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Cutting Food Costs: Saving Time vs. Money

© Rachel Paxton

When I first started consciously cutting back on my household expenses, reducing my grocery bill was one of my highest priorities. After I got married and started juggling my career, my marriage, and the responsibilities of being a parent, however, I had to rethink some of my ways of doing things.

You may think that if you make everything from scratch that you will save a lot of money at the grocery store every month. In a lot of cases, this may be true. When you prepare your own meals you will often see an immediate cost savings per portion, and perhaps an overall increase in nutritional value as an added bonus. So what if you don't have the time to cook?

That's a good question, and one that cannot easily be answered. If you only buy prepackaged foods to save you time in the kitchen you're definitely going to end up spending more money than necessary. I would suggest that you might be able to find a happy medium.

Every week I think to myself that it would sure be nice to make some homemade cookies for my daughter to have for snacks during the next week. About once every 2 months or so I might actually make them, but most of the time I choose not to because it would take up a Sunday afternoon that I'd like to use to do other things. Would it save me money to make the cookies myself? Sure, if the alternative would be to buy a $4 package of Oreos. However, when Oreos go on sale for $1.99 or less a package, I'll stock up on a few and know that my money was wisely spent, while also freeing up my time for other things. Better yet, once a month or so we might go to Walmart and stock up on Little Debbie snacks that average about $1 a box. You could hardly make a batch of cookies for $1. Now don't get me wrong, I love to bake and enjoy a homemade cookie as much as anyone else. It's just not always the best use of my time and/or money.

Recently my mother-in-law and I were discussing the price of chili. We had found some on sale for .99 a can and thought that was a pretty good deal. For that price I probably wouldn't take the time to make it. The regular price was $1.30 - $1.50 a can, and I just couldn't justify paying that much for it. I'd just do without or make a pot of chili myself and freeze some for later. My husband's aunt overheard our conversation and commented that she had bought a case of chili on sale for .59 a can! I sure wouldn't have passed that deal up.

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