HFL 4E – Food and Healthy Living Mrs. Filinov

 D1.2 – Identify strategies that contribute to efficiency and economy in food purchasing  D1.3 - Describe strategies they can use to reduce food costs

cooking everything from scratch packing your purse with coupons only purchasing foods in season

 Spend less and/or  Avoid losing money through tossing uneaten foods  You may be surprised at the END of this presentation by the TOTAL AMOUNT these 16 tips save!

 Saves gas money on extra trips to the supermarket  Less likely to make impulse purchases  Keep list easy to access  Stay flexible if you find a sale

Savings example 1  Gas to drive four miles for an extra trip to the store Savings example 2  Impulse purchase of snack crackers at the store $1.00 or more! $2.50 Snack Crackers

 Money is tossed when food is tossed!  What foods are in your trash can?  Reduce, reuse or recycle foods  Tossing “tired” lettuce?  “Reuse” it in menus more often – serve more salads; add to sandwiches, tacos or enchiladas; make “wrap” sandwiches  Reduce the amount purchased

Eating your lettuce before it gets “tired” and needs to be tossed! $1.00 Too many mashed potatoes? Reduce the amount made Recycle in a day or two as potato patties, shepherd’s pie, potato soup Bananas too ripe? Recycle in banana bread or smoothies Tossing me – that’s bananas!

Everything looks good when you have an empty stomach Eat BEFORE shopping AND feed kids who will be shopping with you!

Cost of an energy bar purchased to tide you over until you get home $1.50 I’m hard to resist if you’re hungry!

Brown bag it one or more days a week Typical fast food meal can cost $5.00 It can be as simple as a peanut butter sandwich and piece of whole fruit Or, leftovers from last night

Eating a sack lunch once a week Eating a sack lunch 5 days a week  Savings example 1  Savings example 2 $2.50 $12.50 Brown bag it and cut your lunch costs in half!

Use coupons only for foods normally eaten Look for coupons in Newspapers Magazines and... Check the back of grocery receipt and … Store and product online Web sites may offer coupons Check if store has double or triple coupon days when values are increased  See if a store will price match a coupon from another store

 Using two 50¢ coupons for two items you DO use  Savings example 1  NOT using a coupon to buy a new dessert  Savings example 2 $1.00 $2.00

 Avoid buying food past its expiration date  Foods are often priced lower near expiration date and a good buy if used before expiration  Use foods before they get too old  Avoid dumping a half gallon of soured milk down the drain. Use it before it gets too old in milk-based soups or instead of water in oatmeal.  Savings example Use by $2.50

 Buy the smallest package size the first time you purchase an unfamiliar food  Extra cost of purchasing large container of a new spice your family won’t eat  Savings example Buy me! $1.50

Consider how much time you REALLY save buying a specific convenience food... It takes just a few seconds to make your own sugar and cinnamon mixture rather than buy pre-mixed Microwaving regular oatmeal takes only a few minutes more than pouring hot water over a pre-measured package Cutting your own fruits and veggies saves money – they keep longer than precut ones, too

 Invest in staple foods when they’re on sale Tuna, tomato sauce, other?  Stocking up on a boatload of bananas – and other perishable foods – isn’t a very good investment … unless you make banana bread and freeze it  Savings example  Stocking up on 10 cans of food that have each been marked down by 20¢ a can $2.00

 Do the math and check if you REALLY save with the larger package  Consider if you will consume the food before it gets old  Savings example 1  Buying a 5-pound instead of a 1-pound bag of rice (if you serve rice frequently)  Savings example 2  Check unit prices (usually above or below the food)  If a 1-lb. bag is $3.49 (unit price: 21.8¢/oz.) and a 6-pack of smaller bags is $2.69 (unit price: 55.3¢/oz.)...  Buy the larger bag, repackage into smaller bags, and get over twice as much per comparable weight Do I have to eat this? $1.50

 Store brands are comparable in nutrition to name brands  Store brands are more likely on store’s bottom shelves – look around to find the best buys  Many times you cannot tell the difference in taste between name and store brands  Store brands may vary more in color, size, or texture than name brands  Appearance is less important in many foods, such as casseroles Savings example  Buying two cans of a store brand and saving 50¢ on each $1.00 I’m quite a catch!

 Check preparation methods for unfamiliar foods  The meat manager might help with unfamiliar meat cuts  Some produce departments have books or signs with descriptions of fruits and vegetables Savings example Avoiding the purchase of self-rising flour and finding it won’t work in your recipe $2.50

13. Beware of snack attacks Cutting back on snacks can help your wallet and your waistline Buying one less bag of chips weekly 14. Shop the specials Plan your menus around sales items, especially more expensive items like meat Buying meat on sale Savings example $2.50 Savings example $2.00

Buy several packages of meat on sale and freeze them. Here’s how from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Food Safety & Inspection Service... It’s safe to freeze meat or poultry directly in its supermarket wrapping but this type of wrap is permeable to air. Unless the food will be used in a month or two, over wrap these packages for long-term storage using airtight heavy-duty foil, (freezer) plastic wrap or freezer paper, or place the package inside a (freezer) plastic bag. At 0 degrees F, frozen foods remain safe indefinitely, but quality decreases. Frozen raw ground meat maintains optimum quality for 3 to 4 months. Larger pieces of meat like steaks or chops maintain optimum quality for 4 to 12 months. The safest way to thaw meat is in the refrigerator on a plate on the bottom shelf so it doesn’t drip on other foods

15. Think before you drink Buy a reusable water bottle and fill with tap water instead of buying bottled water Limit soft drinks and fancy coffees 25 Savings example Drinking tap water instead of buying a 12 pack of bottled water $4.00

16. “Checkout” temptation  Savings example Resist buying a magazine with the latest diet Think twice before buying a last minute temptation in the checkout lane $5.00

If you used each example in ONE shopping trip weekly, you could save as much as... $40 per week! Multiply $40 by 52 weeks and the grand total is... OVER $2,000 yearly!! What could YOU do with over $2,000 extra a year?

Thank You!” to the following people for reviewing these materials and adding their suggestions for saving money at the supermarket: Sharon Balters, Pam Branson, Chiquita Briley, Cindy Brison, Toni Bryant, Jessie Coffey, Joan Davis, Sarah Doerneman, Jennifer Dunavan, Rita Frickel, Shannon Frink, Karen Hudson, Cindy Goody, Becky Guittar, Teri Hlava, Kayla Hinrichs, Vicki Jedlicka, Lisa Kopecky, Toni Kuehneman, Tracy Kulm, Jana McKinney, Jennifer Meyer, Martha Murphy Stacie, Ortmeier, Dave Palm, Amber Pankonin, Zainab Raida, Joan David Sather, Carol Schwarz, Kathy Tack, Kathy Taylor, Amy Vore, Jennifer Yen, Kathy Walsten, Jessica Wegener and Linda Wetzel. Extension is a Division of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln cooperating with the Counties and the United States Department of Agriculture. University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension educational programs abide with the nondiscrimination policies of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture.