My biggest expensive is food. I noticed that it is the main culprit to my monthly budget. I currently save about 45-55% of my income a month but I want to take it further.
What I currently do for my dinners is divide a meal into two. So i eat half of a meal for dinner. Breakfast I eat normally like I have two eggs and some bread. Turkey as well if it wasn't cheap for the week. Lunch I get a salad or something from my grocery canteen. I do the same when I eat out on weekend, I just eat half then do a take away.
I was thinking I can save even more. I am sorta needing money fast right now. I was thinking of either skipping lunch or I could just eat two pieces of fruit. Or better, an egg and fruit. This would help me save in the long run.
Or I could save money by just skipping dinner altogether
Would like to hear thoughts on this. What do you all do regarding food budgets? Anyone here skip meals as well?
Reducing food consumption/spending – skipping meals
byu/Ok-Sandwich7208 inFrugal
Posted by Ok-Sandwich7208
11 Comments
Dude you’re already saving 50%+ of your income, maybe don’t go full starvation mode lol. Skipping meals regularly is gonna mess with your energy and probably make you binge later anyway
Rice and beans are dirt cheap if you really need to cut more, but honestly your body needs fuel to function
This is your quality of life and health you’re talking about sacrificing. It sounds like this is becoming an unhealthy addiction to saving money.
You need to take a step back. Skipping a meal is unhealthy and will affect your health, mood and daily enjoyment.
Can you prepare your own lunch cheaper instead of buying out? This would save money, but I would not recommend skipping meals.
This is a bad idea. You are entering eating disorder territory.
I think your size, and what you eat would make me change my opinion 1 way or the other. But I would say a standard rice and beans dinner 4 times a week, and maybe carried over for lunch the next day a couple times would reduce your food budget, and be both better for you, and more enjoyable than skipping dinner. Things like boiling a dozen eggs, and 1 for breakfast, and a snack/lunch would run you $5 for a week. There are higher sodium, extremely economical options for lunch for the better part of 10 years I ate a 1$ Michelina frozen dinner and a bag of celery/carrots or an apple for lunch every day. My kid eats the 20 cent ramens regularly. If you are 100 pounds over weight, skipping lunch is a reasonable option, if you are under weight, then this answer changes. .. but think hunger dried beans and white rice.. at IDK 50 cents a meal is a healthy great option.
Not worth skipping meals, focus on cheap protein and fiber to keep you energized and full. If you’re really that pressed for money, check out your local food pantry or buy nothing groups online for more food. Good luck
Saving on food expanses is valid if it means cooking more at home, buying what’s on sale, substituting for cheaper options or meal prep.
What is absolutely insane is debating going hungry/skipping meals in order to squeeze a couple of bucks out.
It’s even more absurd since you are saving 50% of your income already
Maybe you should just focus on cutting your per meal cost. For instance, I made a ham and bean soup recently and portioned it out into 28 servings. It only cost me about $20. My husband and I have been eating it every 2-3 nights with a couple slices of sourdough toast. I also make things like frozen breakfast burritos in bulk. Using cheap ingredients potatoes, carrots, rice, beans, ect helps to make things more filling for cheap.
There are two ways that this doesn’t make sense:
1) You need to eat. Cutting expenses by starving yourself doesn’t make sense. Is whatever you want this money for really worth more than your health and survival?
2) If you want to save money on food, prepare your own food from raw ingredients, instead of buying pre-prepared salads or eating out.
don’t destroy your health just to save more money
saving money at the expense of your health won’t be worth it in the long term
saving 50% of your income is already a lot of money to be saving, there’s no reason to really save 5% more
I don’t think skipping meals is the best choice. You might save some more money but the way you feel day to day will likely decrease in quality. I personally don’t think that is worth it. You could try couponing as an alternative to help save money. I order meat from online with Butcherbox and save a little money on meat that way by buying in bulk.
People who count calories and nutrients usually lose weight and gain savings.
It’s free to spend a few hours researching your nutrition needs and the least expensive foods that provide most of them.
Base your diet on beans and rice, and the most colorful vegetables you can get fresh or frozen at the lowest price per weight. Don’t even walk through the grocery store sections with the processed foods.