What food hacks are you using to save money?

[Shevek]

I boycott Amazon because they don't offer the option of buying a five-minute break for the unfortunate cyborg who has to pack my order. A friend buys a few things at Costco for me, but mainly, I save money by buying ingredients. I make my own granola, bread, hummus, and sprouts. I buy my rolled oats, rice, flour, and lentils in distributor-size bags up to 20 kg. I very seldom use cans, and never eat meat. Processed food and snacks are very rare. The savings go into buying organic for most products. I tried gardening, but was not saving anything close to minimum wage despite all the attention and imperative chores.

 

[Mary Terry]

Ground turkey for most meat dishes, unless it's just chicken. Ground turkey can take on the flavor of anything - beef, chorizo, etc. It doesn't shrink up or need grease drainage, either. You get more for your money. If I eat fish, it's mostly tuna, salmon or trout lately - whatever has the better prices at the moment.

Frozen vegetables unless I'm getting them from local farmer markets. I can handle those crowds because the purpose is necessary. Obviously, I don't hang out after I'm done shopping, haha. In / out. Ninja shopper, elite.

Usually a lot of rice, potatoes and flour wraps on hand. Loaves of bread have been randomly climbing up in price. Meh. Wraps are just fine with me.

I tend to make meals that are large portions, so I have leftovers and always do finish them whenever throughout the week.

I've honestly spent more in buying seasonings / herbs than other ingredients a few times. Oops.

Coffee - buy the beans, and grind them yourself. You spend a lot more buying the K-cups. Those reusable, plastic and wire mesh K-cups are great.

I grow a lot of herbs including thyme, rosemary, oregano, cilantro, parsley, sage and dill. I'm trying to find seeds for summer savory, an herb I've recently started using a lot.

I agree about coffee. I drink only one small cup in the mornings and prefer to grind my own beans and use a French press coffee maker. My husband is a big coffee consumer, and he uses K-cups. I don't want to drink anything that is filtered through hot plastic. I actually like tea better than coffee.