31 Frugal Food Tips to Save Money on Groceries and Eating Out

Groceries costing an arm and a leg and restaurant prices are eye-watering when you look at the menu? Does feeding your family healthy meals feel like an expensive tightrope walk? These frugal food tips are simple, practical ways to cut total food spending while still feeding your family well. This article helps you reduce your total food spending, not just your grocery bill.

In any family’s budget, there are many expenses we have little control over: rent, insurance, mortgage, tuition. However, we do have some control when it comes to cutting back on household expenses. And when it comes to food, now there’s an expense we can easily adjust. Here are 31 tips that have helped my family with saving money on food.

Two Frugal Food Tips That Make the Biggest Difference

Here’s a statistic that may shock you if you’re used to eating away from home: total U.S. spending on food away from home (2024): $1.52 trillion.

$1,520,000,000,000

That’s close to $4000 per household, per year, and even the lowest-income households with annual income of less than $29,000 still spend around $150 per month on restaurants, take-out, food delivery, and so on.

This frugal food tip may be a bit hard to swallow, but it has the biggest and most immediate impact on your budget: NO MORE EATING FOOD NOT PREPARED AT HOME!

The beauty of this budget-saver is that it’s entirely under your control. You don’t have much control over the price of gasoline or how much the power company charges for your electricity, but when it comes to eating out or not — you have all the power. (No pun intended.)

Cutting back or eliminating eating out/food deliveries leads to my second most helpful strategy: plan a few simple meals and have the ingredients on hand so you don’t resort to, “I guess we have to eat out tonight!” I’ve been there so many times myself, so I totally get it.

If you take baby steps to put both these in place, you’ll find you may have extra dollars left in your bank account each month, giving you a growing margin of saved money.

Fast food prices like this one are crazy. Quadruple this for a family of four, and that’s a major sucker-punch to your budget.

Always Have A Fall-Back Plan

Instead of resorting to fast food or take-out on a night when you don’t have dinner planned, use my Fall-Back Plan instead.

I’ve read that more than 80% of us have no idea what’s for dinner when it comes to 4 p.m. on any given day!

I tend to believe that because it’s been my life for decades.

What helps me the most is to always have a few “old reliable”, fall-back plans for dinner, and no, I don’t mean driving to Cheesecake Factory!

Instead, I always have ingredients for chili, a simple hamburger beef stroganoff, the easiest ground beef soup ever, and spaghetti with meat sauce. They all rely on ground beef (easy to stock up on) and staples I always have on hand — canned tomatoes, canned beans, canned green beans (could also used home-canned or freeze-dried), tomato sauce/paste, sour cream, spaghetti noodles, and jars of marinara (always get the brand with no sugar added).

Each meal has less than eight or nine ingredients, and I only need to keep a couple of fresh items on hand — fresh mushrooms, sour cream, onions, and a block of cream cheese.

With these four fall-backs, I can have dinner ready to go in less than thirty minutes. What fall-back meals could you have, ready to go in minutes because you always have the ingredients right in your kitchen?

If You Absolutely Must Eat Out

Restaurant hacks. Find one that serves huge portions and share the meal. Also, if you go to a restaurant that offers free chips and salsa or warm bread before a meal, that’s one way of filling up and not being all that hungry for an expensive entrée.

Drink water! Besides being far more healthy than sodas, water is free. You’ve probably been shocked by the rising prices of beverages — a simple iced tea for more than $4 in some restaurants. You could be paying nearly $20 just for basic drinks (soda, iced tea) before your food even arrives. This is a simple tweak to instantly lower your restaurant tab. Get the habit of saying, “Just water, thank you!”

Take advantage of Happy Hour prices. If you must go out to a restaurant, find a place with cheap Happy Hour prices on appetizers and make that your dinner. My husband and I recently found an awesome sports bar just a couple of miles from our home, with super inexpensive appetizers and a few happy hour entrees. We’re not big drinkers and only moderate sports fans, but it’s a fun night out and we can keep our bill down.

Use restaurant apps. These apps often have deals that are only available through the app. For example, although I’m not a fan of fast food and wouldn’t normally recommend it, my husband has been using the McDonald’s app and the savings are really excellent. One of the deals right now is to buy a double cheeseburger and get the second one for $0.29. We have been doing that for a quick meal when we’re out running errands. I get an unsweet iced tea and he gets a diet Coke and we’re both happy for less than $10.

Register with the restaurant’s website. Restaurants love regular customers, so sign up on their website or app for occasional freebies and offers only for their VIPs.

Do you have a credit card restaurant bonus? Certain American Express cards have a nice little bonus of $50 twice a month when you use the Resy app to make a reservation and dine at one of their restaurants. I’ve found the restaurants can be pricey, but even a $70-80 tab is frugal when you deduct the $50 American Express reimburses.

Card that offer dining credits:

• American Express Platinum
• American Express Gold
• Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Captal One Savor

If you already have one of these cards, go to its website and make sure you’re taking advantage of all your bonuses, not just dining. And before you sign up for one these cards, make sure you know the annual fee and whether or not it makes sense to open that account. Hint: it’s not worth a high annual fee to save $100 on dining!

Search for “restaurants that offer free meals for kids” online. Add the name of your city or town for local restaurants, and then plan your meals out strategically.

Likewise, search for “senior restaurant discounts” or “military/teacher discounts” if you qualify.

Frugal Food Tips: Easy Alternatives to Eating Out

• Skip pre-packaged meals. Too many additives, too few of these meals actually taste good, the portion sizes are tiny, and they can be expensive. Try cooking up a large batch of soup, a stew, chili, a casserole, or preparing breakfast or lunch burritos, and then freezing them in individual portion sizes. Here are a few simple food storage meal ideas to get you started on this healthier option.
• Pack lunches for work and school. Your meals will be cheaper, but just as importantly, they will almost certainly be healthier and better balanced. This is one of the biggest reason to cook from scratch and always cook more than just one dinner’s worth. Leftovers are perfect for next day’s lunch. I bought this lunch box set for my husband, and all of a sudden, it’s cool to take your lunch to work!
• Alternative for forgotten lunches. Keep packets of instant soup/oatmeal and cans or packets of soup at work for days when you forget to pack a lunch. Be sure to keep a spoon, knife, and fork tucked away in a desk drawer.
• Say no to expensive vending machines. The easiest way I know to do that is to simply not have any change on hand! No money = no junk from the vending machine. Saving money on food can be just this easy!
• Snack hack! Carry snacks in the car to avoid impulse stops at fast food or convenience stores. I need to keep my protein intake high every day, so protein bars are always in my purse. If you know you’ll be running errands and/or you have a full day of appointments, pack a small cooler with healthy, homemade snacks, sandwiches, fruit, and water.
• Brew coffee at home. Make java su casa and take it to work/school in a thermos container. Avoid Starbucks. I know two teenagers who stop at Starbucks virtually every day and typically get expensive drinks that cost $5-7 or so apiece. That’s a ton of money per month!
• Learn how to make “fancy” Starbucks-style drinks at home. You may very well end up liking your homemade version better.
• Set a goal for no eating out. One week? Two weeks? How long can you go without eating a single meal at a restaurant? This is also one of the easiest ways I know of to drop a few pounds simply by not having massive portions served on a turkey-sized platter!
• Make eating at home a special event. Instead of playing up restaurant meals as a special treat, switch that mindset to a favorite meal at home. Have a weekly or monthly home-cooked meal as something everyone looks forward to. Change the mindset and you’ll change the behavior pattern.

Save Money at the Grocery Store

The next way to save money on frugal food is by keeping a watchful eye on what you spend on groceries.

• Organize your fridge. Keep an eye on leftovers and produce in the fridge. Don’t shove them toward the back of the top shelf! Instead, keep them at eye level, so you’re reminded of them every time you open the fridge. Eat them before they go bad.
• Master the art of “re-imagining” leftovers! Chop up all the meat leftovers in the fridge and add them to chili, a stew, or a soup. Here’s a recipe I invented for Spur of the Moment Chili, which came about just like it sounds! (I do my best cooking when my back’s to the wall and it’s 5:30 p.m.!) I also take leftover meat, either chop or shred it, and then fry it in some butter with chopped onion and sliced, fresh jalapenos. This makes an amazing filling for tacos or burritos.
• Make tortillas at home. Learn how to make homemade tortillas, for better taste and frugality! Tortillas are my trick for using up almost any leftover! I make leftover tacos or burritos by adding the heated leftovers to a soft, warm tortilla, shred a little cheese over the top and add sour cream and/or salsa. If you have leftover meat and need to make several of these, add cooked, diced potatoes or cooked rice to stretch the meat a little further.
• Plan meals and shop with a list. Plan meals for several days at a time, shop for those ingredients, and avoid quick trips to the grocery store where you’ll inevitably end up spending more. Post a list of those meals in your kitchen so you have that in mind all day and all week.
• Look for a discount bin. These are often in the meat and bakery departments. This is how we’ve managed to fully stock our freezer to overflowing. A farmer can fill up your freezer fast, too.
• Cook in bulk and freeze meals. Make multiple meals ahead of time and freeze them. It will help when you have busy days and evenings when you’re tempted to just eat out. Truthfully, eating out is so much easier than cooking everything at home, but the expense adds up and it’s one of the few expenses we have total control over.
• Meals-in-jars. Read this post for how to prepare these make-ahead jar meals.
• Stretch your protein. Cook a whole chicken and plan 2-3 meals with the meat: shredded chicken mixed with beans or chopped and cooked potatoes in burritos or tacos, shredded chicken in white chili — the trick is to combine the chicken, or any meat, with other ingredients in order to use it in 2 or more meals.
• Learn to cook more things from scratch. Even things like bread, noodles, crackers, hamburger buns, and marinara sauce from tomato powder.
• Meatless and meat-low meals. Cook more meals without meat and more meals with meat/chicken as one of the ingredients and not the main dish on its own – egg meals, beans, rice, soup, loaded baked potatoes.
• Strategic couponing. Use coupons only when they are for foods you would buy at full price and avoid processed foods, which are both unhealthy and more expensive than homemade.
• Learn to use meal stretchers. Foods such as cooked and mashed lentils in meatballs, rice or macaroni in soups. Add 2 cups of cooked rice to casseroles and skillet meals. Not only will the meal serve more people but you’ll likely have leftovers for future lunches and dinners.
• Multi-use meals. Learn how to make one big dish, like chili, and then utilize it in different meals throughout the week: chili over rice, chili on a baked potato, chili with macaroni, Frito pie, chili dogs, and even added to a can of soup!
• Hunt and fish. Look for a good, used freezer and a vacuum sealer in order to freeze the meat for later. Or, learn how to can it and keep it stored at room temperature, long-term.

Pro Shopping Tips

• MY TOP TIP: Sign up for a grocery program that offers free delivery. I was skeptical of this for a long time, but my sister-in-law convinced me to give it a try. I signed up with Kroger/Fry’s Boost program that gives me extra points toward gasoline purchases (sometimes we save more than fifty cents per gallon), Boost-only coupons, and free grocery delivery. The deliveries save me the most because I’m not tempted with impulse purchases as I go down each aisle and stick only, ever to what we actually eat.
  • We have the most boring shopping list ever because it’s pretty much the same week after week since we eat simple, basic meals.
  • We do eat out a few times a month, but when your grocery budget is less than $450, that leaves room for a handful of restaurant meals, especially using the tips in this article.
• Use grocery ads. Plan meals based on the weekly grocery store ads. Make those decisions based on the best grocery store sales, not by recipes or whatever you might be, “in the mood for.”
• Go home for lunch, if possible. One way to save money on lunchtime restaurant meals is to go home each day for lunch if you happen to live near your workplace.
• Double-coupons. These are less common than in the coupon-clipping days of yore. However, if you shop at stores that still happen to offer them, take advantage!
• Digital coupons. Also take full advantage of digital coupons. I like to clip coupons for whatever we use each week, and then they automatically come off IF I buy the product.
• Know your grocery store. Decide which grocery store(s) tend to have the best prices and memorize the store’s layout. That way, when you need to go shopping for just a few items, you’ll know exactly where they’re located. That saves time and money, since you won’t be wandering around the store, being tempted by product displays at every turn!
• Shop the perimeter. It really is true that the healthiest frugal foods are along the perimeter of every store: meat/seafood, dairy, produce, bakery, and eggs. Skip the sugary bakery goods, but everything else is what you want in 80% or so of your shopping cart. All the other aisles are mostly dedicated to processed, convenience foods.
• Keep a price book on everything you buy. This is an old-time concept and it’s effective. Simply keep track of the lowest price you’ve ever paid for something and record it in the book. This will help you know when a price is really a good discount or just a temporary gimmick. For example, if the lowest price you’ve ever paid for a gallon of whole milk is $2.39 and you’ve recorded that price, when you see it advertised for $2.79, you’ll know it can be bought for less. When you find it on sale for $2.19, record that new price, and it becomes your new “Lowest Price” for a gallon of milk. A price book helped me cut down my grocery expenses by a large margin. I organized it by food categories: dairy, meats, produce, frozen, canned, and so on.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Final Thoughts

The biggest savings don’t come from one big change. They come from small, consistent habits. When you combine frugal grocery shopping with simple ways to avoid eating out, your food budget starts to shrink without sacrificing the meals your family enjoys.