When our family grew to six, life quickly changed. We needed a bigger vehicle, more space in the house, and our grocery budget increased. A lot.
At first it was diapers and formula. Now it’s food in general. With simple planning, you can save money on groceries for large families and make sticking to your budget easier for you.
Simple Tips to Save Money on Groceries for Large Families
You’ve probably heard it time and time again. The truth, is meal planning IS the best way to save money on food for your large family. You can plan meals around what is on sale and already in the house, allowing you to stick to a budget and save money on groceries for large families.
Visible Meal Plan
Keeping the meal plan visible for the family helps in a few ways. You ensure the food you purchased gets used. The question of “what’s for dinner” no longer needs to be asked every day.
We hung a white board in the dining room where we write the weekly menu plan for dinner. During the summer we also list the different items the kids can have for lunches. This makes sure they don’t eat items I plan on using for dinners.
An alternative to a white board is a weekly meal planning printable you can hang on the fridge. Grab the meal planner printable below to help you stick to your grocery budget each week.
Another one of my favorite resources for meal planning is 4HatsandFrugal.com. She has tons of posts on Meal Planning and great tips for shopping at Aldi’s.
–> PRINT WEEKLY MEAL PLANNER HERE <–
Better Beverage Budgeting
Skip or limit expensive drink options. I remember looking down at my shopping cart one trip awhile back and realizing “man, we buy a lot of drinks!”. That trip I decided no more. Sodas and sugary fun drinks are now for special occasions and eating out.
Milk, orange juice, and the occasionally sports drinks are what I stick to. I also keep water bottles for each kid in the fridge that they fill up nightly. This has cut down the grocery budget, freed up space in the fridge, and decreased the amount of recycling we need to send out each week!
Save on Produce
Buy produce from the local farmers market to get great deals. During the offseason watch for sales to get the most fruits and vegetables for your budget and save money on groceries for large families.
The Fruit Club and Bountiful Baskets are one of my favorites ways to save money on groceries for large families. Especially when it comes to fresh fruits and vegetables. I don’t regularly contribute but picked up a basket over the weekend and was really impressed. I highly recommend checking them out if they are in your area.
Stock Up On Meat and Bulk It Up
When it comes to meat, stock up when you can. Last month, our local Hy-Vee had 6lb cases of turkey burger marked down to $3.00. I couldn’t pass the price up and wish I had picked up two boxes.
Bulk up ground meats with things like beans, rice, or oatmeal to get more for your money when using ground meats. Things like tacos and spaghetti most people will not even notice when you do this.
You can also add bulk to your overall meals by surging healthy and frugal carbs like beans, quinoa, flax, and oatmeal to make meals filling without a large expense. To get the most of this money saver, stock up with you find these items on sale.
Potatoes of all types are easy to catch on sale all year round. Through the summer and winter, russets are a great way to bulk up a meal for just a few cents a pound.
Save with Homemade Meals
Cooking from scratch is a great way to save money on food for your large family. While buying premade foods can make it easier for you to get a meal done, they can really add up in cost over making it yourself.
Making homemade seasonings is something I’m doing more of this year. Things like taco and chili seasoning on hand for quick meals.
Find copycat recipes for restaurant meals your family loves. Pinterest and TikTok are great places to find lots of copycat recipes for things like KFC Bowls, Taco Bell Mexican Pizzas, and even Starbucks Egg Bites!
What other ways do you save money on groceries for large families?
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