Food is one of the largest expenses in any family’s budget. It’s a necessity, something we can’t live without. But it’s also something that can consume our budgets in no time flat.
For us, living simple also means eating simple. We are far being deprived of our favorite meals, but we also don’t overindulge. So how do we stay on track and keep our food budget low? 

Please note, I am not a nutritionist or medical professional. Anything I write here is from my own experience and research. Please consult your favorite doctor before making any dietary changes that may affect your current or future treatment or health goals.

At The Grocery Store

1. Stay away from the middle isles. We buy most of our food on the perimeter of the store. Fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, dairy, sometimes bread (the bread location varies a lot, depending on the store). We go into the isles to buy spices, cereal, bread, bottled water, canned beans, condiments, and the like. Stay away from the highly processed foods. Your body will thank you.
2. Buy in bulk. Our living space is small, but we still find ways to buy in bulk. Dry and canned beans, rice, flour, oats and nuts are great items to buy in bulk.
3. Buy on sale, use coupons, and buy generic. I’ll admit, I’m terrible at this one. I rarely know what is on sale, and buy whatever we need when we need it, regardless of sales or coupons. But there are many things we will buy the generic of,  and we’ll typically try to purchase only fruits and vegetables that are in season. Otherwise we’ll buy the frozen variety.
4. Don’t purchase items in the checkout line. There is nothing there that you need. And if you do need it, there is a larger package at a lower per unit price somewhere else in the store.
5. Pay attention to per unit prices. Most often the price sticker below the item will include a unit price. The smaller packages may look cheaper at a glance, but check the unit price and you’ll notice the larger packages are less expensive per oz (or whatever unit of measure is appropriate) than the smaller packages.

At Home

1.  Freezer meals. If you have the space, try cooking meals ahead of time and placing them in the freezer in single person size portions. Having ready made food on hand lessens the need to go out to a restaurant to eat. 
2. Cook all your meals yourself. If you’re not  a good cook, find someone to teach you some simple meals. There are many, many websites out there that have quick, 30-minute recipes. Try a new one every week until you have a go-to list of meals you can easily make.
3. Keep basic pantry staples on hand. We make sure we never run out of flour, oats, raisins, nuts, salt, rice, dry beans, and baking powder, to name a few. I bet if you do a quick web search you could find some lists of pantry staples.
4. Meal plan. We don’t meal plan, but we should. Do your meal planning before you make your grocery list, so you know what you will need to make the week’s meals. No more making a quick stop to the grocery store to pick up that one item you need to make dinner (and then buying a bunch of stuff you don’t need).

At the Restaurant

1.  Order large meals and take home the leftovers. We do this almost every time we go out to eat (which isn’t often). Leftovers are great for the next day’s lunch.
2. Order a second meal, but ask for it to be packed “to go.” Also, ask for it to be cooked shortly before you are ready to leave.
3. Share a meal. Not all restaurants will let you do this, but sharing a meal can be a great way to save money while you’re eating out. Portion sizes have become so large in the American culture that it’s easy to share one meal with your spouse or your kids. 
4. Don’t order kids’ meals. Kids’ meals are expensive, and the portion sizes are small. Either have them share a plate with you, or order an adult meal and take home the leftovers.

Meal ideas

1.  Rice and beans. I know, it sounds boring, but there are dozens of combinations of rice and beans out there. Experiment to find your family’s favorite type of bean and varitey of rice. Play with spice combinations, add onions or peppers, heck, make a chili or soup out of it! Meat can be expensive, but you don’t need it to make a great meal. Rice: $1.52/lb; Pinto Beans: $0.80/lb. For a family of five, we use two cups (approximately 1/2 lb) of dry rice and 4 cups (approximately 1 lb) of dry beans. That’s about 76 cents worth of rice and 80 cents worth of beans to feed our entire family for a single meal.
2. Oatmeal. Again, sounds boring, but oatmeal can be dressed up with all sorts of healthy add-ins. Our oatmeal typically consists of oats (quick-cooking), chia seeds, maple syrup, and frozen fruit. We’ve also made it with raisins, cinnamon, fresh fruit,  and granola. Not all at once though. Again, experiment to determine how your family likes it! Oats: $0.67/lb; Chia Seeds: $2.80/lb; Maple Syrup: $0.67/oz; Frozen strawberries: $2.61/lb. For our family, that amounts to about 17 cents worth of oats, 4 cents worth of chia seeds, 33 cents worth of maple syrup and 65 cents worth of strawberries per person per day. $5.95 total for the whole family.
3. Pancakes. Make them yourself! Flour, oats, baking powder, salt. Add nut butter or applesauce for flavor if you’d like. Easy peasy. Wheat Flour: $0.97/lb; Oats: $0.67/lb; Baking powder: $0.42/oz; Salt: $1.05/lb. Each batch of pancakes for us costs about $1.42.
4. Barbeque Lentils with Coleslaw. Lentils, barbeque sauce, coleslaw mix, homemade coleslaw dressing. Put it all on a bun and enjoy! Lentils: $1.75/lb; BBQ sauce: $2.72; Coleslaw mix: $1.77; Store-bought dressing: $0.19/oz; Buns: $2.38 for a package of 12. Two cups of lentils (88 cents), a bottle of BBQ sauce, Coleslaw with dressing, Hamburger buns: $7.94 per meal, although we can often stretch this to two meals.
5. Eggs and Toast. We like to keep it simple. An 18-count carton of eggs is $2.23 and a loaf of bread is $2.58. We can make this stretch to two meals for the five of us, which makes it about $2.41 per meal.