The pay check seems to be getting smaller and the food bill seems to be getting larger, yet no one is happy about the meals that are being put on the table, so what’s up?
Chances are you are just simply cooking way too often and way too much. If this might be the problem then here are some tell tale signs that will verify it.
Check out bill is on the rise
You may find that even though you are bargain food shopping and using food coupons which you didn’t do in the past, that your grocery bill is still on the rise. If nothing else, by taking these measures you should be at least able to maintain your food bill at a consistent rate.
One of the traps you may be falling into is the coupon frenzy. What is happening here is, you are clipping and using discount coupons for food that you wouldn’t normally have purchased to use in your cooking in the past. So what is happening is you are increasing the quantity of food items that you are purchasing and cooking.
Too many scraps ending up in the garbage
If you are finding all too often that you are disposing of more food after a meal, then the warning flags should go up. If your family serves themselves they probably are not increasing the amount they are taking, it’s just there are too many choices. Perhaps you have felt that introducing a larger selection of vegetables was necessary. This is a great choice but you may want to consider cutting down the portions of meat.
No “I’m starved” at suppertime
Chances are you are serving a large meal at lunch even if you are packing lunches for the family. If you are a good cook, and believe in cooking from scratch then there are probably a lot of goodies in the lunches, but way too much for the noon time meal requirement. If this is the case then cut back on what you are cooking for lunch meals, or alternatively serve lighter dinners.
The “Is that all” comments
If you find that perhaps on one of your busy nights you just cooked a minimal meal of meat, potatoes and one or two vegetables, and you get the comments of “is that it”, then chances are you are spoiling your family with too many entrees. You may want to eliminate a few of the side dishes that they have gotten into the habit of receiving.
The fridge is full of left overs
If you find that you are filling a small shopping bag on trash night with left overs from the fridge, then you can bet you are cooking way too much. If this were not the case then the fridge would be as a standard rule, bare of left overs.
These are just five signs that it is time to cut back on the cooking. Not only will it cut down on the food bill but you may see a few individuals shedding a few unwanted pounds. Further to this, just think of what you can do with that extra time you will be saving instead of cooking!
This was a guest post from Lior who works for Milk Nursingwear, a company that sells nursing wear and nursing tops.
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