Get Organized, Save Money: In the Kitchen

My husband works for a transportation company.  I've been worrying that rising fuel costs will impact the company's bottom line, thereby affecting ours.  Nope–stores have simply hiked up their prices in response to $4-plus per gallon diesel, effectively passing the transportation buck to consumers. So my husband's June raise is a go, but everybody is getting hit with the one-two punch of higher gas prices and higher store prices.

It's more important than ever to maximize your dollar and minimize waste.  Stay organized and save money in the kitchen with these tips.

You Need a Plan

Menu planning is a fool proof way to guard against food waste, extra trips to the store, and the lure of takeout.

Plan a week's worth of menus around supermarket sales and seasonal availability.

• Get inspiration:  Flip through cookbooks or browse online for summertime recipes that use ingredients you're likely to find on sale throughout the summer, like grilling meats and fresh fruit.
• Read The Circular Game:  Decoding Your Supermarket Weekly, at Cheap Healthy Good.
• Browse supermarket circulars online at SundaySaver.com.  Scroll down to "Supermarkets & Grocery", then click on the link to your favorite store to view current ads.

Coupons

• Weed out expired coupons at least once per month; this process also helps to refresh your memory on which coupons you have, so you'll be more likely to remember to use them.
• As you write your grocery list, put a "C" next to any item you have a coupon for, or put coupons you're likely to use in the front of your coupon organizer to save a bit of time when the kids are melting down in the checkout line.
• That 50 cent ice cream coupon won't do you any good if it's sitting on your desk.  Keep your coupon organizer in your purse or car so you're always ready to save.
• Stash larger coupons (like those huge postcards from Bed Bath and Beyond or fast food coupon booklets) in a small manila envelope in your glove box.

Savings Doesn't End at the Store

• Find a great deal on ground beef?  Don't let it go gray in the fridge, waiting until you "feel like" burgers–portion meats in freezer bags and put them in the freezer the day you buy.
  • Write the date, contents, and approximate weight on each bag with a permanent marker.
  • I also write the number of days left until the sell-by date so I know how much time I have to safely thaw food in the fridge.  For instance, if I find pork chops on sale because the sell-by date is tomorrow, I write "1 day" on the freezer bag.
• Arrange meals to maximize freshness:  Plan to use up items with a short shelf life (strawberries, fresh fish, lettuce) early in the week; hold hardier selections (apples, steak, eggs) for the last days before your next shopping trip.

The Organized Pantry

It doesn't matter if you have a dedicated walk-in pantry, or stash canned goods under the bed; knowing what you have on hand is the key to avoiding waste, both from rebuying items you have stocked, and from missed expiration dates.

• Mount a magnet inside a kitchen cabinet to hold a magnetic notepad and pen so you can keep a running grocery list.
• Rotate your pantry stock like restaurants and stores do:  First In, First Out.  When you buy a can of beans, put it behind the beans that are already in the pantry, so you always use the oldest products first.
• Read Pantry Pandemonium, from Creative Homemaking.
• Get free printables at Cindy's Porch: templates for meal planning, grocery lists, and freezer, fridge, and pantry inventory.

Leftovers

• If you're a leftovers lover, check out Love Food Hate Waste.  Select the item want to use up from the picture list to get dozens of recipe suggestions featuring your chosen ingredient. 
  • The site also offers tons of Cook Once, Eat Twice recipes–a totally different beast from "planned leftovers" (see below)–that may save you time, energy, and money.
• Keep leftovers on a dedicated shelf in your fridge, preferably at eye level.  Why go through all the effort of wrapping and saving food if you're just going to dump it next week?
• Beware the "planned leftovers" lunch: dinner fare is often pricier than traditional lunch items, so you may end up paying more to "save."  Apparently I'm the only one who feels this way–my Google search for "leftovers waste money" turned up nada.  Here's a very simple example of my theory:
  • Dinner leftovers:  4 oz chicken breast, $0.55 ($2.20/lb)–this is for plain chicken, not counting whatever sauce/cheese/pasta it was served with.
  • Quick Lunch:  PB&J, $0.33
    • 2 slices bread: $0.20 ($2/24 oz loaf–20 1-slice servings)
    • 2 Tbsp peanut butter:  $0.09 ($2.29/28 oz–25 servings)
    • 1 Tbsp jam:  $0.04 ($2/32 oz–45 servings)

That 20 cent savings may not seem like much, but replacing planned leftovers with a sandwich just twice a week could save you $20 in a year.  By this time next year, that may just pay for one gallon of gas!

Got a great idea for saving money in the kitchen?  Join the discussion in the forum!

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