The food budget represents 20% of a family's budget.
How to save money on this expenditure center without depriving yourself?
Already, by cooking with the right proportions.
I've never been very good at measuring out food. Either I'm not doing enough, or I'm doing way too much.
Sometimes I find myself eating all kinds of pasta for three days. The catch is that it's not just pasta.
So, to avoid waste and throw away food , I have developed several techniques.
It's super practical especially when you don't have a freezer!
Easy and not that restrictive.
With the Internet, you can easily find recipes with the adapted proportions the number of people at the table.
What, at first glance, seems restrictive turns out to be quite effective in terms of savings.
This allowed me, with a minimum of organization , to establish menus for the week and so.
The advantage is that I can make a really precise shopping list.
So now I only buy what I really need .
No more no less. Especially since now, in supermarkets, there are all kinds of packaging.
I prepare my menus in advance, go around my cupboards and fridge and write a precise shopping list of my needs.
For singles, you will find perishable products in small quantities.
Mini pots of fresh cream, small tins of green beans, single steak, cheese...
And if I can't find it, I go to the traditional department and order the exact quantity I need.
It's true that meat per kg costs more in the butcher department.
But I prefer to buy exactly what I need.
It keeps me from losing it. In addition, I spend less by buying 200 g of steak at €9.70 per kg (€1.94) than 2 steaks of 420 g at €8.90 (€3.78).
How much pasta for one person? How much rice? And especially how to measure them if you don't have a scale at home.
It is quite easy to find on the net tables of proportions for pasta, rice, semolina... all these ingredients that are very difficult to dose.
How many times have I prepared a great dinner, the kind of small dishes in the big ones with hours in the kitchen, the good wine that goes with it, etc.
And when it's time for the main course, I find myself serving plates with ridiculously small portions!
So, to make sure I'm not mistaken, I found in my mom's cookbook the average portions per adult person.
Food
Quantity per person (adult)
Vegetables
300g main course, 200g starter
Vegetables
175 to 225 g (garnish)
Omelettes, fried eggs
2 eggs
Pasta
100 g (as garnish)
Fish without waste
130 to 170g
Fish with waste
220 to 260g
Meat without bone
150 to 200g
Ground meat
125 to 150g
Rice
60g
Fruit Salad
120 to 160
For those like me who don't have a scale at home, either invest in measuring spoons or in a measuring cup.
There you go, I'm not mistaken in the quantities anymore :-)
No more extra kg of rice, even if it's always nice to make a salad the next day...
Providing the right amounts for meals is one of those food saving tips.
Why ? Simply because it avoids a lot of gspillage ...
With experience and being careful before preparing a meal, you should quickly spend less money on food.
By buying and cooking according to my real needs, I was able to save more than €40 per month on my food budget, i.e. €480 over a year .
Not bad, especially since these 40 € per month, I decided to put them on my savings account A.
In case of a hard blow or unforeseen events, this allows me to see ahead!
