Food Hacks That Will Save You Money

Inside: Save money in the kitchen with these clever food hacks. Don't let your food go to waste. These genius food hacks will save you money!

My son and I like to play a game when we are shopping. We both try to guess how much the grocery trip will cost us.

Usually, we both underestimated how much we spent at the store. Groceries are expensive, and I have read before that we usually throw out about 40 percent of our groceries.

Since I would prefer not to waste about 40 percent of my grocery budget I try to be diligent about what we eat and what we throw out.

There are so many easy food hacks to help you save what food you have and stretch your grocery budget. If you want to spend less at the grocery store check out these clever food hacks that will save you money and time.

Freeze Wine

Have an open bottle of wine that is going to go bad? No worries, just freeze the wine. Pour out the wine in an ice cube tray and freeze the wine into cubes. Then you can use the cubes when you need some wine for cooking. This also works well if you have a wine that you don't like the taste of. The taste won't be noticeable once you use it for cooking.

Grate Your Cheese

Skip buying cheese that has already been grated and grate your own. It can save you about 50% to buy a block of cheese and shred it yourself. To shred your own cheese start by freezing the block for about 30 minutes so it shreds better. You can either use a food processor or grate by hand. Once you have it shredded I recommend tossing in some cornstarch to keep the cheese from sticking together. You can see how I use a food processor to shred my cheese quickly here.

Make Big Batches Of Meat

This is one of the best food hacks to save money. Whenever you buy meat just buy a big batch and cook it all up at once. You can easily freeze the meat once it's cooked so it doesn't go bad as quickly. Not only does it not spoil as easily, but it also makes life much easier when you can just pull some cooked meat from the freezer. I like to make ground beef in the crockpot for tacos, tamale pie, stroganoff, and other recipes. I cook up chicken breasts and freeze the breasts for recipes like pot pie, bbq chicken and chicken and biscuits.

Make Your Berries Last Longer

Berries and fruits can spoil quickly. Make your berries last longer with a vinegar rinse. I know it sounds gross to put vinegar on berries, but you can't taste the vinegar and it really does help them last days longer. Make sure they are completely dry and store them in a container so they can breathe.

Save Your Brown Sugar

Drop a marshmallow or two in with your brown sugar to keep it from getting hard. The marshmallow will keep the brown sugar soft for months. It's an easy food hack that keeps your brown sugar from becoming unusable.

Make Your Own Seasonings

Skip buying expensive seasons and make your own at home for an awesome food hack. I love to make taco seasoning and bbq rub at home instead of buying them. With Pinterest, you can find all kinds of seasonings to make yourself and really save some money.

Avoid Freezer Burn

Save yourself some money on wasted food and make sure you don't get freezer burn. Even if you take the time to freeze food so it lasts longer you can lose it to freezer burn. Freezer burn is caused by a number of different things. Check out how to prevent freezer burn here.

Keep A List Of Foods

Keep a list of foods you have around the house so they don't spoil. I like to keep a list of leftovers on the fridge so I can quickly grab a snack or lunch in a hurry. You are less likely to forget about the leftovers if you have it posted. You can also keep a list of what is in your freezer so it doesn't go bad. Things often get lost in the back of the freezer and spoil. You can get a freezer inventory printable here to keep track of what you have around the house.

Cook Beans In A Crockpot

Skip buying canned beans and save a little money by cooking them yourself in a crockpot. It doesn't take much time to make beans in a crock pot but they taste better too. You can easily cook dried beans in a slow cooker in about 3-4 hours. Just cook on high and stir every 30 minutes.

Make Your Own Broth 

Don't throw out that rotisserie chicken. Use the bones to make a homemade bone broth. The flavors are amazing when you make your own broth at home. It's easy to do in the crockpot. Just add all the bones to the crock pot and cover with water. Add in some onions and carrots if you want added flavor. Let it cook overnight on high and drain everything until you just have the broth. The homemade broth tastes amazing in chicken noodle soup.

Dry Foods Before They Go Bad

Don't let your fruits and veggies go bad. You can easily dry your foods at home. Set your oven to the lowest setting or use a food dehydrator to preserve your foods. Some of my favorite foods to dry are tomatoes and pineapples.

Regrow Your Own Food

Regrowing your own food is an awesome money saving food hack and it's fun to do too! You can easily regrow foods like celery, lettuce, cabbage, and more. My favorite food to regrow is green onions. You can put the green onion roots in a small cup of water and within a week you will have more green onions. Check out all my favorite foods to regrow.

Put Your Ice Cube Tray To Work

Even if you have an ice dispenser on your freezer you can put your ice cube tray to work freezing things like soup, gravy, and herbs to make them last longer. You can also use up old lemons that are going bad by making ice cubes to clean your garbage disposal. There are so many awesome things you can do with your ice cube trays.

With these amazing food hacks, you can start saving money and spend less at the grocery store. Want some more money-saving tips? Check out these 25 foods you can freeze to save time and money.