Poor skills cooking
One of our largest expenditures is food, and I find I can save a ton of money on food if I plan out meals. I buy larger cuts of meat and get leftovers from them that we have for lunch - no cold cuts or bread needed.
We eat oatmeal for breakfast or maybe eggs and toast - no expensive cereal required.
I cook from scratch a lot of the time. It's not a lot harder, it just takes longer. For example, I need to soak beans the night before or put the brown rice on 45 minutes before I'll need it. I use a crock pot a lot to slow cook tough cuts of meat. (Today I'm making BBQ ribs in one because I'm not sure what time my family will get home and I just want hot food when they do.) I'm making cole slaw to go with it: cabbage and carrots... couldn't be cheaper.
We sit down on the week-end with the grocery store flyer and plan out the week's meals, including who is going to cook what each night, what meats we need to pull from the freezer, and what ingredients we might need at the grocery store. We pay attention to what's on sale as we plan the week's meals. I also pay attention to what's on sale in case I want to stock up on something. We also get coupons and I do look at them, but I rarely buy name-brand stuff anymore so the coupons don't do me much good. But if something is on sale AND I have a coupon I'd use it. Mostly I buy fish, grains, dairy and cleaning products at the grocery store these days, as I get my vegetables and fruits from farm stands, the CSA share or the farmer's market. Nearly all of my meat comes from the chest freezer via a local farmer. (This is not a cost-saving measure, it's to let me buy cruelty-free organic grass-fed meat that supports my local economy.)
By the way, my kids all learned to cook really young in self-defense. My idea of a good meal is pork sausage baked with cabbage with brown rice on the side, or a kale and bean soup. They prefer things like tortellini with pesto sauce or spaghetti. If they don't want to eat my special turnip and brussels sprout stir-fry then they had better pick a night to make Hamburger Helper!
We eat oatmeal for breakfast or maybe eggs and toast - no expensive cereal required.
I cook from scratch a lot of the time. It's not a lot harder, it just takes longer. For example, I need to soak beans the night before or put the brown rice on 45 minutes before I'll need it. I use a crock pot a lot to slow cook tough cuts of meat. (Today I'm making BBQ ribs in one because I'm not sure what time my family will get home and I just want hot food when they do.) I'm making cole slaw to go with it: cabbage and carrots... couldn't be cheaper.
We sit down on the week-end with the grocery store flyer and plan out the week's meals, including who is going to cook what each night, what meats we need to pull from the freezer, and what ingredients we might need at the grocery store. We pay attention to what's on sale as we plan the week's meals. I also pay attention to what's on sale in case I want to stock up on something. We also get coupons and I do look at them, but I rarely buy name-brand stuff anymore so the coupons don't do me much good. But if something is on sale AND I have a coupon I'd use it. Mostly I buy fish, grains, dairy and cleaning products at the grocery store these days, as I get my vegetables and fruits from farm stands, the CSA share or the farmer's market. Nearly all of my meat comes from the chest freezer via a local farmer. (This is not a cost-saving measure, it's to let me buy cruelty-free organic grass-fed meat that supports my local economy.)
By the way, my kids all learned to cook really young in self-defense. My idea of a good meal is pork sausage baked with cabbage with brown rice on the side, or a kale and bean soup. They prefer things like tortellini with pesto sauce or spaghetti. If they don't want to eat my special turnip and brussels sprout stir-fry then they had better pick a night to make Hamburger Helper!