Methods to cut food costs

[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.