fresh and doesn't have insecticide sprayed on it as most we buy have one and its dangerous. To those who dont have space it is nice to do vertical farming as you can still grow vegetables on it . You can save on this than buying it

[ethereumhunter]

bulk purchase and looking for sales. dont work well, because most sales are of items near their use by date. and if buying in bulk you are buying more then you may need before use by date

Aside from that, some people might not even have the storage / fridge large enough to store all these foods or ingredients that was purchased in bulks though so this wont work well unless you have your own space

For people who don't have storage space, they won't buy in large quantities but maybe they will look for a bigger discount so they can save money for other needs. And big stores know what their customers want and welcome that customer with a discount.

People today are really lucky because they can get almost anything they want and can use discount coupons to buy things they need.

[dansus021]

I'm not living in the US but you have good point. I should merit you but Im out of it.

I have read a book but I don't remember the name and it says "Promo is always existed" My point is that we can actually live well and enjoy life from the discount like you have been shared. and this not just happened with food it can be clothes and anything and if you guys want a discount just give a little research and you will find one. Keep searching and good luck. but personal tip don't fall to deep to promo when you still can afford

[blockman]

There's a community and little grocery store that just opened up close to my home. I'm happy when I shopped there as it's truly near to my house as if it's a safe haven.
For the longest time when I do shop for my groceries, it's the first time that I've looked for coupons and appreciated those free small sachet of shampoos, food power and even a stamp for another free giveaway whenever I fulfill the card that's given to me. With times that are too high in inflation, anything that gives out the promo and is beneficial for an individual like me, I'm taking it.

[lionheart78]

bulk purchase and looking for sales. dont work well, because most sales are of items near their use by date. and if buying in bulk you are buying more then you may need before use by date

Yeah I have seen lots of discounted food sales in malls and marketplace but the expiry date is almost up.  But did you know that food can be consumed more days than its usual expiry date?  It is set as standard by the manufacturer but actually doesn't mean that the food is not consumable after the expiry date.  This is one good article[1] about expired goods.

While bulk purchase is advised since merchants often give discounts on bulk or wholesale orders.

only find the reduced stuff for small meals you are likely to eat same day/next day
only find the bulk deals on the regular items you consume the most often

I agree, since buying things in bulk that you never use is just another way of wasting money. 

also its counter intuitive to make an inventory to limit buying more then you need then say buy in bulk/stockpile
short answer is buy in bulk only items you use alot and only if they are in good discount by buying more then one

Precisely, bulk buying in terms of cost-cutting means buying necessities at a discount.

eating left overs means you didnt portion control the preparation very well

True, that it is a mistake of calculation on food preparation but then eating leftovers fixed it


[1] https://www.bhg.com/news/expiration-dates/#:~:text=But%20as%20long%20as%20you,nutrition%20compromised%2C%22%20Petre%20says.

[SirLancelot]

Being self reliant to grow vegetables is the best to cut the food cost. Almost every vegetable and fruits required can be grown in home. These days we've got more and more ways available to grow. Something like rooftop garden and different other concepts. Maybe it'll cost initially to set it up, then onwards based on our choice we can grow the required vegetables to meet our daily needs. It cuts the food cost as well as helps in consuming good food as most of the vegetables are grown only with pesticides.

Lucky on us that we have still free area in backyard that you cam garden for vegetables. It really saves you a lot and its free and you are sure that it is fresh and doesn't have insecticide sprayed on it as most we buy have one and its dangerous. To those who dont have space it is nice to do vertical farming as you can still grow vegetables on it . You can save on this than buying it

You guys must be living outside the city because you have some extra spaces for planting but I think there are still people who are lazy and they don't plant at all despite of being blessed to have an area like that.

Planting crops is not free because you will still buy the seeds and some tools that you will be use to effectively grow them but indeed that you can save a lot of money later on because you can harvest your veggies and fruits in greater quantities. They are also fresh so they are more healthy and more delicious to eat than the ones that we see on the market. Other than to save, we can also make this as a business to be able to earn extra profits.

[panganib999]

Coupons and promo codes



Image link:  https://i.ibb.co/NpcLm8f/promo-code.jpg

There are many websites on the internet offering promo codes and coupons for items in stores.


Student Discount



Image link:  https://i.ibb.co/CMNcQZn/student-id-discount.jpg

Students can receive many discounts by showing their student ID.


Amazon

Amazon has good deals on food items with free shipping.


Food Delivery

Walmart, target and other large retailers offering food delivery services were offering big sales for delivery only. Not certain whether the trend will continue into the future but it was nice while it lasted.

edit:


Learning to hunt and fish

Give a man a fish, and you might feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you could feed him for a lifetime.

While it seems that hobbies like hunting and fishing are on a decline. Perhaps current era food prices are exactly what they need to make a return?


Foraging in the wild

There are places in the wild where fruits and vegetables grow naturally. Some are located close to official hiking trails and natural landmarks like waterfalls.


Working part time in the food industry

The food industry is known for sometimes giving away free food and cost benefits. Bakeries and restaurants and known for throwing food away. Which employees sometimes are allowed to have.

....


What are other good methods of cutting costs on food items?

As others have pointed out, these methods as you put them out to be only work on the country where they are issued and will not work elsewhere, considering the fact that there are also countries outside America (lmao), I think these methods aren't as useful really, but still a helpful tip nonetheless for those who live in the US.

Personally, I choose cooking my own meals, it is way cheaper, and more healthy. Cheaper in a sense that you can choose the weight and portions yourself and are therefore gonna help you with cost effectivity and all that stuff, but also since you are the one that's putting the ingredients together, you can dial down on some ingredients like sugar and salt, therefore making it healthier than ordering take out.

I suggest you look into this option because obviously, this works globally.

[dothebeats]

Those promo codes and coupons aren't available in my country, but I think most stores do have this loyalty rewards system that allows any of their customers to rack up points and avail of perks. For instance, one local grocery chain here offers 30% off of on one of your purchase should you hit the threshold that they require in a month. A lot of average income earners will not be able to hit the requirement, but at least it's there though the system could be better.

Then again, the rising prices on basic goods is really taking its toll on a lot of people's finances. Urban garden might help, but the output will be significantly less and isn't really worth it unless you do have a large space wherein you could grow produce and be self-sustainable on them.

[tiCeR]

you lot do realise that retailers raise the prices. and then do silly "discount" schemes where only certain populations get the regular price (higher price - discount=old regular price) as the mechanism to get people to not complain about new prices and get used to new prices by having this "saviour" discount period

i could (dont have to) but could save alot of money by avoiding processed final product/ready meal style groceries. and instead cook from scratch and batch up meals in the freezer

back in my early bitcoin days where i was saving fiat to buy coin. i stopped what i would call "toilet flush" money wasting. you know the wsted money that just results in a bowel movement and toilet flush the next day
this wa no longer buying fast food but cooking it from scratch

in the UK 6piece drumstick/thigh KFC was £10 yet i can get 10 plain drumsticks/thighs for £4
KFC= £1.66 per drumstick/thigh
plain=£0.40p  per drumstick/thigh
seasoned flour/breadcrumb chicken=£0.50 per drumstick/thigh

300% discount.. not just 10%

Liked reading this post as this is so true. Strategically make people getting used to increased prices is a very interesting concept and honestly, even though I know how they do it, I still fall for it myself. Or do I even have a choice? Probably not. There are certain things you have to buy and I am not talking about toilet paper. There are a couple of things that we just like and want. It is those items that we either cross off the list or pay the premium. No need to talk about whether it is smart to keep consuming, but as you just said you made a real cut back in the days.

[bettercrypto]

Here in our country, that kind of online discount will not work, especially for students. In short, it is not practical in my country.

   Maybe, that will be popular with those who love things like that that they can afford, For the poor people here it will never work because they can't afford it, besides that, most of them also have their money budgeted.

[CryptocurencyKing]

I would like to point out that these methods are exclusive to countries where those services are available. It is usual that, for example, some franchises offers those discounts in United States but does not in Latin America. The same happens with food coupons.

My methods on saving money on food are mostly based on buying cheaper food and prepare one's meals oneself.
Sardines and beans are cheaper than beef and chicken.

Certainly what I was looking out for and you got it down on the first comment.this tells how opportunities are spread out differently in some nations. I was looking out on that and I can say, I don't find any of those in my nation except for Amazon that could attempt a worldwide delivery but still, it takes those who have a stable income in status and the society to make those shopping. Those that the $10 - $20 discount won't matter to and so they don't go about looking up coupon codes.

About student ID and discount, I think I can recall when I was in high schools while going to the movies, we had that and I like to believe they still have such packages operational still.

When it comes to cutting cost in part of the world,
It's basically scale of preference and seeking out alternatives.

[Yatsan]

Best way is to purchase bulk but with moderation especially to avoid decay or wasting of food. But bigger amount means bigger sicount especially if you would biy on local markets unlike with supermarkets wherein price would stay as is. Also, to avoid cooking that much or more than what would be taken for that instance because there is a high chance for it to turn into leftover. But I don't really like the idea of repressing oneself when it comes to food. I'd orefer making adjustments on other expenses especially leisures. We won't live that long so eat as much as you alwant as long as your health won't be in danger.

[Hispo]

-snip-

Certainly what I was looking out for and you got it down on the first comment.this tells how opportunities are spread out differently in some nations. I was looking out on that and I can say, I don't find any of those in my nation except for Amazon that could attempt a worldwide delivery but still, it takes those who have a stable income in status and the society to make those shopping. Those that the $10 - $20 discount won't matter to and so they don't go about looking up coupon codes.

About student ID and discount, I think I can recall when I was in high schools while going to the movies, we had that and I like to believe they still have such packages operational still.

When it comes to cutting cost in part of the world,
It's basically scale of preference and seeking out alternatives.

It is a bit ironic, actually.
It seems that those offers and options for people to save money on food are mostly available in countries like the United States, France, Germany, ect. Where food production and access to it should not be a problem. On the other hand, in countries where there is crisis and high inflation, because food is more expensive and scarce, no business or grocery store would be willing to offer their products at discount, regardless one is a student and coupons are nonexistent. 

We can only opt for cheaper food and decrease portions.

[Haunebu]

Subscriptions all the freaking way. I usually purchase value for money subscriptions from apps that I frequently order from which ends up cutting taxes, delivery fees etc and ultimately helps cut food costs.

They help save a lot of money in the long-term as long as you regularly order from those apps.

[coupable]

There are many ideas that can help reduce nutrition expenses, especially in big cities where fast food is expensive and lacks the necessary ingredients as a complete healthy meal:
- Get used to cooking at home, because this is much less expensive than street food.
- To cook the exact quantity needed for consumption and not more than it to avoid spoiling part of the food after its taste spoils.
- If you consume a product in large quantities, it is better to buy a large quantity of it at the wholesale price to win the difference compared to the retail price.
- Maintaining a balanced diet to avoid excess weight, as it makes consumption greater.
- If you live with a group, one of the best solutions is to share the expenses.

I lived a long period of my life in a countryside far from cities and did not have all the services available in urban cities. The opportunities offered by living in the countryside to reduce food costs are unlimited, since most food raw materials can be planted.

[o48o]

Learning how to cook really good and luxury food gets you far. You won't even want to eat outside when they can't offer half as decent food as you make.
It is cheap and If you get good enough you can make money with that skill.

It's also a really cool way to impress your date.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Methods in the Op are all good and very effective to cutting the cost of food, but unfortunately, many of those methods wont or can't work for everyone, depending on the type of area we individually live.

Taking myself as an example, back in the days when I was still in my village, I knew how to fish, farm and even hunt wild animals, cost of food was never a problem for us in the village.
But then, I grew up and moved to town, I lost opportunities to doing this things because I become more busy, and most importantly, the area where I live, there are no rivers, if any, it is very far away, there are no nearby lands to farm on, no forest in sight to hunt for wild animals, and I believe this is same for most people now living in town and cities outside their villages.

[molsewid]

Learning how to cook really good and luxury food gets you far. You won't even want to eat outside when they can't offer half as decent food as you make.
It is cheap and If you get good enough you can make money with that skill.

It's also a really cool way to impress your date.

Yes, it can help you to save so many bucks. I learned to cook when I started to left home and live with my own. Though at first it is really hard since cooking is not my thing and also it will require you time too much time which is the main reason why I end up buying foods again. But all in all, since the market is kinda  expensive these days sometimes buying food is good rather than cooking.

[Newlifebtc]

What attracted me to come into the sea or respond to this is because of the food price that have seen there but cause of food price is being determined by the country kind of governance so it is when the price of food will go up and when the price of food we go down if the leaders of that particular country have sympathy to the people who hold there are governing for The society

[ogamibr]

U really want spend less money with food?

Here some hints to u all


-Plan meals ahead: One of the most effective ways to reduce food costs is to plan your meals ahead of time. This can help you avoid impulse buying and reduce waste.

-Shop smart: Compare prices at different stores and look for deals and discounts. Buy in bulk for items that won't spoil quickly, such as rice or pasta.

-Cook at home: Eating out can be expensive, so try cooking at home as much as possible. This not only saves money, but also allows you to control the ingredients and portion sizes.

-Use leftovers: Don't let leftovers go to waste. Repurpose them into new dishes or freeze them for later use.

-Buy generic or store-brand products: Generic or store-brand products are often just as good as their branded counterparts, but cost less.

-Use coupons and loyalty programs: Take advantage of coupons and loyalty programs to save money on groceries.

-Avoid convenience foods: Convenience foods like pre-packaged meals and snacks can be convenient, but they're often more expensive than making the same thing from scratch.

-Avoid waste: Avoid food waste by storing food properly, using up perishable items before they spoil, and composting any food scraps.


And if you want to make some drastic changes I have two more tips for you.

-Grow your own produce: If you have space, consider starting a garden to grow your own produce. This can save you money and provide you with fresh, healthy food.

-Reduce meat consumption: Meat is typically more expensive than other protein sources, so try reducing your meat consumption and incorporating more plant-based proteins into your diet.

[fuer44]

I would like to point out that these methods are exclusive to countries where those services are available. It is usual that, for example, some franchises offers those discounts in United States but does not in Latin America. The same happens with food coupons.

My methods on saving money on food are mostly based on buying cheaper food and prepare one's meals oneself.
Sardines and beans are cheaper than beef and chicken.

True, not all countries will get a discount like that even for 1 full month. In fact, in just one country, different regions can have different prices and also discounts.

My method on saving money is that the most important thing is being able to buy rice first, because it's not usual to have breakfast with bread and consuming a lot of bread is also expensive. Then the side dishes are optional, if you already have rice, with just the fried tofu is delicious. All will depend on income and save as much as possible.

[beerlover]

I would like to point out that these methods are exclusive to countries where those services are available. It is usual that, for example, some franchises offers those discounts in United States but does not in Latin America. The same happens with food coupons.

My methods on saving money on food are mostly based on buying cheaper food and prepare one's meals oneself.
Sardines and beans are cheaper than beef and chicken.

True, not all countries will get a discount like that even for 1 full month. In fact, in just one country, different regions can have different prices and also discounts.

My method on saving money is that the most important thing is being able to buy rice first, because it's not usual to have breakfast with bread and consuming a lot of bread is also expensive. Then the side dishes are optional, if you already have rice, with just the fried tofu is delicious. All will depend on income and save as much as possible.

This is true in my nation, my parents live in a different city then I do, and they have different prices than I do. Since they live in a small local town, they have some food stuff that are cheaper, because there are farms and orchards and so forth around them, which makes the food cheaper because they don't really have to travel to anywhere to get it, or the food doesn't have to come to them, it is literally just a walking distance away.

However, some other stuff like internet, or electricity is higher. Because they far further away from any big city, which means the providers of that service needs to spend a good chunk to get it to them.

[xSkylarx]

Learning how to cook really good and luxury food gets you far. You won't even want to eat outside when they can't offer half as decent food as you make.
It is cheap and If you get good enough you can make money with that skill.

It's also a really cool way to impress your date.

Yes, it can help you to save so many bucks. I learned to cook when I started to left home and live with my own. Though at first it is really hard since cooking is not my thing and also it will require you time too much time which is the main reason why I end up buying foods again. But all in all, since the market is kinda  expensive these days sometimes buying food is good rather than cooking.

It is also healthier than buying food outside. You can really save by cooking, mostly if you have other people to feed, like two or more, rather than buying food outside. I've been cooking since I was a child, thanks to our parents' training, and I still do it now, but the spices and ingredients are very expensive. What's best when you cook is that if there are any leftovers, you can still heat them later so that you can still eat them.

[dezoel]

There are many different methods to cut food costs, such as buying in bulk to take advantage of discounts, planning your meals ahead of time and making a shopping list to avoid unnecessary purchases, looking for store specials and discounts, and taking advantage of coupons as you mentioned.

One could also buy food items in a season as they are usually cheaper, as well as buy generic or store-brand items. Buying frozen or canned items can also be cheaper than fresh items, and avoiding pre-packaged and convenience items can help you save money. And, buying whole chickens, fish, and other large items and then dividing them into smaller portions, and freezing them can be a great way to get the most bang for your buck.

Most importantly, it's always a good idea to compare prices at different stores to get the best deal.

[ethereumhunter]

I would like to point out that these methods are exclusive to countries where those services are available. It is usual that, for example, some franchises offers those discounts in United States but does not in Latin America. The same happens with food coupons.

My methods on saving money on food are mostly based on buying cheaper food and prepare one's meals oneself.
Sardines and beans are cheaper than beef and chicken.

True, not all countries will get a discount like that even for 1 full month. In fact, in just one country, different regions can have different prices and also discounts.

My method on saving money is that the most important thing is being able to buy rice first, because it's not usual to have breakfast with bread and consuming a lot of bread is also expensive. Then the side dishes are optional, if you already have rice, with just the fried tofu is delicious. All will depend on income and save as much as possible.

We who live in different countries can meet different situations and if the prices of basic needs rise, we must adjust our expenses so that our monthly income is sufficient to meet the needs of our lives. It was initially rather difficult to adjust but for us, we can be done well.

Even out there, I think there are still many people who do not get income in one month but income per day and they also make adjustments, even though they are somewhat different, to find discount coupons to buy basic needs. And if so, parents will reduce their rats for their children and maybe a form of sacrifice of parents to their children when prices of basic needs rise.

[Captain Corporate]

As a Turkish person we do have some food price surges, but also not have it at the same time, its a bit of a different and kind of weird situation to be in. Buying certain foods is still quite cheap, I guess because we like it? Like wheat oriented stuff, or cabbage, or whatever, these are still quite normal prices that doesn't hurt us, chicken for example is still not that expensive, quite good. However, when it comes to some other foods, mainly meat for example, its incredibly expensive, most people can't even afford it, and some other stuff, like in any other country sometimes its the reverse, so I guess its both about what your nation is capable of farming, some nations can farm things better, and we farm certain things better and those are cheaper. So we just gotta keep eating those, and it will be all cheap.

[el kaka22]

Well nothing could be "300%" discount, it doesn't work that way lol, you get 100% discount as free, which means that by the same calculation if you had 1.66 per drumstick at KFC and 90 pence for homemade, that would be basically 60% or so discount, not 300%, but still an amazing idea. I am doing something similar this month and probably next few months as well. I had to start from zero again, so I live a better life right now but I will need to stack up my investments again and in order to do that I have two methods.

First of all, I sell things that I no longer need, it just doesn't make sense to keep useless stuff around the house, and secondly I start eating "healthy", as in at home, and not just kfc drumsticks or anything, I mean salads, veggies, potatoes, cheap stuff.

[isaac_clarke22]

~

True. Kinda sad that I don't stumble upon these quite often in here, not surprised anyway considering it is US. Here in my country, people do have the options to still save money even from food delivery services by having some voucher within the app like FoodPanda or even UberEats (although mentioned already in the OP). It might not be straightforward unlike the ones described in the OP, but it is still worth noting anyway.

Buying cheaper food? Gotta relate to that sometimes that I tend to buy those cheap meal/s from convenience store/s like 7-11. It kinda sucks that it is ran through a microwave since it is already ready-to-eat box, but hey it works for me sometimes. I just avoid eating that same cheap meal over and over again though since it is kind of unhealthy due to preservatives.

[palle11]

Learning how to cook really good and luxury food gets you far. You won't even want to eat outside when they can't offer half as decent food as you make.
It is cheap and If you get good enough you can make money with that skill.

It's also a really cool way to impress your date.

apart from being a very romantic way to impress your date, having a cooking skill is also a good way to economically live in this present hard economic reality. If you understand the cooking skill then you can satisfy yourself at home with lesser money spent on preparing it rather than always eating off home to hotels or eateries. It is more economical to cook at home than eating outside and that is the reason women prefer having their kitchen apart from having the advantage of preparing the right kind of food they want for their homes.

[Rruchi man]

Learning to hunt and fish

Give a man a fish, and you might feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you could feed him for a lifetime.

While it seems that hobbies like hunting and fishing are on a decline. Perhaps current era food prices are exactly what they need to make a return?

while learning to hunt and fish can seem simple to take up by people who live in areas blessed with abundance of forest, wildlife and water, It is not as easy as before.
Firstly, in some areas where there is forest and wildlife, you may find out that there are certain laws that do not permit hunting so as to be able to preserve the wildlife there, and also because of noise and human encroachments, you will find more empty forest where animals have migrated very far deep into the heart of the forest where there is less noise and sign of humans, so hunting will not be easy.

Secondly for the water bodies where fishing normally can take place, in some area like around me where we have a lot of water bodies but little fishing activity because the fishes in the water have either been killed by pollution or have be driven far far into the ocean also because of noise.

So learning to hunt and fish may not be so effective.

[mirakal]

I would like to point out that these methods are exclusive to countries where those services are available. It is usual that, for example, some franchises offers those discounts in United States but does not in Latin America. The same happens with food coupons.

My methods on saving money on food are mostly based on buying cheaper food and prepare one's meals oneself.
Sardines and beans are cheaper than beef and chicken.

Yes, it's indeed true! Even if we have those named stores in our countries, the prices will still vary, so does the discounts and coupons that they are offering in United States.

In our country, we are not that reliant about these coupons even if supermarkets and specific food chains will offer it to us because aside from it's still expensive for the most people, the food are not that fresh, or we really don't know if it's still fresh. It's still wise to cook your own food if your aim is to cut the food costs, it's really much cheaper that way and especially, you can ensure that what you're cooking is fresher and nutritious.

[South Park]

Well nothing could be "300%" discount, it doesn't work that way lol, you get 100% discount as free, which means that by the same calculation if you had 1.66 per drumstick at KFC and 90 pence for homemade, that would be basically 60% or so discount, not 300%, but still an amazing idea. I am doing something similar this month and probably next few months as well. I had to start from zero again, so I live a better life right now but I will need to stack up my investments again and in order to do that I have two methods.

First of all, I sell things that I no longer need, it just doesn't make sense to keep useless stuff around the house, and secondly I start eating "healthy", as in at home, and not just kfc drumsticks or anything, I mean salads, veggies, potatoes, cheap stuff.

Besides one thing you will notice is that the food that you are being sold is heavily overpriced, people do not seem to understand that in their desire to save time they pay extra for someone to make their food for them, however if you are the one that makes the food, not only you can make a healthier version of what you are being sold but it will be way cheaper and over the long term this will save you time and money, as you can then use that money to invest in bitcoin or any other asset you may like and make more money that way.

[pixie85]

Coupons and promo codes

Am I the only one who hates those? We've had "bonus cards" for years, and once in a while coupons to use or stickers to collect. Now more and more supermarkets are switching to apps to give you discounts spy on you and give you notifications. I really hate the fact that they overprice items, unless you join their marketing scheme that's designed to tie you to their shop.

The German LIDL is known for drowning you in these coupons and they're not that great. I have an app in my phone that gives me all these coupons every week and I sometimes wonder i I really want to waste 10 minutes of my time going through them to find that one thing that I could buy 10% cheaper.

Stores are also known for bringing prices up to later cut them down with these coupons. They sell a bottle of beer for 1.6 EUR, then bring it up to 2 EUR for a week or two and down to 1.5 with big 25% discount label, but really it's just 5%.

I sometimes use the 2 for 1 discounts they can be a bargain at times, but they usually do that to products that are about to expire.

[LoyceV]

Stores are also known for bringing prices up to later cut them down with these coupons. They sell a bottle of beer for 1.6 EUR, then bring it up to 2 EUR for a week or two and down to 1.5 with big 25% discount label, but really it's just 5%.

Since this year, this isn't allowed in the Netherlands anymore. The discount has to be calculated from the lowest price in the last 30 days.
At least in theory. In reality I expect most shops can still get away with this.

[stomachgrowls]

I would like to point out that these methods are exclusive to countries where those services are available. It is usual that, for example, some franchises offers those discounts in United States but does not in Latin America. The same happens with food coupons.

My methods on saving money on food are mostly based on buying cheaper food and prepare one's meals oneself.
Sardines and beans are cheaper than beef and chicken.

This is true and this is why it isnt really that applicable or possible for anyone to acquire and really be able to cherish out these discounts yet even they are on the same company but ending up on having different franchisers or whatever that correlates into this then it would really be situational which means its neither be available or not on a particular place.If it is, then you are in good luck but if not then
there's nothing you can do.

When it comes to savings then i do agree that preparing your own food is much more cheaper rather than on going into those restaurants outside and this is why it would really be that
sensible on doing that if you do really want to save up.

[Rengga Jati]

Although it may be different for the merchants, I think that this method is also implemented in many countries, like in my country where we can find so many discounts on food, especially on an online marketplace that serves food online. they give so many discounts.
but the fact in this area is that every time they give the discount, actually they have raised the price of the food at first and then they are giving any coupon or discount for the food. The result is actually it is almost the same.  But indeed, we sometimes also can find any food that really has a discount for special costumers such as students, people with certain card holders, and also special promos for certain events.

but on the other hand, if it is related to the method of cutting food costs for personal reference, this will depend on the individual. Sometimes, someone is hunting for foods that have a discount because they will be more interested in it. But sometimes, someone will not care about the promo and discount because what they want, they will buy and be eager to eat. But moreover,  some people may also be not able to reach the food with a discount because they are willing to buy any food.

[shinratensei_]

gone are the days when the food and beverages startups giving massive discount towards their customers for the sake of growing the user base. after the crisis, these startups are going under and so does their discounts, nowadays to cut the food costs we could just buy canned food but then again that's not healthy either since heavily processed food usually contains something that could cause cancer.
I guess that there's no way to cut food costs other than just waiting for discount even preparing the food ourselves still gonna be expensive anyway, many organic ingredients and vegetables are costly because they are organic which is quite ridiculous in the first place, your only way is to increase your income so that you could afford more food and wouldn't sweat over the fact that you should cut down your food costs which sometimes gonna costs you your health sometimes.

[mv1986]

I can't exactly remember where I saw or read this, but especially during the crisis now the package sizes of many products have been decreased while the price was kept stable (for a while). If people don't pay attention, they sometimes don't even notice it at first and that happened to me as well. So somewhere it was said that when producers decrease package sizes or increase the price, a law could be introduced that forces them to put a note onto the package that displays the price change relative to the older version of that product. If such a law ever comes into effect, I think it would be a great idea in terms of consumer protection and fair and efficient market competition.

But we all know that the lobby is powerful, and we all know what powerful can and will do, and we know that some politicians are too weak or not able to resist...

[Faisal2202]

What are other good methods of cutting costs on food items?

The methods or strategies you shared above has it own bordered limits like geographical differences. As far as i know everyone in the world eat food. So where the amazon services are not provided. Where there is no river if there is river then there is no fish haha. And these coupons are no doubt save many bucks but the time in collecting them is in itself a big problem. On the other hand the discounts you shared. Many of the platforms are not available in my country if some are they do not treat well i don't know why but above scenario are not going to save anything  at all. If we see collectively.

Lets assume and try to understand with an example, for my country. We have given the time of around 3 weeks to do foreign trades as in our national central bank the many is not enough. Conditions are not that bad but if we look into stats than it freezes me. Like a 40kg of flour costs around 2,600 pkr previous year and now it costs around 4,500 to 5,000 pkr. You can convert pkr intoo usd if u want.

Everything is costly now but you what salaries are not increasing hahaha. So people here around found many ways to save cost on food. Like? Let me give you my example. Lets having 5 to 6 family members and everyone wake up on there own time and separate food is cooked for everyone like tea. So, finally this has come to an end and everyone wake up same time to eat which saves gas, and  wastage of
food.  Other than this, i could suggest tens of ways to save money that a person could do while in home and regardless of geographical positions and limits. So overall, i must say you should also add them like eating at same time. Buying stuff in bulk instead of buying again and again. Bargaining with seller. Get familiar with the market rates and report whoever is charging more. Do not waste on video games. Spend less time on scorlling videos instead be a producer not a consumer. There are many things that seems not to be linked but one thing is linked with other and overall this is gonna save u
Your food and money

[paxmao]

Coupons and promos usually mislead the consumers into thinking that they are buying cheaper. I will put an example: I know a country in which an something that has been at a certain price for 14 days and then discounted can be legally advertised as "discounted". Hence, many companies put stuff for sale at a ridiculous price for 14 days and then claim a 40% discount on the original price... which technically is true, but at the same time false.

[Ultegra134]

Coupons and promo codes

Am I the only one who hates those? We've had "bonus cards" for years, and once in a while coupons to use or stickers to collect. Now more and more supermarkets are switching to apps to give you discounts spy on you and give you notifications. I really hate the fact that they overprice items, unless you join their marketing scheme that's designed to tie you to their shop.

The German LIDL is known for drowning you in these coupons and they're not that great. I have an app in my phone that gives me all these coupons every week and I sometimes wonder i I really want to waste 10 minutes of my time going through them to find that one thing that I could buy 10% cheaper.

Stores are also known for bringing prices up to later cut them down with these coupons. They sell a bottle of beer for 1.6 EUR, then bring it up to 2 EUR for a week or two and down to 1.5 with big 25% discount label, but really it's just 5%.

I sometimes use the 2 for 1 discounts they can be a bargain at times, but they usually do that to products that are about to expire.

We also have the exact same application in Greece. I've had some decent coupons in the past, but most of them don't actually interest me or are completely irrelevant. Couponing is extremely popular in the USA, but in Europe, I can't say that I've seen it in practice. There's a company here that distributes coupons, but they are limited to specific companies, and I've never bothered to investigate any further. Generally, it's not a popular practice in Europe, but I've seen videos going overboard in the USA (not sure if they're fake or not).

[Cryptodebjoe]

I've seen most of the responses but I'm thinking the OP is actually seeking for our independent indigenous solutions as to cut food cost practically here is my own solution that I've practiced with my family Viz;

Bulk buying from source : I adopted a pattern to buy basic food stuff at the wholesale point of distribution like seafood we choose a good weekend and buy them from direct fishermen when they're back from their fishing we cut, grind and store them doing this helps us to get it cheaper and natural  this can last for more than a month for grains we have contacts in the village that bring them to the city so we pre order beans,rice etc from the farmers.

Home grown food; We also plant basic vegetables in our yard and get to harvest them for some quick fresh food, I remember last Christmas I didn't buy any meat because I made a small cart and reared a few chicken and when it was the festive season I made a small profit buy selling a few and cooked the rest with my family by this I didn't only cut cost but I earned more.

Finding cheaper alternatives ; If the goal is to feed and stay healthy and not just spend money then instead of junk and packaged drinks which may have their disadvantages like excess sugar I buy bulk mixture of fruits and do fruit smoothie this is more healthier for me.... Safer and cheaper

[Casdinyard]

As much as I see the well-meaning nature of this post, especially nowadays coz everything is very expensive. I seriously discourage haggling yourself on food, or if it can't really be helped, you can look into cultivating your own food, it's way cheaper and much healthier in my opinion. You should never cut costs on anything that you put in your body, especially food, coz whatever you eat affects everything in your life for that day. Less nutrients mean less performance in whatever you do, and will make you just more depressed especially if you find yourself eating ramen packets for the third day in a row. Just focus on cutting costs on everything else, take the bus ride home instead of booking an uber, look for a roommate to bedspace with you and share the rent, all that stuff.

[Theones]

The food industry is known for sometimes giving away free food and cost benefits. Bakeries and restaurants and known for throwing food away. Which employees sometimes are allowed to have.

....


What are other good methods of cutting costs on food items?

THere are good points shared - The last one is very practical - one should work in a food industry to cut the cost of grocery items
Also I like the point of going to the wild - but this would not always give you fruits.

[ancafe]

What are other good methods of cutting costs on food items?

I implemented a special way to save money on food and so far it's been quite effective and not too difficult to outsmart. Some people in our country and especially in the area where I live own land and even almost the average person owns it. The tradition of gardening and farming is still very much maintained by the people, so this has been going on for a long time since I was not born. Various food needs are available in community gardens and are also relatively cheap to buy, this is one of the savings that people can make.

There are many ways to save on expenses for buying food, one of which is growing yourself or buying raw materials and then processing them yourself at home, so that we can adjust the level of food needs that are spent each day with the family.

[wxa7115]

As much as I see the well-meaning nature of this post, especially nowadays coz everything is very expensive. I seriously discourage haggling yourself on food, or if it can't really be helped, you can look into cultivating your own food, it's way cheaper and much healthier in my opinion. You should never cut costs on anything that you put in your body, especially food, coz whatever you eat affects everything in your life for that day. Less nutrients mean less performance in whatever you do, and will make you just more depressed especially if you find yourself eating ramen packets for the third day in a row. Just focus on cutting costs on everything else, take the bus ride home instead of booking an uber, look for a roommate to bedspace with you and share the rent, all that stuff.

I understand what you mean but if possible we should not spend lavishly on food either, if you can find food which serves its nutritional purpose and it is of good quality then there is no need to overpay for food either.

Still how much we can save on food not only depends on ourselves, if you are single this is easy as you only have to take the decision by yourself and that is that, but if you have a family then suddenly things are not as simple, as now factors like taste or even the speed and ease in which certain food can be made now becomes just as important as their nutritional value and suddenly saving on food becomes way more difficult.

[wajik-tempe]

Finding deals and discount are worth it for people who don't have time to cook but if we have time to cook from scratch nothing beats the efficiency of food cost than cook for ourself.
Also with some tips we could even save more, instead of finding a deals of ready to eat food we could find a deal for groceries at discount stores or supermarkets that offer lower prices on certain items.
Buying in bulk can save you money in the long run, especially for non-perishable items like rice, pasta, and canned goods.
And if we want more cost efficiency, although this is a really optional for workers or students, growing our own vegetables or herbs can be a cost-effective way to have fresh produce on hand.

[Pejoh Asu]

I think the easiest thing to cut food costs is fasting, soon we will enter the month of Ramadan and this will be the best opportunity to cut food costs. Apart from that, another thing is to always actively plant fruit, vegetables or plants such as cassava, sweet potatoes and others so that we don't buy food anymore.

[hyudien]

I don't know so far whether the method of cutting food costs is quite effective for me or not. Because for now what I need is available on the farm where I have all the main needs. So I didn't spend a lot of money because, in the 1 year harvest period, I only spent it once. Our fish are available in several fishing ponds. Clear fruits and vegetables have become my main points so far. The point is if you want to wash your mouth with fresh fruits, go to the farm and just take as much as you like. Some farms are available for certain events because we have a large family. Many things can be utilized, and so far long -term supply is very supportive of our daily needs.

[Davidvictorson]

In the country where I live, we do not have food coupons nor do we have Amazon food delivery but we have food companies like them. And it is not cheap. Even with your minimum wage of $50 one may not be able to afford a meal from them or even eat to one's satisfaction. In my estimation, the tried and true methods to cut food cost is to
- make your own meal
- buy food stuff in bulk
- buy at a local/ village market and not at the malls.
- if you can have a garden where you can grow vegetables.
- you can also try freezing your food
- if you can, raise your animals ( chicken, cattle, goats, fish) for your protein needs

[rat03gopoh]

In my country, for whatever reason, buying fast food is considered wasteful by most people. The solution is to make your own food at home (it is recommended that you have a living partner to reduce food waste).
I'll tell the boarding school boys how they get a varied menu throughout the month for a small monthly meal fee for roommates (say $50 per person). Generally, each room (group) seats 3-4 people, so the cost of buying groceries is $150. Measuring the low cost of living in my country, this figure is actually very sufficient.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

From tomorrow I will cut sugar completely from my menu for 1 month. It will be tough but I will try.

This will definitely safe me a lot of money since all the small treats like sweets and drinks really mess up my body and my wallet.

Let's see how much I will actually safe after 1 month.

[Synchronice]

The German LIDL is known for drowning you in these coupons and they're not that great. I have an app in my phone that gives me all these coupons every week and I sometimes wonder i I really want to waste 10 minutes of my time going through them to find that one thing that I could buy 10% cheaper.

Stores are also known for bringing prices up to later cut them down with these coupons. They sell a bottle of beer for 1.6 EUR, then bring it up to 2 EUR for a week or two and down to 1.5 with big 25% discount label, but really it's just 5%.

I sometimes use the 2 for 1 discounts they can be a bargain at times, but they usually do that to products that are about to expire.

Where did you see a bottle of beer for 1.6-2 euro in Germany? Overall, beer is very cheap. Sometimes, during discounts, you can buy twenty 0.5 glass beer for five Euro. Kaufland.
Btw prices depend from stores to locations. For example, my favorite liqueur Amarula Cream Liqueur 0.7L costs 12 euro in local Edeka but it costs 7 Euro in one Netto filiale. But at the same time local Edeka store is cheaper than local Aldi store, can you imagine? Hard to believe
I think that Kaufland is a sweet spot, it's Edeka with Aldi prices.

To sum up, in Germany at least, you can't actually say that this store is cheaper than that one, at least from my experience in Bavaria. Supermarkets always have discounts, there are days when something you want will be cheaper in Edeka, there are days when something you have will be cheaper in Aldi, there are days when something will be cheaper in Kaufland, there are days when something will be cheaper in Rewe. I can't say from my experience that Netto and Penny are the cheapest, depends on filiale, Netto near to me is more expensive than kaufland but it's extremely cheap in near market town.
If you have all these stores near to you and you always get informed about discounts, then you can truly save a lot but if stores are far from each-other, then I guess it worth to work 1 extra hour to compensate the expenses.

[Cryptock]

From tomorrow I will cut sugar completely from my menu for 1 month. It will be tough but I will try.

This will definitely safe me a lot of money since all the small treats like sweets and drinks really mess up my body and my wallet.

Let's see how much I will actually safe after 1 month.

Avoiding sugar and fizzy drinks and eating at home would definitely save money and will be helpful for the health as well.
I have stopped eating out for last one year and I have saved a lot. I work from home and I too save spending too much money on hangouts. This is also helpful in saving so much money

[andriarto]

In my country, for whatever reason, buying fast food is considered wasteful by most people. The solution is to make your own food at home (it is recommended that you have a living partner to reduce food waste).
I'll tell the boarding school boys how they get a varied menu throughout the month for a small monthly meal fee for roommates (say $50 per person). Generally, each room (group) seats 3-4 people, so the cost of buying groceries is $150. Measuring the low cost of living in my country, this figure is actually very sufficient.

Planning a food menu is our alternative to cooking our own food. that way we will know the expenditure planning for our food needs. moreover, I live in a village, I don't think there is a problem with food ingredients, moreover, there are lots of vegetables growing around me, which besides being able to suppress the purchase of food ingredients, of course it is hygienic, and on the other hand, our nutritional intake needs are still fulfilled, that is the most important thing. even in the rice fields a lot of animal protein is available

[GeorgeJohn]

I don't remember ever buying Online food before
Most of the food comes to us from abroad, but there are many supermarkets and shops and food is rarely sold like that.
Therefore, there are no coupons for food.
The only way to save is to buy in large quantities from suppliers, but I don't remember once that we suffered from supply chains.

So your methods won't work for everyone.

I understand that the reason while people don't comply or reciprocate for online food, its because of the charges is different and the distance the item could reach you, and anything is that the funds used for purchasing online food always expensive, and secondly some people feels they are not served with ordered food because of poison even though the company are licensed, In my country we have no time of ordering food because whatever we needs is in the supermarket and its affordable.

[Ngewex Yuk]

If I think again about food consumption then a lot is wasted, I buy vegetables every day and sometimes they don't eat them because they're rotten or not cooked, if I collect daily shopping for consumption then there will be a lot of savings that can be made, besides that I have to buy real food It can be cooked immediately so it's not wasteful.

[WillyAp]

the biggest saver is self control.
Do not indulge in giving you any treat is a huge factor in most families.
It also helps in raining kids, don't spoil your kids.

[alastantiger]

There are several ways in which someone can cut his food cost. Some of the ways are setting of food budget. This will help you in cutting food cost. Because most people dont set bodget of their food and end up wasting the food. Secondly, avoide wasting food. I have seen people waste food just because they dont plan and know what they want at a particular moment. Another way is buying food in bulk quantity. When you buy in large quantity, it will be cheaper than when you buy little by little.

[SquallLeonhart]

I can't exactly remember where I saw or read this, but especially during the crisis now the package sizes of many products have been decreased while the price was kept stable (for a while). If people don't pay attention, they sometimes don't even notice it at first and that happened to me as well. So somewhere it was said that when producers decrease package sizes or increase the price, a law could be introduced that forces them to put a note onto the package that displays the price change relative to the older version of that product. If such a law ever comes into effect, I think it would be a great idea in terms of consumer protection and fair and efficient market competition.

But we all know that the lobby is powerful, and we all know what powerful can and will do, and we know that some politicians are too weak or not able to resist...

I think there is no law that states you need to talk about the size change, but you need to put the size on the package, so you can if it went from 80 grams to 70 grams, of course only if you know how much it used to be.

It happens in my nation all the time, they even change the ingredients, like something with "banana" in it, could turn from 3% banana to 1% banana instead, or they could change it from milk to milk extract, not the same thing as we all know. So these changes are made to try to keep the price same, and sometimes even goes up with it as well, which is a sad reality but a reality nevertheless. That's why I can't really say I am against it, because otherwise if they kept it all the same, they would have to sell it for 3x more price.

[Joshapat]

Although the food industry is getting more and more diverse but the price of food is getting more and more expensive, it is natural that the price of food ingredients is expensive because the production costs from farmers are very expensive, in my country a farmer usually rents 5000 square meters of land at an annual price of around $800, and if the total costs of farmers from cultivating the land to harvest requires at least $300, so many farmers are losing money even though food prices are very expensive.

[Cryptock]

Although the food industry is getting more and more diverse but the price of food is getting more and more expensive, it is natural that the price of food ingredients is expensive because the production costs from farmers are very expensive, in my country a farmer usually rents 5000 square meters of land at an annual price of around $800, and if the total costs of farmers from cultivating the land to harvest requires at least $300, so many farmers are losing money even though food prices are very expensive.

One of the finest way to cut food cost is to eat at home. Do not waste money on bakery and fast food.
The other point mentioned in the OP is work in the food store so that you get some food items at less price is also a good suggestion. But to me try to save some money by skipping outside food is  a good option.

[Wong Gendheng]

Although the food industry is getting more and more diverse but the price of food is getting more and more expensive, it is natural that the price of food ingredients is expensive because the production costs from farmers are very expensive, in my country a farmer usually rents 5000 square meters of land at an annual price of around $800, and if the total costs of farmers from cultivating the land to harvest requires at least $300, so many farmers are losing money even though food prices are very expensive.

One of the finest way to cut food cost is to eat at home. Do not waste money on bakery and fast food.
The other point mentioned in the OP is work in the food store so that you get some food items at less price is also a good suggestion. But to me try to save some money by skipping outside food is  a good option.

Good idea because if we are accustomed to eating outside or restaurant, there will be a lot of temptation to try a menu that can make our finances run out soon, besides eating at home the best thing is to bring lunch when working or out of the house, don't think of buying at a restaurant and Always think that food outside is not healthy and a lot of preservatives that can damage health in the long run.

[Queentoshi]

Avoiding sugar and fizzy drinks and eating at home would definitely save money and will be helpful for the health as well.
I have stopped eating out for last one year and I have saved a lot. I work from home and I too save spending too much money on hangouts. This is also helpful in saving so much money

The number one thing is to avoid eating out instead just prepare food at home, I spent alot of money eating out because I was too lazy to cook and it has alot of infect my pocket, when I had a visitor who came to stay with me for 6 months, she too over the kitchen and she said to me that as long she will be staying with me no more eating out and I should see how much I will save, and by the end of 3 months I realized that I was wasting alot of money eating out.

[Woodie]

Great I also think changing ones eating habits and what kind of foods one takes can help cut cost almost immediately.

Besides this you could further cut costs for home cooked meals by supplementing this with some home gardening to depend more on your home produce than always going to your local grocery stores and the alike.

[Desmong]

If the government can help the farmers by reducing the price of fertilizers and other equipments that are needed for agricultural produce then things is going to get better with time. We are going to see great impact in food production that what we have been seeing all these years making the food supply to be shortage because of many factors and the war going on.

[Broly46]

Food cost has been soaring since the pandemic and it has refused to reduce in price even slightly, it is ridiculous I think we would have to cope with high food cost for much longer.

[xSkylarx]

If the government can help the farmers by reducing the price of fertilizers and other equipments that are needed for agricultural produce then things is going to get better with time. We are going to see great impact in food production that what we have been seeing all these years making the food supply to be shortage because of many factors and the war going on.

They cant control it right now its because all prices are high even the fuel it is still high right now even the government try to hold it but again those supplier and other merchants would this agree though if they can help those farmers like providing fertilizer and having a big budget for agriculture sector it is possible that it will drop the price but again its because of war it is not yet possible so we have no choice to continue buying it and if we have a chance then find another source of income

[kro55]

Avoiding sugar and fizzy drinks and eating at home would definitely save money and will be helpful for the health as well.
I have stopped eating out for last one year and I have saved a lot. I work from home and I too save spending too much money on hangouts. This is also helpful in saving so much money

The number one thing is to avoid eating out instead just prepare food at home, I spent alot of money eating out because I was too lazy to cook and it has alot of infect my pocket, when I had a visitor who came to stay with me for 6 months, she too over the kitchen and she said to me that as long she will be staying with me no more eating out and I should see how much I will save, and by the end of 3 months I realized that I was wasting alot of money eating out.

By cooking at home, we are able to ensure food safety and hygiene, as well as save money and prepare a varied and nutritious meal. But on the contrary, we will spend a lot of time shopping, cooking, and cleaning, that's why students and busy people choose to eat out.

For me, in eating and drinking should not be too frugal because excessive saving only harms health, and does not ensure nutrition to work. Especially those who do heavy work, they have to eat and drink more to ensure their health. Saving in food is just buying enough to eat, not leaving excess.

[libert19]

I would add Amazon subscribe & save for items that are necessity. If you have some land & water, plant fruit trees and crops there.

Eat less — we tend to eat much more than require solely cause of habit. Whenever you feel hungry, drink water first as to not mistake thirst for hunger.

Resist eating outside, avoid processed packed snacks — it's more or health related.

It's better for belly to be empty than filled with junk food.

[bettercrypto]

Most residents here in our country do not buy the food they need online. Because most of them are poor people and cannot afford to buy from such an online food shop, or delivery fast food.

     Here, most of the time that kind of style is not practical, I'm just talking about real talk, maybe in other countries it's possible but I'm also sure that not all countries have that kind of status.

[summonerrk]

1) You need to know which store the product is cheaper and which is more expensive. For example, my house has a store of a very expensive retail chain, but there is always very cheap drinking water, cheese and cottage cheese.
2) Promotions. Often retail chains give cashback for a month for certain types of goods. I was lucky this month: I received cashback on all the products described above.

[Adbitco]

In generally food stuff are really expensive but it would be more lesser if you make them yourself maybe going to the market to source all cooking items than going to the restaurant to eat. One thing we don't spend much money on is fish and vegetable leaves, pepper.
What you posted are not commonly with the western world most especially the Africans because they believe on their local delicacies.

[19Nov16]

In generally food stuff are really expensive but it would be more lesser if you make them yourself maybe going to the market to source all cooking items than going to the restaurant to eat. One thing we don't spend much money on is fish and vegetable leaves, pepper.
What you posted are not commonly with the western world most especially the Africans because they believe on their local delicacies.

Buying food is very expensive, yesterday I went to the mall and bought a juice drink worth $ 5, if I buy fruit in the market directly can get 5 kg to make 1 glass of drink in the mall, the best strategy to cut food costs is to buy raw materials then we process it ourselves, especially since my country's current economic condition is still in crisis, making it difficult to find alternative income.

[tygeade]

Most residents here in our country do not buy the food they need online. Because most of them are poor people and cannot afford to buy from such an online food shop, or delivery fast food.

     Here, most of the time that kind of style is not practical, I'm just talking about real talk, maybe in other countries it's possible but I'm also sure that not all countries have that kind of status.

I think online one could be benefit to poor people even more. You could buy in bulk online, you could buy rice up to a ton in my nation for example, A TON, of course nobody would buy a ton of rice for personal use, that is usually for companies, but that is a proof that you could get cheap food if you want to.

I personally do that, I buy three things mainly in bulk, and some other things that are condiments, one is rice, the other is pasta, and the third is potato. I buy these in bulk, and then stuff like salt, and pepper, and tomato etc etc, all in bulk as well but not as much, probably half as much, and this means I could live on 100$ a month of food, but it would be all the same food basically. I don't do that, I buy other food too, overspend on other days, but at least I got the food if I ever run out of money.

[Ngewex Yuk]

Eating or consumption is everyone's need and if we have a small income then the best solution is to cut the cost of eating, currently there are many restaurants that provide interesting food menus, but if we buy often it will certainly disrupt our finances, it's better to buy ingredients raw in the market and we have time to cook, there are many advantages if we cook it ourselves, first of course it is healthier because we know the ingredients of the food, and second is it is more economical.

[Fesatmas]

snip
What are other good methods of cutting costs on food items?

Yes, this saves enough to cut food costs, but promos like that usually don't exist every day and are usually only at certain times, for once or twice we can do it but are we going to event promos there will always be every day so that allows us to save our money in one month.
I guess it's a good trick for a few days.
But what is clear if we want to save money on food is that we have to know what we need from that food and ignore what is unnecessary and not important for the body, so that we can make a definite budget and minimize food money every day.

[harapan]

Eating or consumption is everyone's need and if we have a small income then the best solution is to cut the cost of eating, currently there are many restaurants that provide interesting food menus, but if we buy often it will certainly disrupt our finances, it's better to buy ingredients raw in the market and we have time to cook, there are many advantages if we cook it ourselves, first of course it is healthier because we know the ingredients of the food, and second is it is more economical.

A lot of people have been saying cooking the meal yourself is cheaper and better, I don't disagree but this is true only to an extent. Not everyone is a good cook, so if someone who is not good at cooking want to eat only food he prepares himself then he will be stuck to shitty meals. Even if you're a good cook, you might not always have the time to cook. Then there's the fact that some meals actually cost more to prepare at home than buying the already cooked meals from a restaurant. So just buying the ingredient raw from the market is not always the cheaper option, somethings before you know it you've spent way more than you budgeted for that particular meal

[virasisog]

Most online app stores offer different vouchers which we can claim and use to save and have discounts when we purchase some of our necessities online. However, I don't think it's the wisest method to cut food costs. Cooking our own meal will be more ideal because an avoid service charges and we can also like the ingredients of our choice. We can also avoid service charges and other fees when we order or we eat out. Existence of promos doesn't mean that we have to purchase things online. We should still spend wisely and not be comfortable with promos offered to us when there are actually other alternatives to save.

[carlfebz2]

Most online app stores offer different vouchers which we can claim and use to save and have discounts when we purchase some of our necessities online. However, I don't think it's the wisest method to cut food costs. Cooking our own meal will be more ideal because an avoid service charges and we can also like the ingredients of our choice. We can also avoid service charges and other fees when we order or we eat out. Existence of promos doesn't mean that we have to purchase things online. We should still spend wisely and not be comfortable with promos offered to us when there are actually other alternatives to save.

Even on those known ecommerce sites which do offer some voucher which its expected that it is really just peanuts but considering that it is really still better rather than no having at all.
There are people who are really that keen on spending on which even how small the discounter or voucher amounts that they could get but still they would really be minding
on acquiring it no matter what.

There's nothing wrong with that because we do really need to save as much as we could considering that we are living on a world where inflation and recession and other
economic problems do becomes even more worst.

[Semar Mesem]

I think the easiest thing to overcome or reduce food costs is to reduce the portion or amount of food, if the ingredients we usually eat are expensive then look for other alternative sources, for example if our food is rice then we can replace it with cassava which is cheaper, if cassava is expensive then we can looking for cassava that is almost rotten and then we dry it in the sun so that it can last for a few days and can even last up to a year.



Another solution is not to eat meat but eat more leaves, we can eat almost all the leaves directly or boil first, apart from being healthier, of course, it is more economical.

[gaston castano]

methods like this do not apply or can be applied to all places and usually have terms and conditions, so the best advice in my opinion is to buy food that is cheaper than what you usually buy, so maybe you can buy more than the food you usually buy.

[wxa7115]

From tomorrow I will cut sugar completely from my menu for 1 month. It will be tough but I will try.

This will definitely safe me a lot of money since all the small treats like sweets and drinks really mess up my body and my wallet.

Let's see how much I will actually safe after 1 month.

I would recommend you that you take a slower approach, the bodies of most people are used to huge sugar intakes and stopping all of a sudden could be bad for your health.

So instead of cutting sugar completely from your life it would be for the best for you to only consume half of what you consume already for a few weeks, then you could consume a quarter of what you consume now during the next weeks, and then you can finally eliminate sugar completely from your life.

[nioctib_100]

Haha I hopped in this thread thinking there was going to be some Bitcoin related discussion about cutting food costs, but I don't see too much of that. Let me propose something pretty unrealistic, but at least it involves Bitcoin.

I do a fair amount of gardening, and it's frustrating when there's a plant you want to cultivate that just doesn't quite handle the cold in your region. I've wondered about setting up a Bitcoin miner in a way where the heat could then be funneled to the plant to help it make it through the sub-zero temperatures that kill that certain type. Extrapolating that, pretty much any ideas of recycling the heat produced by Bitcoin miners towards anything that needs heat (in this thread, certain crops) is an interesting idea. Not sure on the best way of capturing that heat and redirecting it without losing a lot in the process, but it's just an interesting thing to think about. Any thoughts on how this specifically could be used to increase crop yields, which would cut food costs?

[Cryptock]

Haha I hopped in this thread thinking there was going to be some Bitcoin related discussion about cutting food costs, but I don't see too much of that. Let me propose something pretty unrealistic, but at least it involves Bitcoin.

I do a fair amount of gardening, and it's frustrating when there's a plant you want to cultivate that just doesn't quite handle the cold in your region. I've wondered about setting up a Bitcoin miner in a way where the heat could then be funneled to the plant to help it make it through the sub-zero temperatures that kill that certain type. Extrapolating that, pretty much any ideas of recycling the heat produced by Bitcoin miners towards anything that needs heat (in this thread, certain crops) is an interesting idea. Not sure on the best way of capturing that heat and redirecting it without losing a lot in the process, but it's just an interesting thing to think about. Any thoughts on how this specifically could be used to increase crop yields, which would cut food costs?

Lol - I did mention the method to cut food cost by growing plant on your own. I will again read the OP and try to stay on the topic.
But you are right there are lots of people living in the regions where there is no possibility to grow the food.

[Lubang Bawah]

The factor that makes food ingredients more expensive is that many agricultural lands have turned into settlements, in my country many rice fields have now turned into buildings used for homes or businesses, when there is a scarcity of food ingredients such as rice, fruit and vegetables it will make food prices skyrocket and various state policies were ineffective.

[Theones]

From tomorrow I will cut sugar completely from my menu for 1 month. It will be tough but I will try.

This will definitely safe me a lot of money since all the small treats like sweets and drinks really mess up my body and my wallet.

Let's see how much I will actually safe after 1 month.

If you know stevia is more expensive than sugar. If you cut down sugar and buy an alternative than it is more expensive than that. Unless you have diabetes issue.
Just reduce the sugar intake - and save yourself from many other disease.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Eating or consumption is everyone's need and if we have a small income then the best solution is to cut the cost of eating, currently there are many restaurants that provide interesting food menus, but if we buy often it will certainly disrupt our finances, it's better to buy ingredients raw in the market and we have time to cook, there are many advantages if we cook it ourselves, first of course it is healthier because we know the ingredients of the food, and second is it is more economical.

This is my personal experience its better to buy ingredients raw in the market and we must have to put time for cook our own food because this is also investment for ourselves. If we prepare food for us and we are eating healthy and fresh food than we don't have to admit to the hospital for food poisoning. Now a days there is lots of news, people use to die because food poisoning. If food can give you healthy wealthy life and happy mind then bad food can take your precious life as well. Once I admitted at hospital just because I had stale food.

And yes, this saves enough to cut of food costs, if we make kitchen garden and we start growing like green leafy vegetables,  chilies, coriander leaf, as well and tomatoes, cucumbers, carrot and beetroots etc. The kitchen garden helps us to solve our food problems.

[Doan9269]

In generally food stuff are really expensive but it would be more lesser if you make them yourself maybe going to the market to source all cooking items than going to the restaurant to eat. One thing we don't spend much money on is fish and vegetable leaves, pepper.
What you posted are not commonly with the western world most especially the Africans because they believe on their local delicacies.

Yes, making preparation for the food items is one of the solution to tackle cost of buying food, since the mount you will spend in the eatery will be much higher compared to you cooking them by yourself servibg many people and still remaining, we can also have interest in making a home garden for some other perishable crops like vegetables, they are easily grown and have a short growth circle of about three to five months.

[Adbitco]

snip

we can also have interest in making a home garden for some other perishable crops like vegetables, they are easily grown and have a short growth circle of about three to five months.

Yeah absolutely correct because whenever you have this at the back of your house it lessen the expenses and can easily go the river to catch some fish over there, most especially we that are from the riverine area of Nigeria and i think life is much easier with us than those who lives at the up town. I can't remember the last going to a restaurant to buy food (except i trouble out of state), rather going to market in getting some food item to make them by ourselves is more easier, nevertheless its from people, there are some people who don't economized living a wasteful live that they can't control their expenses in general life not only food items. Maybe we can term it to be poor management of funds and resources.

[Negotiation]

One of the best ways to cut food costs is to grow your own backyard vegetables, and there's no cheaper way to eat than to cook at home. Cooking yourself will cost less and the food is healthier. You order fish broth from any restaurant on any app. The price you have to pay is if you buy fish from the market and cook it yourself, you will spend less money, even with the cost of gas. It will save the cost and the relationship with all the family will be strengthened.

[slapper]

Eating or consumption is everyone's need and if we have a small income then the best solution is to cut the cost of eating, currently there are many restaurants that provide interesting food menus, but if we buy often it will certainly disrupt our finances, it's better to buy ingredients raw in the market and we have time to cook, there are many advantages if we cook it ourselves, first of course it is healthier because we know the ingredients of the food, and second is it is more economical.

This is my personal experience its better to buy ingredients raw in the market and we must have to put time for cook our own food because this is also investment for ourselves. If we prepare food for us and we are eating healthy and fresh food than we don't have to admit to the hospital for food poisoning. Now a days there is lots of news, people use to die because food poisoning. If food can give you healthy wealthy life and happy mind then bad food can take your precious life as well. Once I admitted at hospital just because I had stale food.

And yes, this saves enough to cut of food costs, if we make kitchen garden and we start growing like green leafy vegetables,  chilies, coriander leaf, as well and tomatoes, cucumbers, carrot and beetroots etc. The kitchen garden helps us to solve our food problems.

Cooking and growing? Fantastic, folks, but let's face it, not everyone's got that golden ticket. Privilege and access? Uneven, like a rollercoaster. Some places? Forget gardens, no space or wrong environment. Fresh ingredients? For some, it's a desert, no way to get there. Bigly problems. We gotta fix these issues, create a world where everyone can chow down on healthy grub. Not just personal choices, but a fair and tremendous society

[cydrix]

Although those discount codes and coupons are unavailable in my nation, I believe that the majority of retailers do offer a loyalty rewards program that enables all of their customers to accrue points and take advantage of benefits. For instance, if you reach a certain threshold in a month, a local supermarket store provides 30% off of one of your purchases. Although many people with typical incomes won't be able to meet the criterion, it is at least there, even though the system should be improved.

The financial situation of many people is being severely impacted by the rising costs of basic items. Urban gardens might be helpful, but the yield will be much lower and they aren't really worthwhile unless you had a huge place where you could grow food and be self-sufficient on it.

[eightdots]

In today's conditions, it may be more beneficial to purchase the raw material and produce it yourself in order to reduce food costs. The things that the companies organize under the name of the campaign do not provide us with a great benefit, as they are in the form of discounts if you buy more than you need. To avoid this, you must know what you need and only buy what you need. Many people are now taking planned actions to reduce food costs. Among these plans, there are ways such as learning to cook, not consuming more than you need, and doing price research.

[xSkylarx]

One of the best ways to cut food costs is to grow your own backyard vegetables, and there's no cheaper way to eat than to cook at home. Cooking yourself will cost less and the food is healthier. You order fish broth from any restaurant on any app. The price you have to pay is if you buy fish from the market and cook it yourself, you will spend less money, even with the cost of gas. It will save the cost and the relationship with all the family will be strengthened.

That is why it is better to have home cook now a days but again we people are getting used to eat outside to treat our selves and eat delicious food which is not that bad if we only do it rarely. Before I've just remembered that we used to buy foods through app as we are lazy to cook but when the pandemic hits that is really the struggle which i learned to cook that time and getting used to home cook foods and it saves you a lot of money and at the same time you enjoy.

[mvdheuvel1983]

Purchase your food in large quantities and freeze it if you have a freezer. If you live near a river, consider taking up fishing so you can avoid paying for food at the store. Move to a rural community and frequent the farmers market if you can't afford the cost of living in an urban area. You can find cheaper goods there. Join food organizations that, at the end of the month, provide their members a large amount of food.  Another unconventional way to cut food costs which is crazy is to not have a large household - instead of 5 kids just have two.

[erep]

In today's conditions, it may be more beneficial to purchase the raw material and produce it yourself in order to reduce food costs. The things that the companies organize under the name of the campaign do not provide us with a great benefit, as they are in the form of discounts if you buy more than you need. To avoid this, you must know what you need and only buy what you need. Many people are now taking planned actions to reduce food costs. Among these plans, there are ways such as learning to cook, not consuming more than you need, and doing price research.

Producing your own food at home will save on usage costs for consumption, I usually cook food for lunch and dinner because I never order food online from any application, even some types of food can be stored in the refrigerator for breakfast. I have saved a lot of money for a month from the consumption expense list, so there are many ways to save on consumption costs but don't ignore adequate nutritional and nutritional needs for a healthy body.

[karabiber]

Having a healthy diet has become more expensive than eating fast food. People prefer packaged foods because they are cheap and to reduce costs. Since the food prices in every country are not the same, it can be more expensive to cook at home where i am. In this case, people prefer unhealthy and cheap fast food and reduce food costs.

I think there is only one reason for this. The wrong agricultural policies of the states and giving the right to cultivate their own land to the big food companies. There is enough healthy food in the world for everyone but some do not want access to healthy food. Instead of reducing our food costs, the government should implement the right agricultural policies and people can eat healthy.

[Latviand]

Purchase your food in large quantities and freeze it if you have a freezer. If you live near a river, consider taking up fishing so you can avoid paying for food at the store. Move to a rural community and frequent the farmers market if you can't afford the cost of living in an urban area. You can find cheaper goods there. Join food organizations that, at the end of the month, provide their members a large amount of food.  Another unconventional way to cut food costs which is crazy is to not have a large household - instead of 5 kids just have two.

That's too idealistic, it works but it's idealistic nonetheless. Have you been on a tight budget before? Because if you do then you would know that you're going to need to spend it wisely and balance it towards bills and other necessary stuff like hygiene products. Regarding the fishing part, not everyone can fish and not everyone lives in a clean body of water that has fish in it. Moving to a rural community might be counterproductive because there's less jobs there or if you still work in the city then you will spend more on transportation be it money or time. The unconventional way should be getting a vasectomy or not having kids at all and save money as much as you can.

[slapper]

Having a healthy diet has become more expensive than eating fast food. People prefer packaged foods because they are cheap and to reduce costs. Since the food prices in every country are not the same, it can be more expensive to cook at home where i am. In this case, people prefer unhealthy and cheap fast food and reduce food costs.

I think there is only one reason for this. The wrong agricultural policies of the states and giving the right to cultivate their own land to the big food companies. There is enough healthy food in the world for everyone but some do not want access to healthy food. Instead of reducing our food costs, the government should implement the right agricultural policies and people can eat healthy.

No way, folks! Farm policies? Not the only reason for pricey healthy grub. Sure, they play a role, but there's more. Transport, distribution, seasons - all make fresh goodies cost more. Blaming the government? Too simple. People have choices, and they're not puppets. Let's look at the big picture. Dig deep, find out why folks pick junk food, and give them the tools for better eating. Be unpredictable

[karabiber]

Having a healthy diet has become more expensive than eating fast food. People prefer packaged foods because they are cheap and to reduce costs. Since the food prices in every country are not the same, it can be more expensive to cook at home where i am. In this case, people prefer unhealthy and cheap fast food and reduce food costs.

I think there is only one reason for this. The wrong agricultural policies of the states and giving the right to cultivate their own land to the big food companies. There is enough healthy food in the world for everyone but some do not want access to healthy food. Instead of reducing our food costs, the government should implement the right agricultural policies and people can eat healthy.

No way, folks! Farm policies? Not the only reason for pricey healthy grub. Sure, they play a role, but there's more. Transport, distribution, seasons - all make fresh goodies cost more. Blaming the government? Too simple. People have choices, and they're not puppets. Let's look at the big picture. Dig deep, find out why folks pick junk food, and give them the tools for better eating. Be unpredictable

Okay. Is it just seasons and distribution that raises prices? I think you're kidding. My country is an agricultural country and inflation is over 100% right now. People can't eat properly and are the seasons to blame? Get out of there. If there is only one reason for this, it is the government that does not implement proper agricultural policy. It is also the agricultural land of the people granted to global agricultural companies.

[nesty]

Those coupons are not available here in our country. Well to cut food costs, we need to list down all the food that we needed for the whole week. Buy only the vegetables and fruits that are in season so that we can save some money. If the vegetables and fruits are in season it means that the prices are much lower. That is one method to cut food costs. Buy only foods that is enough to the needs of the family, avoid buying excess foods that will not be consumed because it will only go to waste.

[moneystery]

That is why it is better to have home cook now a days but again we people are getting used to eat outside to treat our selves and eat delicious food which is not that bad if we only do it rarely.

Sometimes it's much cheaper to eat out than to cook yourself. Here people prefer to buy prepared food from outside because it's cheaper. Some of the restaurants here buy ingredients in large quantities and the price is much cheaper than individual purchases, therefore the food they offer is much cheaper and more practical.

[ammo121810]

Sometimes it's much cheaper to eat out than to cook yourself. Here people prefer to buy prepared food from outside because it's cheaper. Some of the restaurants here buy ingredients in large quantities and the price is much cheaper than individual purchases, therefore the food they offer is much cheaper and more practical.
[/quote]

Same here it is much cheaper to eat out than to cook. Here in our place there are stores who sell ready to eat foods on the streets that is way more cheaper compare if you will buy the ingredients at the grocery store. It is practical to buy a ready to eat meal if your alone in your household or if you are 2 living in one roof. But for a bigger family i think it is not cheaper you will really need to cook food for the whole family specially if you are 5-10 persons in one household. 

[Ayers]

In today's conditions, it may be more beneficial to purchase the raw material and produce it yourself in order to reduce food costs. The things that the companies organize under the name of the campaign do not provide us with a great benefit, as they are in the form of discounts if you buy more than you need. To avoid this, you must know what you need and only buy what you need. Many people are now taking planned actions to reduce food costs. Among these plans, there are ways such as learning to cook, not consuming more than you need, and doing price research.

They are business people, so I don't think they are willing to discount products that benefit consumers and they don't get any benefit. I agree with what you said, if we want to be bought at a high discount, then we will spend more than we want to spend and buy a lot of unnecessary things.
Today, using raw materials is a cost-effective solution, but it will take us longer to process. All have advantages and disadvantages. I am quite a busy person and do not have much time to cook, so I will choose to eat out, and my way to save money is to just eat by meal, not snacking and not buying extravagantly.

[Freddie Boyer]

Coupons and promo codes



Image link:  https://i.ibb.co/NpcLm8f/promo-code.jpg

There are many websites on the internet offering promo codes and coupons for items in stores.

What are other good methods of cutting costs on food items?

I think, There are many effective ways to cut food costs, one of which is like Look for sales and discounts where we can find around the local grocery store in our respective areas it can be Coupons and promo codes as the OP mentioned but taking into account the user must Sign up for a loyalty program or use those digital coupons and I think that's an option too to save more money but I'm sure it's only for a certain time, not all the time.

Well, I think there is a better strategy and this should be a habit for every family where we can save money while still enjoying good and nutritious food, namely, Cook at home because eating out can be expensive, so consider cooking food at home instead. Cooking your own food not only saves you money but also allows you to control the quality and nutrition of your food.

I've noticed most of this coupons are only in US or UK as they putting coupons in news papers, magazines,in products as well as in social media but the problem is that they dont usually use it only those in need but here in our country we rarely have one of it since people going to abuse it mostly those no minimum to spend as other people are so greedy on saving money. I remember before that there are coupons given only to new user but still getting abuse by those not a new user by making a lot of accounts and changing identity. Yes we can save from it but it is rarely happening in our country

Yes, coupons may be scarce and can be abused in some countries, this does not mean that they are not worth pursuing. By acknowledging the challenges and limitations of using coupons, while highlighting their potential benefits and best practices, my view is that they can at least help consumers make informed and responsible decisions about how to save money on their purchases.

[MarjorieZimmermanGinger]

Give a man a fish, and you might feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you could feed him for a lifetime.

A more reasonable idea and feeding them for days and months is not the answer, as our government has practiced, it just makes people even more lazy to find work. Providing fishing media for a fish man is far more correct, because they can catch fish for their daily needs and fish that can be sold to buy other needs.

Providing food for a lifetime is an impossible job and I'm sure no one wants to bear that burden, except for the head of the household who has such a responsibility.

While it seems that hobbies like hunting and fishing are on a decline. Perhaps current era food prices are exactly what they need to make a return?

This trend is decreasing even further and people prefer to endure hunger and hope for help from the government, rather than finding solutions for their lives. The current human mindset is instantaneous because they don't want to bother with the process, so relying on anything that is important is no longer working as hunters, fishing and farming. What's wrong with all this? Why do people prefer to wait? There is a lot of available land, but don't want to use it?

This is nothing more than a government program that pampers the people with monthly fees and in my country there are many sources of assistance from the government which are given every month, thus making the head of the household even more lazy to work. I prefer the government's presence not to help in the form of assistance, both in the form of money and food, but to provide access for the people to work, but unfortunately this is not done and the people are increasingly spoiled because of the sources of assistance they provide even though the amount cannot be said to be more than Enough.

There are places in the wild where fruits and vegetables grow naturally. Some are located close to official hiking trails and natural landmarks like waterfalls.

The question is how long can it last? will the supply of naturally grown fruits and vegetables be sufficient for future generations?

Meanwhile, debts are becoming increasingly arid, rice fields and agricultural land have lost their function because magnificent and tall buildings have been erected, so that future generations will find it increasingly difficult to find land that they can use. Imagine the next few decades when our children and grandchildren kill each other because food is increasingly difficult for them to get, so they have to compete with one another to get food. If no one thought about it today, wouldn't it be impossible for our children and grandchildren's lives in the future to be even more cruel to preserve their lives?

What are other good methods of cutting costs on food items?

Government policy to protect rice fields and not give full permission to construct buildings. Cut any permits that are not profitable for agricultural land and provide access to the community for agricultural land that is supported by technology and no longer uses traditional farming methods that take a long time to work, every harvest time the government must come down to buy everything from the community and the market is well controlled concerned with price, so that farmers are no longer confused about who to sell their crops to.

Restarting a progressive agricultural system by incorporating technology, so that people don't feel bored cultivating and growing vegetables, in some Asian regions agriculture is a little advanced and even many undergraduate graduates are involved in agriculture because they see good prospects in agriculture. Their existence is not enough to represent the total population in Asia as a percentage, which means that the presence of the government is considered important to socialize this program as a continuation.

[RealMalatesta]

Is it just seasons and distribution that raises prices? I think you're kidding. My country is an agricultural country and inflation is over 100% right now. People can't eat properly and are the seasons to blame? Get out of there. If there is only one reason for this, it is the government that does not implement proper agricultural policy. It is also the agricultural land of the people granted to global agricultural companies.

Food costs being high and being an agricultural country both has a reason and also irrelevant. The main issue is that you do not go to the farm and buy it directly, you end up buying it from Walmart or whatever you have that is close to Walmart, a big grocery store that exists everywhere basically. This means, between the farmer using gas to use their tractors, then the truck that goes to each farmer, fills it up, goes to warehouse of the Walmart of your nation, then goes to each different store, these are all gas used, and that's just gas, and if the gas prices high, then it is not going to be cheap.

Aside from that farmer needs to make a profit, and Walmart needs to pay the salary of the truck driver, the warehouse worker the grocery store worker, all of that is profit on top of that. When you calculate these all, if your nation has high inflation, then even a very cheap food will become expensive by the time you buy it. Go buy directly from the farmer and you will pay 50% less.

[huu78]

I would like to point out that these methods are exclusive to countries where those services are available. It is usual that, for example, some franchises offers those discounts in United States but does not in Latin America. The same happens with food coupons.

My methods on saving money on food are mostly based on buying cheaper food and prepare one's meals oneself.
Sardines and beans are cheaper than beef and chicken.

You make a good point that some money-saving methods may not be available in all countries or regions. However, the principles of frugality and mindful spending can be applied universally, regardless of the specific methods or tools available.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

Atimes i do see some citizens asking for food to eat from others and i give a look at their conditions to discover that they are able enough to work with their two hands but being lazy to do so, while some will till the ground and make life affordable for themselves using their energy to work irrespective of the kind of job they offer as long as it put food on their table, if you cannot established one then work for others so you cab find a means to earn a living according to how you could afford and feeding could not be any longer a threat to you as long as you can work, you can also afford buying them.

[smile1218]

For me to be able to cut food costs first is you need to plan your meals for the week and make a shopping list, it could help to avoid buying unnecessary items and so that you could reduce food waste. Buying in bulk can save money especially for non perishable items like grains beans and pasta. Cooking at home is cheaper than eating out, and you can control over the ingredients needed. Using coupons can help also to save it depends on location if there are grocery stores who offers discount coupons. Try also buying generic brands because it is much cheaper compare to branded goods. Then you can use also the leftovers instead of throwing them.

[libert19]

I'd add this Subreddits to cut costs on food, remember to sort by year/month/week to find quality posts: r/EatCheapAndHealthy, r/Cheap_Meals, r/BudgetFood.


Note: I've added Troddit (One of Reddit front-ends) so you don't have to register/login to check-out stuff.

[bakasabo]

The best way so far I have found to cut expenses on food is to go shopping with a list. For me this is the only way to resist temptation of buying something tasty just to have it, when I already have a stock of something tasty at home. Also take basket but not trolley. Large and empty trolley will make you feel uncomfortable and you will fill it less needed food. That is one of the tricks marketers use.

[Cryptomultiplier]

To go for alternatives aside from the regular choice one would normally make is one way to cut food cost.
One just has to seek out nutritional value first before price.
I also think vegetables have more cheaper rates compared to always eating meat or beef which is rather expensive.
The other one is to cook less quantity of food to prevent spoilage and wastage. Or it is better to refrigerate food one cannot finish instead of forcefully finishing it or giving it to someone to finish.

[bakasabo]

One just has to seek out nutritional value first before price.
I also think vegetables have more cheaper rates compared to always eating meat or beef which is rather expensive.

That depends from a country. There is such thing as seasons and climate. For example in north countries vegetables are always expensive. Here in Europe sometimes a 1kg of tomatoes can cost more than 1 kg of chicken or pork, especially during winter.

Seeking for a higher nutritional value isnt the best solution either. One of highest nutrition value products is salmon. I dont think that many can afford it as a daily meal for dinner and lunch. Another example - beans. They are also nutrient-rich, but would you be able to eat them all the time? several times a day, during week or month?

[Smartprofit]

Tips for saving food expenses
1. Buy raw materials as needed
2. Cooking yourself, because if you buy outside it will be more expensive
3. Collect coupons or vouchers
4. Find a food shop that is low

Besides having to choose the needs that must be purchased, you can also look for large discounts and promo prices. In my country discounts or promos are held only when there is a big event and weekend while weekday prices return to normal, therefore you should buy food ingredients for weekly to be more efficient. Whether it's happening in my country or in your country too?

Recently, I was with my girlfriend at a discount store where the prices of all products are half the price of regular grocery stores. 

We bought a bottle of milk there, sliced ​​sausage, sweet shortbreads (there was no bread in the discount store, unfortunately), tomatoes and greens.  The price came out very cheap.  We had a great picnic on the river bank! 

We also bought an excellent fruit marshmallow there - in a regular store it costs twice as much.  In my country, stores very often arrange sales of products with discounts (such products are marked with yellow price tags). 

You can also save significantly if you purchase a branded card of the store where you plan to make purchases.  This will save you a lot of money.

[GideonGono]

Actually it would depend if you live alone or if you're with your family.
If you live alone you should find a canteen that serves fresh cook meals and cheap because if you would cook for yourself the portion would be to much.
But if you live with your family buying ingredients in the market and cooking it yourself would be the most efficient way to save money on food.
Vouchers and coupon would only works on those who live alone and couldn't find a canteen.

[Mr.right85]

Actually it would depend if you live alone or if you're with your family.
If you live alone you should find a canteen that serves fresh cook meals and cheap because if you would cook for yourself the portion would be to much.
But if you live with your family buying ingredients in the market and cooking it yourself would be the most efficient way to save money on food.
Vouchers and coupon would only works on those who live alone and couldn't find a canteen.

How do you come to the conclusion that buying food from a canteen that sells cheap food is much economical than having to cook that food yourself while your living alone.
I think getting the ingredients and cooking your food yourself while living single or as a family is more economical than buy food where ever.

The only thing you have to worry about is storage. If you've got proper storage facilities, then you've got no issue. Besides, you get to eat to your satisfaction than you can do in any canteen.

You don't get to pay any transport fair or have to seek the sort of comfort you would have in your home. I doubt there would be any much comfort in a canteen that sells cheap.

[n0ne]

Actually it would depend if you live alone or if you're with your family.
If you live alone you should find a canteen that serves fresh cook meals and cheap because if you would cook for yourself the portion would be to much.
But if you live with your family buying ingredients in the market and cooking it yourself would be the most efficient way to save money on food.
Vouchers and coupon would only works on those who live alone and couldn't find a canteen.

How do you come to the conclusion that buying food from a canteen that sells cheap food is much economical than having to cook that food yourself while your living alone.
I think getting the ingredients and cooking your food yourself while living single or as a family is more economical than buy food where ever.

The only thing you have to worry about is storage. If you've got proper storage facilities, then you've got no issue. Besides, you get to eat to your satisfaction than you can do in any canteen.

You don't get to pay any transport fair or have to seek the sort of comfort you would have in your home. I doubt there would be any much comfort in a canteen that sells cheap.

Not everyone loves cooking. For all that people who keep on spending on restaurants for their food need, switching to a canteen or to Home food provider is a better choice. Probably he/she will end up spending half the amount spend on restaurants and hotels.

Another choice we friends used to practice is have our food on the sharing basis. In Asian countries main dish with some side dish is consumed. The main dish used to be less expensive and the side dish used to be costly and we can see big volume. So we buy three main dish and a side dish to be shared within us. This used to reduce the cost on food when calculated individual.

[STT]

In the economics section I was thinking on a larger scale for entire populations so hydroponics and other similar ideas to increase production.  Without a doubt we have a food shortage for a growing world.   The tokens thing is great, I like it but its short term and so what they had people do in countries with failing currency, inflation is send home government employees for 1 day a week to grow their own food.  This was their pay in lieu as the people were desperately short of the money to buy the increasingly costly imported food; that's economics and the damage when it goes wrong.

[Hamphser]

Actually it would depend if you live alone or if you're with your family.
If you live alone you should find a canteen that serves fresh cook meals and cheap because if you would cook for yourself the portion would be to much.
But if you live with your family buying ingredients in the market and cooking it yourself would be the most efficient way to save money on food.
Vouchers and coupon would only works on those who live alone and couldn't find a canteen.

How do you come to the conclusion that buying food from a canteen that sells cheap food is much economical than having to cook that food yourself while your living alone.
I think getting the ingredients and cooking your food yourself while living single or as a family is more economical than buy food where ever.

The only thing you have to worry about is storage. If you've got proper storage facilities, then you've got no issue. Besides, you get to eat to your satisfaction than you can do in any canteen.

You don't get to pay any transport fair or have to seek the sort of comfort you would have in your home. I doubt there would be any much comfort in a canteen that sells cheap.

Not everyone loves cooking. For all that people who keep on spending on restaurants for their food need, switching to a canteen or to Home food provider is a better choice. Probably he/she will end up spending half the amount spend on restaurants and hotels.

Another choice we friends used to practice is have our food on the sharing basis. In Asian countries main dish with some side dish is consumed. The main dish used to be less expensive and the side dish used to be costly and we can see big volume. So we buy three main dish and a side dish to be shared within us. This used to reduce the cost on food when calculated individual.

Im guilty with this on which im not really that fan of cooking plus my wife does have that same job hours as mine and also busy as well where we do really sleep late at night and on the time morning comes then
it would really be that tiring on making some preparation when it comes to food cooking or whatsoever and this is why we do really decide on making up some breakfast on restaurants on which we could directly
able to eat with but if we do have the time then my wife do make out preparations.This is why we cant really be able to save up with this kind of set up and does really spend up money with this kind of style.
Its true that it is really that adding up on the expense but if it do really make things efficient in terms of your work related and not that time consuming then its still a considerable act
to be done.

[AnonBitCoiner]

Everyone thinks differently but I think that purchasing food item from restaurants are more expensive than cooking that food items in home and one more benefit is that home cooked food will be more healthy as compared to the ordered one from restaurants.

everyone cannot have access towards those areas where natural fruits and vegetables are grown so it will be better to occupy a small land and then grow some fruits and vegetables there so you will easily save your money and also time will be save by avoiding going out to purchase it.

[AndyGryffindor]

I built a rocket stove to save on cooking costs and it is fun hearing the fire rumble through. Mine was built using old fire brick, 3 square cement blocks, a metal plus sign made out of rebar to create an air space that a pan can sit on and the fire can escape out of the chimney, a metal screen to provide an air gap and to aid in starting the fire, a metal cooking surface for two of the pans to rest on and mud/clay to fill in the gaps.

Dumpster diving for some sweet trash can...dy...

[Iroh]

Actually it would depend if you live alone or if you're with your family.
If you live alone you should find a canteen that serves fresh cook meals and cheap because if you would cook for yourself the portion would be to much.
But if you live with your family buying ingredients in the market and cooking it yourself would be the most efficient way to save money on food.
Vouchers and coupon would only works on those who live alone and couldn't find a canteen.

Buying in bulk and cooking your own food is cheaper and more convenient. It’s also healthier. Supposing the canteen where you normally eat cheap fresh cooked meals suddenly doesn’t open for the day or the week, you’re going to have to go hungry or go on a new journey looking for another canteen that suits your tastes and needs.

If you’re single and have to cook for yourself, Have you thought of cooking a small portion? Just enough for yourself. A better option is to get a good place where you could store perishable food items. I heard a freezer does a good job of keeping food items frozen and ready for whenever you would need them.
But you could always do whatever works for you.

[Lida93]

Coupons and promo codes



Image link:  https://i.ibb.co/NpcLm8f/promo-code.jpg

There are many websites on the internet offering promo codes and coupons for items in stores.


Student Discount



Image link:  https://i.ibb.co/CMNcQZn/student-id-discount.jpg



Foraging in the wild

There are places in the wild where fruits and vegetables grow naturally. Some are located close to official hiking trails and natural landmarks like waterfalls.

All of this is a dependant of your location. You don't expect someone living and schooling in the city to be privy things like this. OP Can you find waterfalls and wild areas on the modern cities of today?

Working part time in the food industry

The food industry is known for sometimes giving away free food and cost benefits. Bakeries and restaurants and known for throwing food away. Which employees sometimes are allowed to have.

No matter how cost effective getting food from food industries and restaurants may be painted to look like it still can't be compared to preparing the food yourself if you actually want to save cost cooking at home does much savings as you would have to have it in both quantity and quality.
Some of those foods being giving away by the restaurants are foods that are close to getting spoilt or expiration and it could be detriment to a persons health that keeps on consuming such kinds of food all in the context of saving cost.

[bakasabo]

Buying in bulk and cooking your own food is cheaper and more convenient. It’s also healthier. Supposing the canteen where you normally eat cheap fresh cooked meals suddenly doesn’t open for the day or the week, you’re going to have to go hungry or go on a new journey looking for another canteen that suits your tastes and needs.

If you’re single and have to cook for yourself, Have you thought of cooking a small portion? Just enough for yourself. A better option is to get a good place where you could store perishable food items. I heard a freezer does a good job of keeping food items frozen and ready for whenever you would need them.
But you could always do whatever works for you.

We can debate a bit about bulk buying and the fact that preparing own food is cheaper.

Of course buying in bulk saves you a lot of money, but that also force you to stick one and the same meal for a long period. Suppose you buy rice, beans, chicken breast. How long you will be able to eat that on 3 times a day for few weeks? With time, you will be fed up with that taste and go to eat outside, just to change routine, and that will kill part of savings.

Cooking own food is cheaper, when there are few ingredients. All restaurants buy flavoring, ingredients in bulk for a much lower price than normal people pay in shops. Where you buy a small can of sauce, small bags with pepper and other stuff, they buy it in huge 1-5l cans and in kilograms. If you will run out of flavoring ingredients faster than they. Faster = more money to be spend.

As to cooking a small portion - that isnt cost effective imho. Imagine how much you will spend gas, electricity and water when frying, boiling, washing + time, if you prepare meals 3 times a day vs preparing a huge pot with meal for few days.

[Smack That Ace]

Buying in bulk and cooking your own food is cheaper and more convenient. It’s also healthier. Supposing the canteen where you normally eat cheap fresh cooked meals suddenly doesn’t open for the day or the week, you’re going to have to go hungry or go on a new journey looking for another canteen that suits your tastes and needs.

If you’re single and have to cook for yourself, Have you thought of cooking a small portion? Just enough for yourself. A better option is to get a good place where you could store perishable food items. I heard a freezer does a good job of keeping food items frozen and ready for whenever you would need them.
But you could always do whatever works for you.

We can debate a bit about bulk buying and the fact that preparing own food is cheaper.

Of course buying in bulk saves you a lot of money, but that also force you to stick one and the same meal for a long period. Suppose you buy rice, beans, chicken breast. How long you will be able to eat that on 3 times a day for few weeks? With time, you will be fed up with that taste and go to eat outside, just to change routine, and that will kill part of savings.

Cooking own food is cheaper, when there are few ingredients. All restaurants buy flavoring, ingredients in bulk for a much lower price than normal people pay in shops. Where you buy a small can of sauce, small bags with pepper and other stuff, they buy it in huge 1-5l cans and in kilograms. If you will run out of flavoring ingredients faster than they. Faster = more money to be spend.

As to cooking a small portion - that isnt cost effective imho. Imagine how much you will spend gas, electricity and water when frying, boiling, washing + time, if you prepare meals 3 times a day vs preparing a huge pot with meal for few days.

Currently, I am on a business trip, and these days I eat out because I am not good at cooking and do not want to spend a lot of time cooking. I agree with what you said, cooking ourselves and small portions don't save us much. But another advantage when cooking for yourself is that you can eat the food you like, and more importantly, it is more hygienic than restaurants and sidewalks. I've had to eat out for 3 weeks, but I still haven't had a meal that really brings my appetite, and that makes my body sick and tired.

[romero121]

~
Currently, I am on a business trip, and these days I eat out because I am not good at cooking and do not want to spend a lot of time cooking. I agree with what you said, cooking ourselves and small portions don't save us much. But another advantage when cooking for yourself is that you can eat the food you like, and more importantly, it is more hygienic than restaurants and sidewalks. I've had to eat out for 3 weeks, but I still haven't had a meal that really brings my appetite, and that makes my body sick and tired.

Cooking ourselves will surely cut cost, I've personally experienced it. If you've got few more people to support, then surely it'll bring down the expense and the work load(if cooked) drastically. When consumed outside as a group we'll get variety as well as price will be low. I've travelled abroad once, and during the travel whenever I eat seperately atleast $5 is required. When we eat as a group of 3-4, it doesn't exceed $2 to $3. Unlike the location and quantity preparation of food cuts cost.

[xSkylarx]

~
Currently, I am on a business trip, and these days I eat out because I am not good at cooking and do not want to spend a lot of time cooking. I agree with what you said, cooking ourselves and small portions don't save us much. But another advantage when cooking for yourself is that you can eat the food you like, and more importantly, it is more hygienic than restaurants and sidewalks. I've had to eat out for 3 weeks, but I still haven't had a meal that really brings my appetite, and that makes my body sick and tired.

Cooking ourselves will surely cut cost, I've personally experienced it. If you've got few more people to support, then surely it'll bring down the expense and the work load(if cooked) drastically. When consumed outside as a group we'll get variety as well as price will be low. I've travelled abroad once, and during the travel whenever I eat seperately atleast $5 is required. When we eat as a group of 3-4, it doesn't exceed $2 to $3. Unlike the location and quantity preparation of food cuts cost.

If there are 3 or more people eating, then cooking is really best because you can cook more than buying the food already cooked. But in our case, we are only a family of 3, meaning 2 adults and one kid, so it is somewhat possible to save for cooking at home, but we can also buy some food outside, even if the serving is small as we are a small family. But what is best about cooking at home is that you still have food in the later part of the day, unlike buying it outside, which is just enough for one meal to eat.

[BRINIRHA]

The best way so far I have found to cut expenses on food is to go shopping with a list. For me this is the only way to resist temptation of buying something tasty just to have it, when I already have a stock of something tasty at home. Also take basket but not trolley. Large and empty trolley will make you feel uncomfortable and you will fill it less needed food. That is one of the tricks marketers use.

The way you do it is exactly what I usually do. When my husband will go shopping for weekly needs, I will first make a shopping list for him to bring. And it also makes us more effective in spending money, especially in shopping.
But for the types of vegetables and fruits, I personally have a habit of planting them at home. when our family is on holiday, we have fun planting together. So that we can find plants such as tomatoes, chilies, onions, cabbage, kale and many other types such as spices around the house without having to buy them from the market. and it is our frugal method in terms of food stocks. but we didn't grow much. just enough for our family.

Another way to cut food costs is to cut back on ready-to-eat meals. because actually ready-to-eat food is quite expensive compared to the raw materials that we have to cook first. it takes extra effort but it's effective in saving.

[Smack That Ace]

~
Currently, I am on a business trip, and these days I eat out because I am not good at cooking and do not want to spend a lot of time cooking. I agree with what you said, cooking ourselves and small portions don't save us much. But another advantage when cooking for yourself is that you can eat the food you like, and more importantly, it is more hygienic than restaurants and sidewalks. I've had to eat out for 3 weeks, but I still haven't had a meal that really brings my appetite, and that makes my body sick and tired.

Cooking ourselves will surely cut cost, I've personally experienced it. If you've got few more people to support, then surely it'll bring down the expense and the work load(if cooked) drastically. When consumed outside as a group we'll get variety as well as price will be low. I've travelled abroad once, and during the travel whenever I eat seperately atleast $5 is required. When we eat as a group of 3-4, it doesn't exceed $2 to $3. Unlike the location and quantity preparation of food cuts cost.

I agree, if we talk about cooking for ourselves and we have 3 or 4 people together, it will save us a lot of money as well as save cooking time. But if you are a busy person and live alone, you can compare cooking for yourself to eating out. You won't find the cost much different, but the cooking will take longer. But like I said, in return, cooking will ensure the safety of the meal, and we also easily choose our favorite dishes. I'm a married person, I always eat the dishes my wife cooks, and only when traveling on business, eating out is my choice.

[bakasabo]

~
Currently, I am on a business trip, and these days I eat out because I am not good at cooking and do not want to spend a lot of time cooking. I agree with what you said, cooking ourselves and small portions don't save us much. But another advantage when cooking for yourself is that you can eat the food you like, and more importantly, it is more hygienic than restaurants and sidewalks. I've had to eat out for 3 weeks, but I still haven't had a meal that really brings my appetite, and that makes my body sick and tired.

Cooking ourselves will surely cut cost, I've personally experienced it. If you've got few more people to support, then surely it'll bring down the expense and the work load(if cooked) drastically. When consumed outside as a group we'll get variety as well as price will be low. I've travelled abroad once, and during the travel whenever I eat seperately atleast $5 is required. When we eat as a group of 3-4, it doesn't exceed $2 to $3. Unlike the location and quantity preparation of food cuts cost.

I agree, if we talk about cooking for ourselves and we have 3 or 4 people together, it will save us a lot of money as well as save cooking time. But if you are a busy person and live alone, you can compare cooking for yourself to eating out. You won't find the cost much different, but the cooking will take longer. But like I said, in return, cooking will ensure the safety of the meal, and we also easily choose our favorite dishes. I'm a married person, I always eat the dishes my wife cooks, and only when traveling on business, eating out is my choice.

Also depends a lot from a location. In Europe, it is hard not to find a meal that will suit your taste and expectation. And you need to try hard to find a den when meals arent save and you will have stomach problems. Easters cuisine is different; my stomach isnt used to species they add everywhere. Eating and saving while in a business trip or simply abroad is hard if not impossible. For that cases I prefer McDonalds, because it taste everywhere the same, and they care about their reputation. Hard to get poisoned in McDonalds. And it is also cheap. For example, in my town, if you eat out, a portion of meal will cost 3-5 EUR + garnish + salad + drink and you will end with 7-10 EUR in the end. And you pay 4-5 EUR for a average meal in McDonalds (burger+drink+chips).

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

The best way so far I have found to cut expenses on food is to go shopping with a list. For me this is the only way to resist temptation of buying something tasty just to have it, when I already have a stock of something tasty at home.

Yeah, I agree with you. It's really what it is: even if you have some tasty food or items at home, you will sometimes still go shopping and buy the same things that you have at home, and you cannot return them. So, going with a list will help, just as you said. What happens to some people most of the time is that they don't also check very well in their kitchen store to see the other food items they have before going out. They can roughly make a little list of what they want to buy, but on getting to the grocery, they begin to see things that they feel they don't have, even though they have a bunch of them at home. It is good to cultivate the habit of checking for things you have and those you don't have before you carefully you Make a list.

[STT]

Ultimately if we're talking a real cut back in available cash for food, you will be making everything yourself   and/or eating super basic stuff.  Learn to cook is one of the biggest money saving methods there is, of course it takes time, skill and energy plus some tools.  Even after all that its still gigantically cheaper to cook for yourself and as a bonus almost everything tastes better freshly made.
  Any prepared food from a supermarket has been packaged and reinforced in its ingredients to survive a journey down a conveyor belt & over a week sitting on a shelf even if its refrigerated it cannot be as nice as a well cooked meal.   I say all that and Im not a good cook but if poor theres not that much choice imo; some find they do cook well and make it their job, making a cut back into an opportunity

[ChiBitCTy]

This is a great topic Hydrogen!  I'm surprised I'm just now seeing it. 

Cutting costs when it comes to food/fuel/energy ...things of this nature is something I'm very in to.  I use a lot of the methods that you've pointed out.  My grocery store has an app and a fuel savers rewards program, and I'm constantly taking advantage of it.

I always check the local papers for coupons.  I will also always do a google search before I buy anything to make sure I can't find it at a lower cost.

Buying in bulk is something that has saved me a lot of money.  For example I buy a 36 cans of Monster Energy instead of just buy 1 or 2 at a time, and that's saved me a ton of money since I drink them for work fairly often.

Walgreen a pharmacy/grocery store here in the States will often print out coupons when you go there that are  "Spend $40, get $10 in store credit".  What I do is buy $40 worth of toilet paper and paper towels and stock up.  Anytime I get the chance to make this deal, I do.  Those $10 in store credits add up!

Wal-Mart has good credit cards with great savings being passed back for food purchases.

I will think of some others and post them here as they come to me.  But great thread!

[ammo121810]

Well there are several methods to cut food costs that can help us to save money while still enjoying delicious and healthy meals. First is Plan your meals in advance. By planning your meals ahead of time you can create a shopping list and you can avoid impulse purchases. This can help you stay on budget and reduce food waste. Next is you can try to buy in bulk. Purchasing food items in bulk can be a great way to save money, especially for non perishable items like rice, beans and pasta. You can also consider buying meat in bulk and freezing it for later use. Shop sales and use coupons. Cook at home can also save money. Use cheaper cuts of meat like chicken thighs or pork shoulder can be just as delicious as more expensive cuts when cooked properly. Buy generic items can also save money. By following different methods you can reduce your food costs without sacrificing the taste or nutrition.

[bakasabo]

One of my tricks to save on food cost is not to stick to one supermarket chain. For example we have 3 big supermarket chains with lots of shops. Not all of them are located nearby, but on the way from home to work I can visit all of them. Each week they make discount brochures. And it is wise to look through them from time to time. Because when one shop offers something with a huge discount, there is a chance that in the other supermarket chain same item will be at lower price.

For example Corona beer. It cost around 1.3 EUR. One of the chains now offer it @ 99 cents and put attention to that (huge discount). While in the other chain I can get Corona this week for 89 cents. I would not go to that shop on purpose to save those 10 or 40 cents, but if I drive by, I would hope in to get some.

[uswa56]

One of my tricks to save on food cost is not to stick to one supermarket chain. For example we have 3 big supermarket chains with lots of shops. Not all of them are located nearby, but on the way from home to work I can visit all of them. Each week they make discount brochures. And it is wise to look through them from time to time. Because when one shop offers something with a huge discount, there is a chance that in the other supermarket chain same item will be at lower price.

For example Corona beer. It cost around 1.3 EUR. One of the chains now offer it @ 99 cents and put attention to that (huge discount). While in the other chain I can get Corona this week for 89 cents. I would not go to that shop on purpose to save those 10 or 40 cents, but if I drive by, I would hope in to get some.

It's a good way, sometimes I also use this way, luckily where I live close to some supermarkets and I often visit some time to buy necessities.
And also I do other ways to save on my daily food costs, such as cooking at home and others.
We all have different views on basic needs, but for me the most important thing is to be able to consume the food you want and are healthy without having to go into extravagance.

[BRINIRHA]

This is a great topic Hydrogen!  I'm surprised I'm just now seeing it. 

Cutting costs when it comes to food/fuel/energy ...things of this nature is something I'm very in to.  I use a lot of the methods that you've pointed out.  My grocery store has an app and a fuel savers rewards program, and I'm constantly taking advantage of it.

I always check the local papers for coupons.  I will also always do a google search before I buy anything to make sure I can't find it at a lower cost.

Buying in bulk is something that has saved me a lot of money.  For example I buy a 36 cans of Monster Energy instead of just buy 1 or 2 at a time, and that's saved me a ton of money since I drink them for work fairly often.

Walgreen a pharmacy/grocery store here in the States will often print out coupons when you go there that are  "Spend $40, get $10 in store credit".  What I do is buy $40 worth of toilet paper and paper towels and stock up.  Anytime I get the chance to make this deal, I do.  Those $10 in store credits add up!

Wal-Mart has good credit cards with great savings being passed back for food purchases.

I will think of some others and post them here as they come to me.  But great thread!

I like how you are also quite competent in carrying out savings methods to meet your daily needs without reducing consumption or anything like that. but you tenaciously search for information and take advantage of every discount or coupon or whatever can make you more economical.

Actually I also have a character similar to yours. I personally prefer to buy in bulk. or in another sense I prefer to buy things in large quantities at once. such as for example energy drinks, medicines, even children's snacks and some instant foods. I'm used to buying them in bulk at a time because you'll get a lower price than buying retail individually.

but for vegetables and fruits I prefer to pick them in the small garden that surrounds my yard. I made my home page into a vegetable and fruit garden which was just enough for me and my family.

[mich]

When it comes to spending money on food, I really try to save money and cut the cost of food by using the store applications where I can see the weekly special that they have. Or if I go out to get fast food, I like to sign up for the reward programs and get points and redeem them for free food.
If the fast-food place has an app to download even better for me because I can order from the app and collect my deals, point, and offers for being a member. It is a great way to not spend a lot of money while you're out on the street.
I am also a big fan of using coupons just about everywhere I like to go out and eat. If I have the right amount of time while I am out, I also try to find the happy hour specials to really save money on my food and enjoy a well-deserved meal.

[xSkylarx]

One of my tricks to save on food cost is not to stick to one supermarket chain. For example we have 3 big supermarket chains with lots of shops. Not all of them are located nearby, but on the way from home to work I can visit all of them. Each week they make discount brochures. And it is wise to look through them from time to time. Because when one shop offers something with a huge discount, there is a chance that in the other supermarket chain same item will be at lower price.

For example Corona beer. It cost around 1.3 EUR. One of the chains now offer it @ 99 cents and put attention to that (huge discount). While in the other chain I can get Corona this week for 89 cents. I would not go to that shop on purpose to save those 10 or 40 cents, but if I drive by, I would hope in to get some.

Planning out your grocery shopping is really best because you can really save. Let's say that no matter if it is cheaper at another supermarket if you are driving long, it is still useless with your time and gas. It is better to go to a nearby supermarket as it is more expensive on gas than saving cents. That is also what I've done, as well as looking for coupons that I can use to get discounts. Also, it is really best if you can just walk or run to the supermarket, like if you need to buy small pieces while you are exercising, or you can also do cycling, as it is an exercise and you can save up gas.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

Have we taken time check on the cost we use on food items over the course of the week and a month and compare to the rate of our income and what we have to save up at the end of the day, there are sometimes we will need to pay some sacrifice in other to be able to meet up with some basic financial needs and cut the rate we spend on food items and how some of them waste away in thin air, there must be proper way of storage for this food items in other for them to last longer to our satisfaction than going shortage when they spoil.

[bayu7adi]

I do enjoy having food coupons and promos from restaurants, but I don't monitor them all the time. The majority of restaurants that offer coupons tend to be expensive. However, there are still places where you can find delicious, nutritious, generous portions of food at an affordable price.

What I do is constantly survey different dining establishments. I tend to avoid junk food and prefer buying fish or chicken meat to complement my daily nutrition.

In fact, when food prices are on the rise, I lean towards purchasing raw ingredients and cooking them myself. It's cheaper, and the price difference can be quite significant.

As for emergency food supplies, I often opt to make bulk purchases from wholesale stores. My go-to emergency food items usually consist of canned sardines, sausages, and instant noodles.

[Fortify]

Food Delivery

Walmart, target and other large retailers offering food delivery services were offering big sales for delivery only. Not certain whether the trend will continue into the future but it was nice while it lasted.

edit:
Learning to hunt and fish

Give a man a fish, and you might feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you could feed him for a lifetime.

While it seems that hobbies like hunting and fishing are on a decline. Perhaps current era food prices are exactly what they need to make a return?

Foraging in the wild

There are places in the wild where fruits and vegetables grow naturally. Some are located close to official hiking trails and natural landmarks like waterfalls.

Working part time in the food industry

The food industry is known for sometimes giving away free food and cost benefits. Bakeries and restaurants and known for throwing food away. Which employees sometimes are allowed to have.

....

What are other good methods of cutting costs on food items?

Shopping around, paying particular attention to the prices of certain items in different shops can add up to a huge difference over time, but in can vary so much based on the country your in and the different competition available. Saying "stick with Amazon" might be an ok strategy in the middle of nowhere in America, but in Europe you would now be overpaying based on the jacked up prices they seem to place on things. One other important thing: Pay particular attention to the special offers that you are picking up, this may be more of an issue with specific retailers, but several times lately I've caught special promotional items not coming up with the right price when you come to pay and having to tell them to fix the price to what is advertised.

[Iroh]

As to cooking a small portion - that isnt cost effective imho. Imagine how much you will spend gas, electricity and water when frying, boiling, washing + time, if you prepare meals 3 times a day vs preparing a huge pot with meal for few days.

Cooking a smaller portion isn’t really time effective but it could be considered cost effective and I had been replying to someone else who mentioned that they were single and I mentioned they could cook a smaller portion as it would be for just one individual.
Personally, I think it’s much better to cook in larger quantities and then store these foods in a freezer. Whenever you’re hungry, you could take the quantity needed and put the rest back.

[Fatunad]

As to cooking a small portion - that isnt cost effective imho. Imagine how much you will spend gas, electricity and water when frying, boiling, washing + time, if you prepare meals 3 times a day vs preparing a huge pot with meal for few days.

Cooking a smaller portion isn’t really time effective but it could be considered cost effective and I had been replying to someone else who mentioned that they were single and I mentioned they could cook a smaller portion as it would be for just one individual.
Personally, I think it’s much better to cook in larger quantities and then store these foods in a freezer. Whenever you’re hungry, you could take the quantity needed and put the rest back.

Not all would really be having that kind of mindset or preferred things when it comes to food because there are people who do much prefer on eating warm and newly cooked food than on food which are stored already on the fridge which we know that reheating them would really be affecting its taste and we know that there are people who are really that sensitive when it comes to food taste. This is why they wont really be bothered on using up their gas tank on cooking as long they could really eat on what they do want to eat on whats been cooked on point and not something that its already be cold and then get some preheat.
Cost effective? not all wouldnt really be minding if the difference is really just that small and not all people would really be that lazy on not to cook their own food and the time being spent.
For some cases then it might be that relevant but not all the time people would really be loving its taste and this is why they do really cooked up on active manner.

[Kadal Ijo]

It cannot be denied anymore that the price of food will continue to increase due to many factors, apart from the decreasing land for agriculture, another thing is the weather which is difficult to predict, in my country, which used to be the rainy season, but news of drought has occurred in many places, making it even more difficult for farmers.

[xSkylarx]

It cannot be denied anymore that the price of food will continue to increase due to many factors, apart from the decreasing land for agriculture, another thing is the weather which is difficult to predict, in my country, which used to be the rainy season, but news of drought has occurred in many places, making it even more difficult for farmers.

I remember before that when the month of April to June takes place, it is very hot and all of us are going to the beach, but right now, they declare it a rainy season, which is true, and the rain is very heavy and can affect all the crops as well as cause floods. This is really due to climate change, which we should start to prevent by planting trees, but again, this will only be solved if we unite to do it.

[CarnagexD]

Coupons and promo codes

Am I the only one who hates those? We've had "bonus cards" for years, and once in a while coupons to use or stickers to collect. Now more and more supermarkets are switching to apps to give you discounts spy on you and give you notifications. I really hate the fact that they overprice items, unless you join their marketing scheme that's designed to tie you to their shop.

Exactly. There are also other things you can cut costs like the unessential to your living. So why would you save so much money on food? I mean, you work hard to make money and have something on your table yet someone is being so frugal on their food. Instead cut costs from your shopping lists, on your branded shoes or clothes. Then put more money on foods that enter your stomach and make a better well-being.

[Asuspawer09]

Most of the methods would depend on what country place etc, you are in but in my situation, most of this would not work in my opinion. There was no choice in this you can't really cut food costs I guess since it's food also you can't really sacrifice your health in the first place so you should either do something to earn a higher salary, or cut the cost of other things on the budget, food should be the last resort if you don't really earn enough.

I mean there are alternatives without sacrificing your health you could find healthy but cheaper food options instead of eating at a restaurant you could just prepare your own food or something like that.

Coupons and promo codes were really rare in my country I didn't even experience having one, student discount was great if you are a student I just realize that its really helpful because now I have work and this small discount is really useful, Amazon shipping will make the cost higher and probably not great for international, Food delivery here in my country cost a lot more compared when your going to buy it on the store, you cant hunt anything on urban places, working on food industry is not an option I cant sacrifice my not so good job just for a little bit of food.

[Gozie51]

It cannot be denied anymore that the price of food will continue to increase due to many factors, apart from the decreasing land for agriculture, another thing is the weather which is difficult to predict, in my country, which used to be the rainy season, but news of drought has occurred in many places, making it even more difficult for farmers.

Climate change is really affecting the way we use to know the weather and that is actually affecting planting season. The environment has changed and we are having late planting because you have to wait for the rain for quite a long time down to mid may and June before you begin to see more rain in July but in the past sometimes you begin to see the rain towards march ending gradually and April to May will be more severe rain fall. This change is having adverse effects on agriculture except those who do irrigation but that is still not sufficient for the country because more hands are needed to be involved in planting but because the rain is not sufficient, some people stay away from farming.

[slapper]

Most of the methods would depend on what country place etc, you are in but in my situation, most of this would not work in my opinion. There was no choice in this you can't really cut food costs I guess since it's food also you can't really sacrifice your health in the first place so you should either do something to earn a higher salary, or cut the cost of other things on the budget, food should be the last resort if you don't really earn enough.

I mean there are alternatives without sacrificing your health you could find healthy but cheaper food options instead of eating at a restaurant you could just prepare your own food or something like that.

Coupons and promo codes were really rare in my country I didn't even experience having one, student discount was great if you are a student I just realize that its really helpful because now I have work and this small discount is really useful, Amazon shipping will make the cost higher and probably not great for international, Food delivery here in my country cost a lot more compared when your going to buy it on the store, you cant hunt anything on urban places, working on food industry is not an option I cant sacrifice my not so good job just for a little bit of food.

Nice take, mate. Food is essential, so cutting back should be a last choice. I believe we can be creative and constructive with our consumption without jeopardizing our health. Meal planning and cooking at home can save money, teach, and inspire. Potluck dinners may make it a social event. It may promote community. No promo codes or coupons? Have you considered blockchain technology's role? Imagine a blockchain-based food cooperative that allowed Bitcoin purchases from local farmers. Eliminating middlemen might cut costs and guarantee fresh, wholesome produce. It would redefine "farm-to-table"

[tjtonmoy]

What are other good methods of cutting costs on food items?

I think growing our own foods will cut the cost to the finest. If you have the ability and land to grow your own food, then that's the best way to save some money. Growing your own foods takes time, but once you start and get success, you will know how it's going to affect your life. Once the cycle starts, we can preserve foods for later use while growing new ones. Everything that we get from the market is filled with chemicals. Own food will ensure chemical-free items that are good for health too. 

Now many will say that they do not have enough space and land to grow their own. But do some research and you can find many ideas on how to grow food indoors. You can use many strategies to do it with success.

One more idea is to get it straight from the dealers and buy it in bulk. Those food items can be kept for a long time, you can buy them in bulk and store them for later use. This will cut the cost too. Not much but it will help for sure.

[dothebeats]

Ultimately if we're talking a real cut back in available cash for food, you will be making everything yourself   and/or eating super basic stuff.  Learn to cook is one of the biggest money saving methods there is, of course it takes time, skill and energy plus some tools.  Even after all that its still gigantically cheaper to cook for yourself and as a bonus almost everything tastes better freshly made.
  Any prepared food from a supermarket has been packaged and reinforced in its ingredients to survive a journey down a conveyor belt & over a week sitting on a shelf even if its refrigerated it cannot be as nice as a well cooked meal.   I say all that and Im not a good cook but if poor theres not that much choice imo; some find they do cook well and make it their job, making a cut back into an opportunity

I agree, you do make a great suggestion here. Aside from the tools and basic supplies needed for cooking, the basic ingredients can be personally supplied. Essentially, to be able to cut food costs you need to be resourceful, clever and hard working. You need to make effort to think and plan your meals and ensure you are not going over the planned cost for that meal.

[Broly46]

Don't do it, you would remorse to your action, you can cut food cost and goes for questionable food, artificial meats, labmade eggs, labmade vegetable, but your stomach would be very honest to your action, it would react accordingly and send you great (suffering) pleasure.

[bakasabo]

Ultimately if we're talking a real cut back in available cash for food, you will be making everything yourself   and/or eating super basic stuff.  Learn to cook is one of the biggest money saving methods there is, of course it takes time, skill and energy plus some tools.  Even after all that its still gigantically cheaper to cook for yourself and as a bonus almost everything tastes better freshly made.
  Any prepared food from a supermarket has been packaged and reinforced in its ingredients to survive a journey down a conveyor belt & over a week sitting on a shelf even if its refrigerated it cannot be as nice as a well cooked meal.   I say all that and Im not a good cook but if poor theres not that much choice imo; some find they do cook well and make it their job, making a cut back into an opportunity

I agree, you do make a great suggestion here. Aside from the tools and basic supplies needed for cooking, the basic ingredients can be personally supplied. Essentially, to be able to cut food costs you need to be resourceful, clever and hard working. You need to make effort to think and plan your meals and ensure you are not going over the planned cost for that meal.

Actually, making everything yourself isnt the best strategy to cut food costs either. Here is why. First of all, you need to buy lots of intermediate ingredients like spices. You dont usually buy them in bulk or in huge volumes. Restaurants or food producers buy them in huge volumes and with discounts. For example you buy 1kg of sugar for 2 EUR, while they buy 50kg sack for 30 EUR. The key to cut food cost is to make meals for whole week and only heat a part that you gonna eat. Making everything yourself, each day a new meal will make you bankrupt faster compared if you would eat at small restaurants daily.

[dothebeats]

Hence why I said that a proper meal plan should be made. That includes knowing how far the food will last and how much you should be spending in a specific time span. Moreover, the meal plan will also tell you which ingredients should be replaced for a cheaper alternative and which can be completely drop. It is true that cooking everyday will be more expensive, hence I stated that one should be a responsible meal planner if they want to make their food by themselves.

[Peanutswar]

Hence why I said that a proper meal plan should be made. That includes knowing how far the food will last and how much you should be spending in a specific time span. Moreover, the meal plan will also tell you which ingredients should be replaced for a cheaper alternative and which can be completely drop. It is true that cooking everyday will be more expensive, hence I stated that one should be a responsible meal planner if they want to make their food by themselves.

We know that if there's a possible coming we people are accumulating a food as they can so we have a lot of resources and they don't need to go outside just to be part of the newcomers who are late to stock up with food in terms of conditioning of the family sources we can't deny this always happen there's some family consumes a lot of foods for their daily basis and its too hard to them to make stop immediately because of sudden lack of supplies so might bring them sick, at the early times better to make sure you are aware to the food consumption not always oversupply or over with the food is great there are tons of people now getting sick of due to obesity. If you have still consciousness with your self I guess its never been too late to manage food properly.

[DeathAngel]

There are lots of things you can do to cut food costs, it’s important too with the massive increase in cost of living. A good way to start is start by meal planning and creating a shopping list based on what you already have. Buy in bulk as it's often cheaper per unit. Shop for groceries during sales and use coupons whenever possible. Avoid buying pre packaged or convenience foods as they tend to be more expensive. Cook at home if you can instead of eating out and try to incorporate more plant based meals which are cheaper. You can reduce food waste by properly storing leftovers and using them in future meals.

[safar1980]

Proper nutrition is the foundation of good health. Good medicine is very expensive everywhere and the wrong diet can make you spend a lot of money on medicine later. It is better to rent cheaper accommodation or give up a car or entertainment. You can also save on other things, treat clothes more carefully.

[Texac]

Proper nutrition is the foundation of good health. Good medicine is very expensive everywhere and the wrong diet can make you spend a lot of money on medicine later. It is better to rent cheaper accommodation or give up a car or entertainment. You can also save on other things, treat clothes more carefully.

But I think people will do the opposite of what you say because people always value appearance, always want to be luxurious in the eyes of others.  therefore, they are willing to eat poor quality meals and even starve themselves to get beautiful clothes, high-end phones… or any jewelry others see. That's what's happening today, looks take precedence over health, which is especially true in Gen Z.

[BRINIRHA]

Don't do it, you would remorse to your action, you can cut food cost and goes for questionable food, artificial meats, labmade eggs, labmade vegetable, but your stomach would be very honest to your action, it would react accordingly and send you great (suffering) pleasure.

Well cutting the cost of eating in a way that is not true will certainly be detrimental to our health. And the best investment is to keep our bodies fit and live healthy until old age. So of course maintaining a diet and intake of nutritious food is very necessary. So limiting certain foods is really not recommended. But cutting food costs can still be done as long as we are willing to work harder in this regard. Namely by growing their own plants that we usually consume. such as vegetables and fruits that we usually buy from the market. We can plant it ourselves in the yard or on the empty land that we have. And I have been doing this for a long time. I have plants in my yard. so I don't have to shop for vegetables at the market. And it can save my finances so I can save more But planting plants is not something everyone can do. Because the type of work and place of residence of each person is different. People who work late at night will certainly not have time to plant crops. and people who do not have a yard also have no place to plant. Well, the point is that for some people, the way I do can't be applied.

[uneng]

I cut the cost of food by exploring the city where I live for cheap alternatives of ready meals. I reached to the conclusion it doesn't worth very much to prepare the meals myself, because besides the costs being almost the same I still spend a lot of time on it (preparing and cleaning everything later). I can have lunch for about 2,40$, and as it comes with a lot of food sometimes I still have a meal for the dinner (I just add 2 eggs and a portion of bacon, if possible, to reinforce the proteins).

There is also cheap pizza with 8 slices for 6$, which is enough for two meals, so each meal of pizza costs 3$. That is good, because when you get tired of a kind of food you have another cheap options to try.

[Mame89]

when it comes to the need for food every day, it is indeed one of the biggest expenses in each month, I feel that I lack the monthly money that I get from work to meet my daily food needs. But even so, I apply several ways to save food money every day properly so that I have enough shopping money.

1. I always make a menu plan before shopping for the ingredients I need in a week or every day. That way I will buy groceries according to the menu that I have set to set the meal menu. That way I can prevent overspending on groceries I don't need.

2. Reducing meal times, for example from three times a day to two times a day. Because with this method, we can save a lot of money on food costs every day. This is not being stingy with yourself, it's just to be wise in financial matters.

3. Lowering the quality of food ingredients has also been my choice so far and I have started to change my lifestyle in consuming food. If in the past I always ate meat dishes, now I can replace tempeh and tofu side dishes or other cheap side dishes, or I also change the brand of ingredients such as oil or rice so they are cheaper, but the benefits and efficacy are still the same.

4. Cook yourself at home, because if you buy food outside you can add more expenses. So that you can save on cooking every day is a wise choice. So if I often shop for groceries at the market, I only spend $ 10, I can buy vegetables and side dishes. I can also cook two or three times a day.

5. The most important thing of all is that there must be commitment and discipline within us. For this reason, be committed and disciplined in using food costs according to plan, and not buying goods beyond the stated needs, even though they are in a promotional period.

This helps me a lot in saving on food costs, with these savings we have more funds to use for other useful things like investing in bitcoins.

[cabron]

Grow your veggies in your backyard, this is the best solution just as some preppers are saying. It's not difficult to do since there are already tutorials on how to grow bitter gourd, beans, and some tomatoes or cabbage. I have potatoes planted in a container and after 5 months, I already got sacks of potatoes. I chose potatoes because I wanna have chips of my own.

Cutting food costs doesn't need to compromise health by eating only canned goods.

[BenCodie]

The tips are fine, though there is only so much that you can save on food. More significant costs of wants are probably a better thing to target than food, your nutrition is important.

Energy
Use candles, keep your lights off, use your phone torch. It's getting expensive to power the world, and your home, so find alternatives. Charge your phone out of home or at work, use blankets instead of heating, keep lights off, less TV (brain benefits tremendously from this one), optimize your computer monitor's energy settings...these small things add up.

Gas
Be more cost efficient. Is your store less than a mile away? Walk. Can you take public transport services to your destination and is the fee less than gas consumption? Take it. These small inconveniences have health and cost benefits.

Social cutbacks
This doesn't mean withdrawing from friends and family, but pursuing cheaper or costless alternatives instead of eating out, going to the movies, shopping, etc. Go to the park, do a nice dinner at home, visit a public event, etc.

Phone data bill
These days, if you're not a drone who consumes mass video content from Facebook, Instagram, tiktok, twitter, etc. You can get by with less than 10gb of mobile data. If you're repaying a phone, next time buy one second hand upfront to alleviate that monthly cost, and change to a mobile data company that gives you unlimited local calling and texting + <10GB data. You will be surprised at the cost difference and you will probably not miss the additional data. Unfortunately, this is very difficult if you use social media or watch streaming services from your phone, though this is a habit that can also be cut out.

Gym membership
You can do just as good of a session with park equipment, body weight, natural weights, etc. If you create a routine that is free, you might be able to cut this cost.

Fast food & delivery services
If you're still eating fast food or using delivery services, you can't possibly argue that you're trying to cut back.

Ride sharing
Unless you're stuck with no way home, then there is always public transport, your legs, a bicycle, etc. Ridesharing is expensive and unless you absolutely need it, don't use it.

Subscriptions
Subscriptions for music, movies, TV shows, etc. No one needs it. If you're cutting back, find another healthier habit than consuming content and save money by doing so.

Add up the results from all of this advice and report back your saving in 6 months!

[serveria.com]

Coupons and promo codes



Image link:  https://i.ibb.co/NpcLm8f/promo-code.jpg

There are many websites on the internet offering promo codes and coupons for items in stores.


Student Discount



Image link:  https://i.ibb.co/CMNcQZn/student-id-discount.jpg

Students can receive many discounts by showing their student ID.


Amazon

Amazon has good deals on food items with free shipping.


Food Delivery

Walmart, target and other large retailers offering food delivery services were offering big sales for delivery only. Not certain whether the trend will continue into the future but it was nice while it lasted.

edit:


Learning to hunt and fish

Give a man a fish, and you might feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you could feed him for a lifetime.

While it seems that hobbies like hunting and fishing are on a decline. Perhaps current era food prices are exactly what they need to make a return?


Foraging in the wild

There are places in the wild where fruits and vegetables grow naturally. Some are located close to official hiking trails and natural landmarks like waterfalls.


Working part time in the food industry

The food industry is known for sometimes giving away free food and cost benefits. Bakeries and restaurants and known for throwing food away. Which employees sometimes are allowed to have.

....


What are other good methods of cutting costs on food items?

Good tips! Coupons can really help you save. I can add: learn to cook and eat at home instead of eating out. If you live in a country where food costs more than in the neighboring countries and you live not far away from border, you could travel to a neighboring country now and then to buy groceries there. Also try to shop weekly instead of daily, and always make a shopping list as it helps to avoid spontaneous purchases. Just my 2c.

[Smartvirus]

Grow your veggies in your backyard, this is the best solution just as some preppers are saying. It's not difficult to do since there are already tutorials on how to grow bitter gourd, beans, and some tomatoes or cabbage. I have potatoes planted in a container and after 5 months, I already got sacks of potatoes. I chose potatoes because I wanna have chips of my own.

Cutting food costs doesn't need to compromise health by eating only canned goods.

One of the greatest discomfort one encounters from the agro based side to living is the time it takes for the crops to grow to maturity and the loads of work that is required to run the farm. These, a lot of people don’t want to be involved with but, it’s the sad truth.
You can’t hope to cut cost on food when you go about buying all that you eat. That’s not being cost intensive.

The good news about farming these days is that, you don’t always need land. You could work something out with any space you’ve got, give it some lighting, plant between deep and shallow rooted crops, proper irrigation while, you redirect some of those funds some place else.

[romero121]

Grow your veggies in your backyard, this is the best solution just as some preppers are saying. It's not difficult to do since there are already tutorials on how to grow bitter gourd, beans, and some tomatoes or cabbage. I have potatoes planted in a container and after 5 months, I already got sacks of potatoes. I chose potatoes because I wanna have chips of my own.

Cutting food costs doesn't need to compromise health by eating only canned goods.

One of the greatest discomfort one encounters from the agro based side to living is the time it takes for the crops to grow to maturity and the loads of work that is required to run the farm. These, a lot of people don’t want to be involved with but, it’s the sad truth.
You can’t hope to cut cost on food when you go about buying all that you eat. That’s not being cost intensive.

The good news about farming these days is that, you don’t always need land. You could work something out with any space you’ve got, give it some lighting, plant between deep and shallow rooted crops, proper irrigation while, you redirect some of those funds some place else.

These days we've got more and more ways to grow plants and necessary food crops within the available space. Not many show interest and this is for the people who are at the urban. In the rural region it is really tough to make people get adopted to such things. As they'll be following the traditional way of cultivation and never move into such advancements considering many factors. As mentioned agriculture in the limited space will make people self reliant in meeting their daily food needs.

[STT]

They are throwing away a ton of food more often in a 1st world country the actual source of food is not uncommon like that despite inflation some of it is attributable to waste.  The reason being massive amounts of red tape in modern economies force the companies to throw away usable food, its less costly for them not to take the risk of hosting anything they could face prosecution for.   Alot of bread just goes off, it used to be loaded with preservatives but these are removed and the bread goes off early for example.  Stale bread can goto into soup for example, any chef will know ideas like this all good.
   So if people are genuinely poor it should be possible to spend time tracking down the wastage of food and obtaining a small amount to eat.  Its a strange dynamic but its not totally new.  I worked in food production some decades ago and one of my colleagues would take the spoiled food which often was only cake with marked icing not any other perfection and he would repackage then sell it at market.   He was a basic worker driving a BMW because of that, just basic initiative.

[KiaKia]

If there are such offers in my country I will run for my life, because it's either the foods are stolen or they use something else to prepare the food, in my country even human parts are used to prepare food, if I have to advice anyone coming to my country I will tell them not to eat food outside, they should buy food items and prepare the food themselves.

Only those in foreign countries will enjoy discounts off food items they purchase, it's not going to happen in so many countries, food is very costly here and that's why many people just prepare food anyhow and sell to people who have no idea what's happening around them.

The best method to cut of food prices is to start planting them yourself, most homes have spaces or backyard, it's a good way to cut down the expenses on food.

[edy_58]

What are other good methods of cutting costs on food items?

Maybe it's too obvious, but learning how to cook from basic ingredients and herbs/spices will save you a heck of a lot of money over buying prepared meals. Not to mention it is better for the environment (less plastic packaging) and can be done in bulk to get several meals for the future. It's a very useful skill to have and might even get you a job as a cook if you found it more interesting. Most people go for the ready meal type food, which can be packed with a lot of preservatives and unnecessary chemicals to extend the life of the food, which might not be so good for your health. The only slight downside is it takes a little longer to prepare, but like anything you practice, it gets faster and faster - plus the food can often come out much tastier.

I'm more interested in preparing my own food to save on food costs than looking for discounts, as you said a meal we prepared ourselves would be tastier and we could choose fresh ingredients for us to prepare.

[posi]

What are other good methods of cutting costs on food items?

Maybe it's too obvious, but learning how to cook from basic ingredients and herbs/spices will save you a heck of a lot of money over buying prepared meals. Not to mention it is better for the environment (less plastic packaging) and can be done in bulk to get several meals for the future. It's a very useful skill to have and might even get you a job as a cook if you found it more interesting. Most people go for the ready meal type food, which can be packed with a lot of preservatives and unnecessary chemicals to extend the life of the food, which might not be so good for your health. The only slight downside is it takes a little longer to prepare, but like anything you practice, it gets faster and faster - plus the food can often come out much tastier.

I'm more interested in preparing my own food to save on food costs than looking for discounts, as you said a meal we prepared ourselves would be tastier and we could choose fresh ingredients for us to prepare.

If you combine both discount shopping and cooking for yourself, cutting food costs will be more effective. But in return, it will take you quite a bit of time to do the above two things and for many people it is an unnecessary waste of time. To be able to go to the market to buy food and process it into dishes also takes a few hours. That will be quite a precious time for many people, so they will choose to eat processed foods to save time. It can be said that each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on the choice of each person.

[xSkylarx]

What are other good methods of cutting costs on food items?

Maybe it's too obvious, but learning how to cook from basic ingredients and herbs/spices will save you a heck of a lot of money over buying prepared meals. Not to mention it is better for the environment (less plastic packaging) and can be done in bulk to get several meals for the future. It's a very useful skill to have and might even get you a job as a cook if you found it more interesting. Most people go for the ready meal type food, which can be packed with a lot of preservatives and unnecessary chemicals to extend the life of the food, which might not be so good for your health. The only slight downside is it takes a little longer to prepare, but like anything you practice, it gets faster and faster - plus the food can often come out much tastier.

I'm more interested in preparing my own food to save on food costs than looking for discounts, as you said a meal we prepared ourselves would be tastier and we could choose fresh ingredients for us to prepare.

If you combine both discount shopping and cooking for yourself, cutting food costs will be more effective. But in return, it will take you quite a bit of time to do the above two things and for many people it is an unnecessary waste of time. To be able to go to the market to buy food and process it into dishes also takes a few hours. That will be quite a precious time for many people, so they will choose to eat processed foods to save time. It can be said that each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on the choice of each person.

If you are into your time, then you don't have other choices but to just buy ready-meal foods and just heat them or those foods that can be easily cooked, but unlike us, we need to cook in our own kitchens just to save money and also to save time for later parts of the day. Just like if you cook food for lunch and there are still left-overs for dinner that are still eatable and just need to be reheated, it still saves you time as well as money.

[slapper]

~snip~

If you combine both discount shopping and cooking for yourself, cutting food costs will be more effective. But in return, it will take you quite a bit of time to do the above two things and for many people it is an unnecessary waste of time. To be able to go to the market to buy food and process it into dishes also takes a few hours. That will be quite a precious time for many people, so they will choose to eat processed foods to save time. It can be said that each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on the choice of each person.

What if we flipped the 'obligation' of going grocery shopping and preparing meals into a "opportunity"? Consider the time commitment of going grocery shopping and preparing a meal: three hours! Now, what if you look at these jobs as a chance to get away from the daily grind, listen to your favorite podcast, or even catch up on audiobooks? Don't give up on it just yet, even if some people do think it's insane. The game may be altered if these drudgeries were transformed into play. The food will also be healthier and less expensive. It seems like a win-win to me. Even if you're not a fan, having a ready-made meal on hand for those hectic days is a godsend. What if, though, you enjoy the process of chopping onions and smashing garlic?

[Broly46]

...keep our bodies fit and live healthy...

Civilized lifestyle is forcing everybody to work so much more efficiently that it is totally unhealthy, civilized disease such as depression, sleep deprivation, work life balance. I know boss love to shame about how youth are lazy, they just want to blame everything else for their own fault. They should look at the mirror and reflect themselve, how people used to work a 9-5 and one guy could afford a full family, which is totally unheard of to zoomers.

...limiting certain foods is really not recommended...

In fact, taking too much food is not healthy too, there is no study would support eating a lot of food or suggest you to how much food intake is great for a person, in fact we should consume as little foods as possible, too much foods is bad to your body, because your body would need to work hard to digest the food, when your food is bad and you eat plenty of them, you are just double down on killing your body digestive system by forcing it to work hard and digest a lot of junk food, what do you think would you got? You would get kidney failure, colons cancers and all sort of digestive system disease.

My wisdom is too eat as little as possible, but also take a lot of sleep, you won't need a lot of food when you sleep a lot more, it is very scientifically proven fact. you can sleep 12 hours a day, when you are sleeping, you are helping your body greatly, it is important to note your bowel only start to move shit around when you are sleeping, and by the time you wake up you immediately feel like going to shit because that is exactly how detoxication work during the sleep, if you don't get plenty of sleep, the reverse would be true, the shit keep building up in your bowel and not moving, disease slowly build up, and all sort of sickness would come to haunt you quickly. Also when you sleep a lot, you won't feel as hungry as fat guy craving for xxl size burger, since you save a lot of energy on sleeping, your body do not need so much energy from food, thus doesn't get hungry and craving food like mindless zombies.

...growing their own plants that...

It may help if you have the required know how and are passionate about growing the best crops. But honestly you won't be able to find a lot more improvement from the crop. People like to boost about how their food are better and healthier than the existing food, you are looking at may be 0.1% of gain or less, a typical beef and wagyu beef are very much the same beef and meat, but a wagyu beef could fetch 100x more price than normal beef, do you really believe wagyu beef has 100x better than a typical beef? Unlimited growth potential on a piece of beef meat? Nope, wagyu beef might be just 0.5% better than typical beef when it come to chemical composition, there is exactly the same except a lot of hype and mark up price.

[Ahli38]

I'm more interested in preparing my own food to save on food costs than looking for discounts, as you said a meal we prepared ourselves would be tastier and we could choose fresh ingredients for us to prepare.

Preparing our own food from fresh ingredients that we buy directly from the market does have a pretty good level of efficiency in saving on the spending budget. Because the price of raw materials is much cheaper than ready-to-eat food. So, preferring to cook raw ingredients and make delicious food according to our taste is a good initiative. But of course this only applies to those who have enough time to prepare for it. Because besides requiring more effort, of course, cooking your own food also requires more time. In saving our shopping budget, we can also have quite a lot of discounted prices when we buy instant food in large quantities at once. Of course, this must be durable food ingredients. between the wholesale price and the retail price there is actually a fairly large price difference. So buying in bulk (wholesale) can make us get a lower price if recalculated as a unit.

[icalical]

If you are in the big city joining membership to get a coupon and discount is the best way to reduce spending on food, but if you are life in a countryside, there is an option to cut the distribution, went straight to the farmers market instead of supermarket, the price should be less. It can got even cheaper if you buy in bulk.

[xSkylarx]

If you are in the big city joining membership to get a coupon and discount is the best way to reduce spending on food, but if you are life in a countryside, there is an option to cut the distribution, went straight to the farmers market instead of supermarket, the price should be less. It can got even cheaper if you buy in bulk.

Membership is good because when it is a holiday, you'll get a discount, but you still need to pay for a membership. I still prefer the coupons that the supermarket gives to customers. Also in the city, there are still farmers markets, where food is way cheaper and fresher than in supermarkets. Mostly on the country side, there are really farmers markets, or you'll plan your own food, which you can get, and you'll know that it's safe because there's no pesticide you'll put into it.

[dothebeats]

If you are in the big city joining membership to get a coupon and discount is the best way to reduce spending on food, but if you are life in a countryside, there is an option to cut the distribution, went straight to the farmers market instead of supermarket, the price should be less. It can got even cheaper if you buy in bulk.

Membership is good because when it is a holiday, you'll get a discount, but you still need to pay for a membership. I still prefer the coupons that the supermarket gives to customers. Also in the city, there are still farmers markets, where food is way cheaper and fresher than in supermarkets. Mostly on the country side, there are really farmers markets, or you'll plan your own food, which you can get, and you'll know that it's safe because there's no pesticide you'll put into it.

Farmers markets are great way to get fresh foods for a cheap price which a lot of people takes for granted. I also noticed how people find it embarrassing to use coupons to get discounts and promos for their stuff which is ridiculous to me cause they exist for a reason and can really help in cutting food costs.

[flyingcarpet]

If you are in the big city joining membership to get a coupon and discount is the best way to reduce spending on food, but if you are life in a countryside, there is an option to cut the distribution, went straight to the farmers market instead of supermarket, the price should be less. It can got even cheaper if you buy in bulk.

Membership is good because when it is a holiday, you'll get a discount, but you still need to pay for a membership. I still prefer the coupons that the supermarket gives to customers. Also in the city, there are still farmers markets, where food is way cheaper and fresher than in supermarkets. Mostly on the country side, there are really farmers markets, or you'll plan your own food, which you can get, and you'll know that it's safe because there's no pesticide you'll put into it.

Farmers markets are great way to get fresh foods for a cheap price which a lot of people takes for granted. I also noticed how people find it embarrassing to use coupons to get discounts and promos for their stuff which is ridiculous to me cause they exist for a reason and can really help in cutting food costs.

It is very difficult to find fresh produce every day because the same wholesaler supplies the supermarkets in my area. So if you cannot find fresh produce in one market, you cannot find it in another market. Since it is not easy to keep up with the logistics network of the big supermarkets, no other wholesaler can enter this market.

It is best to buy products from farmers' markets. You have the opportunity to talk directly to the producer and you can get the product you want without adding too much price to it like in the market. If you start shopping regularly at farmers' markets, you will have access to fresher and better quality products.

[bakasabo]

Farmers markets are great way to get fresh foods for a cheap price which a lot of people takes for granted.

This must be different from country to country. In my country, vegetables and fruits on the market have the same or even higher price than in huge store chains. While meat or pastry quality is lower than in store chains. This is because store chains buy in bulk for a low price from farmers. But if farmer wants to trade his crops himself, he includes in price transportation and fee for a market place. But I agree that farmers markets are good way to economize on food price, sadly there arent much markets left in huge cities.

[DYING_S0UL]

Short Answer: FARM what you need.


Long Answer: Saving on food costs entirely depends on where you live. If you live in a developed country, you don't need to save that much money. It's not like your country has a lot of economic crises. Then you won't be called a developed country.

But for me, my country is still developing, and we have poverty, economic problems, etc. So saving up for costs is essential for our survival.

Now I will get to my point. Even if we are poor, we all have a piece of land, and we are still struggling. It's not like we get a lot for selling land. But if we were to use the land, we could save a lot. Like ourselves, we don't have to go to big supermarkets or markets to buy food items. We would simply farm what we needed, and sometimes we could sell the extras for a profit. You don't even need a lot of land to do so. Just a small piece of land is enough.

[Betwrong]

Coupons and promo codes

Am I the only one who hates those? We've had "bonus cards" for years, and once in a while coupons to use or stickers to collect. Now more and more supermarkets are switching to apps to give you discounts spy on you and give you notifications. I really hate the fact that they overprice items, unless you join their marketing scheme that's designed to tie you to their shop.

This is what I've noticed too. In one supermarket you buy "3 bottles of oil for the price of 2", but in another one you see that those 3 bottles of oil can be bought for the same price without any discount. Indeed, it's often just a marketing scheme. It's often, but not always the case, fortunately. Especially in those high priced supermarkets that we normally avoid there could be real discounts, you just have to look for them. Don't buy Coca-Cola there, because it's the same Coca-Cola only costs more. But things like flour, some meat or fish when their expiration date nears, can be like 75% off, and if you cook them today, you can really cut your food costs with that.