In Russia, it is not especially customary to save. Although this habit can be not only useful, but also enjoyable. After all, with the money saved, you can buy a lot of good things for yourself and for your family.
1. The art of making a shopping plan can save a lot of the family budget. And while there is a lot of talk about writing lists, not many families heed that advice. Think over your menu for the week, and based on it, make a shopping plan. Firstly, you will understand what to cook, and secondly, you will know exactly what is really worth buying.
2. Consider seasonality in the choice of vegetables and fruits. Beets and pumpkins are stored for a long time, so in the fall you can buy them for future use. And winter is the season for avocados in Israel, so this is the best time to get them.
3. Buy meat in large chunks and cut it into portions at home. Often we don't choose foods just because we don't know how to prepare them. Check out the recipes ahead of time.
4. Learn to cook with basic foods. You can make your own cookies and it will be cheaper than buying them.
5. Buy whole chicken. You can cut it yourself, and you will have both a soup kit and a fillet.
6. Choose those products that are on sale. You can buy them for future use.
7. Take the time to compare the price of staples in nearby stores. In Russia, it is not customary to save on trifles, but it is the “trifle” that ultimately allows you to buy truly valuable things. How often do you go shopping? If you save even 100 rubles from each trip to the store, how much will you have by the end of the year?
8. Look for items on sale. Don't be afraid to buy an "extra" pair of shoes if the price suits you.
9. Get a small collection of spices. With them, even simple dishes will be much tastier.
10. Pay tribute to soups on broths. Meat on the bone is cheaper than tenderloin.
11. Buy perishable foods in small portions.
12. Learn to freeze food. For example, greens are cheap in summer, buy some and freeze for winter.
13. Get into the habit of keeping a spending journal. This way you will be able to understand exactly how and on what you spend money. A month later, you will see the main "gaps", due to which it is not possible to accumulate a sufficient amount of funds.
14. Pay attention to sites where you can find products on promotions. Check them out every time you need to buy something.
15. Learn to buy groceries online. It will be much easier for you if the basic set of cereals, spices, vegetable and olive oil is always at hand.
16. Don't buy yourself things that you can't afford. Credit is always very expensive money, no matter how tempting the promotion in the store is.
If in your family food costs make up the majority of expenses, then you probably thought about how to save on food without compromising health.
Tastier and healthier!
Is it possible to save money on food? After all, proper nutrition is the key to health. But you can replace expensive products with more budget ones. By the way, many inexpensive products are often healthier and even tastier than expensive delicacies.
■ Avoid non-perishable milk: soft-packed milk is much cheaper. If yoghurts are too expensive, replace them with kefir, which you can make yourself - from boiled milk and sourdough.
■ Don't buy canned pates. Buy the liver and make the pâté yourself.
■ Want to pamper your family with salted salmon? A carcass of red fish is much cheaper than a fillet, and salting it at home is as easy as shelling pears.
■ Instead of a package of sliced herring, buy barrel herring and cut them at home.
■ Instant coffee is not only more expensive, but also less useful than coffee beans. You can grind them and cook a fragrant drink yourself.
■ The simplest example of savings is sausages and sausages. They are not cheap, and only manufacturers know how much meat they contain. Buy meat and cook it: beef can be boiled, and pork can be baked in the oven.
■ Meat seems too expensive? Partially replace it with chicken, and buy it whole, not in parts - it's much more economical.
■ In winter, do not rush to buy ready-made pickles - making sauerkraut or carrots in Korean is not difficult at all.
■ If you can't live without sweets, arm yourself with quick homemade baking recipes. Pumpkin pie is cheaper and healthier than store-bought cake.
■ Try to eat less potatoes and replace them with all kinds of cereals. By the way, you can also save on cereals: instead of instant oatmeal, buy regular oatmeal. Cereals, flour, pasta, sugar are better to buy in large packages - it's much cheaper.
✓ Linen bags are best for storing flour and cereals. Before you put food in them, boil them in a solution of sodium chloride - so there will be less chance that pest bugs will start in the cereal.
Secrets of Proper Storage
Learning to save on products also means learning how to store them properly. Think about how much money you throw in the trash along with moldy bread, wilted potatoes and spoiled meat! Let's save money by saving food.
■ Keep bread in the refrigerator so it doesn't get moldy. If you keep it in a bread box, put an apple there - so the bread will stale more slowly.
■ Fresh meat can be stored in the refrigerator for up to four days. If you plan to cook tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, wash it, cut it and put onion rings.
■ Before you freeze fresh meat and fish, do not be too lazy to butcher these products: clean the fish, and wash the meat and cut it into pieces. Place each serving in a plastic bag. Remember: you can not re-freeze the fish!
■ To store cheese and sausages, use cling film, which must be changed every time you take the product out of the refrigerator. To prevent the sausage cut from drying out, put a piece of lemon or carrot on it.
■ Do not store oil in an oil can with a transparent lid, as it oxidizes faster.
Household chemicals: easy to find a replacement!
If you want to keep your home clean and safe, try using natural cleaners.
| What are we replacing? | What do we replace? |
|---|---|
| Dish cleaner | Warm soapy solution with baking soda |
| laundry bleach | soda ash |
| Stain remover | Lemon juice, citric acid |
| Toilet bowl cleaner | A mixture of baking soda and vinegar |
| Air freshener | Natural aromatic oils that are sold in pharmacies |
| Universal detergent | Warm soapy water |
| polish |
1. Cornstarch 2. Napkins with silver ioans 3. A teaspoon of olive oil + half a glass of lemon juice |
| Carpet cleaner |
1. Baking soda paste with mineral water 2. Cornstarch |
| Window cleaner |
1. Two tablespoons of vinegar in a glass of water 2. Lemon juice 3. Just hot water |
| Descaler | Vinegar |
| Pipe cleaner | Half a glass of baking soda and half a glass of vinegar, which after half an hour should be poured with boiling water |
| Sanitary cleaner |
1. Sliced raw potato 2. Mustard Powder |
All rich people who I met in my life knew how to save and rationally use the resources at their disposal. They never spent money without first asking the question: what will it give me? And vice versa, those people who clearly had financial problems and often asked for a loan were guided by the principle “we live once and in a big way”.
Saving for the sake of saving itself is a thankless and merciless business. It is necessary to save in order to free up financial resources for more important purposes than the clogged refrigerator shelves. And the first step to reasonable savings should be taking into account the available financial resources.
It is impossible to manage your money wisely if the exact amount of income and expenses is unknown. Therefore, if we have decided to take the path of reasonable food savings, then we need to know exactly how much the family spends per month on food, and what percentage this amount is from the general family income.
I think that you should not set yourself the goal of reducing, say, the cost of food to a certain amount. It is much wiser to set a goal to reduce the percentage of food expenses. And this is achieved in two ways:
- by reducing costs;
- by increasing income.
Which of these ways is preferable for you personally - choose for yourself. Food expenses should not exceed 30% of total income. Optimally - up to 20%. If less than 10%, then you can only envy your income.
Accounting for expenses should be kept for at least two or three months in order to get an idea of where the money comes from and where it goes. Even if you think you have a rough idea of this process, there are many surprises waiting for you. For example, you will be surprised how much extra money can be spent on various sweets and uselessness, such as chocolates, chips, modest gatherings in cafes, etc. When I started keeping records, I was literally shocked by the size of the column: "Eating out." Then, for several months, I tried to patch up this black hole, as a result, the number in it no longer looks so frightening.
Well, then, after getting to know the reality, you can start planning the family budget and specific tasks: where to cut and where to add.
Accounting can be kept in different ways: the old-fashioned way in paper form or using computer programs.
I remember that as a child, my mother had a special notebook in which she scrupulously entered all expenses. Then at the end of the month I counted everything and delivered a verdict. As a rule, it began with the words: "Everything is lost, let's go around the world ..." And ended with the words: “Despite the crazy spending of our dad, I managed to save so much this month.”
Now the time has changed, instead of notebooks, tables in Excel and special programs for home accounting have come to the box. Here you can see an overview of such programs and choose the right one at this link.
Personally, I have used these programs over the years:
. http://easyfinance.ru/
. http://www.keepsoft.ru/homebuhl.htm
. http://justtry.ru/buh/family-accounting
In principle, they are similar in function, I switched from one to another only because the first one bothered me. So I changed it once a year. The first is online (but the most multifunctional). And the second two can be installed on your computer.
In any case, the main thing is not the form, but its content. Accounting for all expenses and income is a tedious and painstaking task, but very effective and useful.
Should I save on food?
This topic was born from one conversation near the sandbox, in which four young mothers participated. While the kids were making Easter cakes, we discussed a very burning question: who spends how much money on food? We all had experience in housekeeping and our own vision of this problem. Everyone believed that it was his approach to the distribution of the family budget that was the most correct and convinced others of this. Yegor's mother complained about the crisis and the eternal lack of money. Necessary payments and paying bills ate up almost all the money earned, so I had to save on food. For example, fruits were bought only once a week, and pasta, cereals and potatoes were the main food. Frankly, we were amazed by this recognition, since outwardly the family gave the impression of being financially prosperous: two new cars, expensive clothes and toys for the child, excellent repairs. Although, as it turned out, it was the payment of loans for these cars and the new built-in kitchen that required the lion's share of the family budget. And on the minuscule that remained, the family lived.
Matvey's mother immediately stated that she does not save money on food and does not advise us. She is going to give her child everything only the best and dearest, and she will never regret anything for her boy. They always have fresh fruit, meat, smoked sausage and red fish, expensive cheeses in their house. True, not everything has time to be eaten and a lot is thrown away. And it’s not at all possible to save money to solve a sore housing issue: they live together with their father-in-law and mother-in-law in a two-room Khrushchev, and the father-in-law also has serious problems with alcohol ... But the family is guided by the motto “We only live once” and in matters of nutrition, really, no what does not deny itself.
Anya's mother complained that too much money is spent on food. Especially for all sorts of "unnecessary", like sweets, chips, chocolates. As soon as the husband goes somewhere with the children, almost the entire amount that she allocates for food for a whole week will be spent on such nonsense. In addition, my husband is a very picky eater. For example, he flatly refuses to eat vegetable soups and cereals. For him, meat should be mandatory every day and at least for lunch and dinner. And the meat itself is by no means in the form of minced meat or chopped pieces, but a large steak. The eldest son began to adopt the same eating habits. So, no matter how hard she tries, no savings come of it.
I told them that I had been doing home accounting for many years and I always knew exactly how much money our family spends on food. I try to keep this amount within 20-25% of our total family income. If the income in any month pleases, then we indulge ourselves. Well, if they decrease significantly, then I am able to feed the whole family tasty and varied for $ 30 (less than 1000 Russian rubles) for a whole week. True, the girls did not believe me. They unanimously declared that for such an amount you can feed only pasta with potatoes, and you can definitely forget about the taste and variety. No matter how much I convinced them that it was more than real, how much I did not give examples, they were skeptical.
Several months have passed, and this conversation has not gone out of my head. In our society, it is not customary to openly discuss your income and financial problems. You can convince others as much as you like that everything is in order in these matters in the family, but if this is not so, then the family itself suffers from this, first of all. I will not take on the role of a financial guru and will not talk about money at all. I want to talk about just one of the aspects - money for food. In this matter, I have both experience and skills and certain successes.
There are no problems with money in only one case: with an unlimited number of them. For example, if you have a Magic Nightstand in which money appears by itself. Or a good fairy godmother who gives you as much money as you want. But, as a rule, our resources are limited and have a certain source of income: salary, business income, pension, parental assistance, rent income, allowance, etc.
At the same time, the possibilities of the consumer society surrounding us have no limits. The more money we have, the more temptations and temptations to spend it. It only at first glance seems that the cost of food can be limited by the capabilities of the human body and appetite. Truffles, foie gras and roasted nightingale tongues are food not for the hungry, but for the rich. Do you know the saying: “The more money, the more they are missing”? And this is true: if you do not control the flow of money, then, regardless of the amount of income, there will always be little of it.
Why save money on food?
Firstly The money saved on food can be spent on more necessary and important things. For example, to solve the housing issue, develop your own business, educate children, health, vacation, etc. It is very sad if the most important priority in the family is "to eat deliciously without denying yourself anything." Maybe your child would rather eat hake today than salmon, but study at Oxford tomorrow? Or will you deny yourself red caviar and blue cheese for several years, but you will be able to buy the house of your dreams? If you believe that you can afford the fulfillment of any desires without restrictions, then say hello to the good fairy godmother.
Secondly, the transition of the family to a thrifty diet means a simultaneous transition to a healthier diet. For example, the rejection of smoked sausage, sprats, store-bought semi-finished products will only benefit the body. And an increase in the amount of available vegetables in the diet, such as cabbage, carrots, beets, onions, etc. would be approved by any nutritionist. In addition, the refusal to eat meat at least two days a week, the introduction of vegetarian days into the menu is welcomed not only by religious orthodoxies and vegetarians, but also by doctors. Saving on food is not the use of low-quality products. Saving on food is the choice of quality products at a reasonable price.
Thirdly, the ability to save and feed a family for a limited amount is a very important and necessary skill for any housewife. May God grant us all that we never know the need, that the experience of our grandmothers, who went through difficult wartime, or our mothers, who managed to raise their families in the difficult 90s, will never be useful to us. Let's hope that we have a cloudless future ahead of us, without crises and losses. But the ability to save and save in the small is the guarantee of our confidence that we will cope with the big. If you know how to save and spend the money you have wisely, then you are not afraid of sudden financial crises associated with illness, job loss, falling income levels, etc. Because there is self-confidence, and this is the key to success.
What can't be saved?
- On the quality of products. We carefully study the expiration dates and appearance of the products. At the slightest doubt, we refuse the suspicious.- You can not save on health. The diet should be fresh vegetables, fruits, foods rich in protein. If you completely switch to pasta and potatoes, then in the future you will have to spend even more on medicines than on such “illusory” savings.
- On petty and rare pleasures. If you want to treat yourself to something tasty, then so be it. The less often, the greater the joy from such pampering.
How can you save:
- To replace store-bought semi-finished products with homemade ones. We reduce to the minimum possible the consumption of sausages, sausages, dumplings, fish sticks and cutlets, ready-made chickens, sauces and mayonnaises, salads, five-minute cereals, ready-made pancakes, cookies, sweets and other sweets. Instead, we cook more on our own: soups, casseroles, salads, cereals, pasta, various gravies and sauces, pies, mannas, charlottes and other cheap, tasty and healthy dishes.
Sausages or steak?
- On the exclusion of products from the category "pampering" and snacks: chips, buns, crackers, sandwiches between main meals.
- On the rational use of already purchased products. We don't throw anything away! We perceive a product that has gone bad in the refrigerator as a mute evidence of our poor household skills: either you don’t know how to buy in accordance with your needs, or you don’t know how to cook.
Stale bread turns into crackers, croutons, breadcrumbs, gratin toppings.
. Cottage cheese is made from yesterday's milk.
. The missing kefir will go into the pancake dough.
. Most prepared meals (except salads) keep well in the freezer.
. Yesterday's uneaten porridge is added to today's soups, cutlets, casseroles.
. "Extra" vegetables are frozen until better times.
. Small pieces of anything left in the refrigerator make excellent toppings for pizza and pies.
. Cucumber and tomato marinades are the basis for pickles and borsch, you can stew meat in them.
. After frying the meat, the remaining juice and fat turn into the basis for sauces, etc.
- Eating out. Minimize snacks in cafes and other catering establishments. Homemade food is tastier, healthier, and cheaper. You can take on work "soboyki". Yes, for this you will have to cook more at home and organize yourself in planning tomorrow's dinner. But the savings will be obvious. To do this, you need to specially buy containers and thermoses, in which you can bring any dishes with you: from soups to salads. 
Charlotte or candy?
- We buy vegetables and fruits only in season. No fresh strawberries in February or persimmons in August. The benefits and taste of greenhouse winter tomatoes are highly questionable, and the blow to the wallet is tangible. You need to buy what has grown under the sun. In winter, these are long-term storage vegetables and fruits: beets, cabbage, carrots, onions, garlic, potatoes, celery, apples, oranges, bananas, persimmons. In summer, the choice is much wider.
- The freezer is our friend. We do not buy frozen vegetables, herbs, berries and fruits. We are not lazy, but we prepare all this on our own in summer and autumn. If there is a desire and opportunity, we independently collect and dry / freeze mushrooms and berries. We actively use seaming, pickling and salting for the winter.
- Before going to the store, we make a menu for the week. Based on it - a list of products and buy only on it. This is the surest way not to buy anything superfluous and unnecessary!
- Interested in prices in each store for similar products and prefer those that are cheaper. If the purchase occurs once a week, then it is best to choose large grocery stores with more affordable prices. Even if such a store is far from your home, the cost of gasoline will pay off due to the large volume of purchases.
- We study promotions and discounts. And not only prices, but also the expiration dates of products for these promotions. If the products can be eaten before the expiration date, then we buy.
Before the purchase we study the ratio of the real weight of the product in the package and its cost. It makes no sense to pay for a beautiful and large package. It is better to prefer a similar product that is 30% more expensive but 50% larger. 
Nuts or chips?
- Nuts, dried fruits and seeds cheaper by weight than in the package.
We are trying to cut down on meat consumption. I am not advocating to completely abandon the use of animal proteins. If you want, they should be (although vegetarians and ascetics prove with their personal experience that you can live without meat). Meat must be in the diet of children, pregnant women and people engaged in physical labor. But it doesn't have to be every day. Several days a week, meat can be replaced with other protein-rich foods: fish, legumes or dairy. And cheap and useful. 
- On purchased juices. Most of the juices that are sold in bags in our northern stores are made from concentrated powder. An exception may be tomato, apple and birch juices (in our latitudes they are often poured into jars in their original form). It is cheaper and healthier to cook compotes from fruits and berries frozen in summer.
In the following publications, we will talk more about reasonable food savings. We will share ways and methods of saving, available recipes. We will learn how to plan a family budget, how to determine the required amount of food expenses per week. Let's talk about the personal experience of saving, our own successes and results.
Do you know how much your family spends on food?
Home savings: how to save at home, useful tips, do-it-yourself household items
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Probably, many housewives are familiar with the situation when, returning from work, not burning with a special desire to cook something, we buy ready-made food. And at home, in, there is a bunch of food that quietly spoils while you eat ready-made food from the supermarket. As a result of this whole situation, half the salary is spent on food per month.
But, in fact, you can save on products, you just need to discipline yourself a little and learn how to properly manage money.
It is about how to save on products that we will talk today. So, first you need to make a menu for the whole week. Despite the fact that it seems almost impossible, however, a roughly compiled menu will make your life much easier. Think about what you usually eat, for example, for breakfast. Buy eggs, muesli, cereals and ready-made cereals, as well as sausage or ham, whichever you prefer. This will be enough. It will not be superfluous to think over several options for lunches and dinners.
The next step is to buy products wisely, as they say. At home, make a list of necessary products, and strictly follow the list in the store. If "extra" purchases are your weakness, then it is best to take a small amount of money with you, only for what is needed.
Make it a rule to keep store receipts. At the end of the month, you will be able to knock down the amount that you spent on food.
It's no secret that in stores located near the house, everything is always exorbitantly expensive. Therefore, it is necessary to find the best option for a store that is not very far from home, and the prices for products in which will not ruin you before the end of the month.
Try to cook more versatile dishes. scrambled eggs, casseroles, cereals, omelettes and sandwiches can be prepared from rather unexpected products. For example, half-eaten pasta or potatoes for dinner will be an excellent basis for casseroles.
From the remaining porridge (if it is cooked in milk), you can cook pancakes. The remaining greens should not be thrown away, it can be cut through and frozen in.
Ready-made, frozen dough helps the hostess well. Yeast dough is great for making pizza or just baked muffins.
"Click" on seasonal fruits and vegetables. Of course, often in winter we want grapes or strawberries, but this is quite an expensive pleasure. Moreover, at this time of the year they are not very useful. It is better to give preference to vegetables (fruits) of a seasonal nature. They are much cheaper and safer. Judge for yourself what is more useful compote, cooked by you or water with bubbles of an incomprehensible color in a plastic bottle, it is not known where and how it is stored.
The last and very important rule of economy is to avoid semi-finished products if possible. All of them are beautifully packaged, but have a relatively small weight (from 250 to 500g). If we translate the cost of a semi-finished product into the cost of one kilogram, it turns out that they are expensive, and their quality is a secret for the buyer.
It is much better and healthier to buy a whole chicken than ready-made cutlets or minced meat. Ready-made salads are also not very healthy dishes. If you need to reduce the time it takes to boil vegetables (carrots, beets, potatoes), buy these ready-made vegetables at the supermarket. Vegetables usually stand next to salads and marinated kebabs in the windows.
Following our advice, you will soon notice that food costs have noticeably decreased, the diet has become much more varied and healthier. Husband and children often leave the table with a satisfied smile. You often hear: “Thank you, dear!” You have “extra money” to go to the cinema with the whole family.
This does not mean that you will become worse to eat, no, you just learned to save!
