6 Ways to Save on Food for the Single Cook

One of the biggest problems facing the single cook is the fact that it’s much more expensive to eat per capita for the single person than for a family. If we check the unit price in the supermarket, we can see that gram-per-gram, a single-serving sized item is always more expensive than the family size. So, if, as a single person, we need to keep to a strict food budget, to a large extent we need to think differently about shopping for and preparing food than our mothers did.

My website, Cooking for Less than One is primarily for people with restricted stomach capacity who also happen to be single cooks, so we face the double challenge of trying to shop for a single person who can only eat in small portions. My website takes that challenge into account. As well as catering for small portions, the recipes and suggestions on the website are built around the goal of reducing waste and thus containing costs. My approach includes:

· providing a variety of recipes for each ‘hero’ ingredient so that you can use it all up without getting bored

· designing recipes so that they use only what you’d have on hand in your fridge, freezer or pantry

· using only easily accessible and reasonably priced ingredients

· using ingredients that are available in small quantities and/or keep well

· using ingredients that are versatile and so can be used in many different ways

You’ll find lots of tips for saving money and living frugally online, and many of those tips will be useful for us, but here are 6 tips that apply especially to the single person.

Tip #1: Shop wisely

Grocery shopping is one of those tasks we can’t avoid, but as it’s where we can best begin to save on the cost of food, it pays to shop wisely.

Before shopping, check your fridge and pantry and make a shopping list.

Let’s be honest, as single people, we don’t cook as often as a family does, so we’re much more prone to buying produce and groceries, forgetting we have them and then either letting them go to waste or buying more of the same. So it’s a useful discipline, before you go shopping, to go through your fridge and pantry, pen and paper in hand (or the Notes app open on your phone) and make a list of what you need. Even if you leave your list at home, the very act of writing one will help you remember what you need and don’t need.

While you’re there, you might rearrange the items in your fridge and put those that need to be used soon where you can see them easily, and/or make a list of those items which you can refer to when planning your next meal.

For a useful checklist for making up your shopping list see My Shopping List.

Make time to shop for food regularly.

One reason a single person might order take-out, is that they’ve come home to an empty fridge because they haven’t been shopping lately. You can avoid this situation by making shopping for food a regular and enjoyable part of your life. How, when, where and how often you shop will depend on your lifestyle and choices. Nowadays we have the option of shopping in person, or online where we can click and collect or get it home delivered. Whatever system you choose, make sure you give yourself ample time to shop thoughtfully and consider your options. This will also help you enjoy shopping, as feeling rushed is often what makes it such a chore.

A word of warning, however. Make sure you don’t go shopping when you’re hungry, as those hunger pangs will tempt you to fill your trolley with treats or more than you need. If you have a choice between eating and shopping, eat first.

Take advantage of retail competition and shop around.

I doubt you have time to go to several supermarkets in one week, but you can alternate doing your weekly shopping at each of the big chains, and perhaps stock up once a month at a discount store.

When you need big ticket items such as cleaning products and supplies e.g. dishwasher tablets, it would pay to go online and compare prices from different suppliers. If the product is getting too expensive it might also be useful to google for cheaper alternatives.

You should also check out your local speciality shops such as greengrocers, butchers, chicken or fish shops, health and bulk food stores. They might offer ingredients you use often at a better price than the supermarket or be a better option when you need to buy in bulk or want to cut back on packaging.

Check out your local food markets and farmers’ markets as well. They might not be cheaper, but they might offer speciality items you won’t see elsewhere, or just make for an enjoyable outing.

You can also take advantage of the tricks the stores use to lure you in:

· Join loyalty programs and take advantage of the special offers they entail.

· Look for specials and reductions. However, make sure you only buy items you know you’ll use. A bargain isn’t a bargain if it gets thrown to the back of the fridge or pantry and forgotten.

· Choose generic brands and the supermarket’s own line over established brands. They will always be cheaper and usually as good as the branded product, sometimes even made by the same manufacturer. However, you might find that you prefer certain products from certain chains, which is another reason to alternate where you shop.

Be aware of situations when buying in bulk can actually be a waste of money.

As we know, the larger package or can of a grocery item is usually much cheaper gram-per-gram than a small package. With fresh vegetables you may have a choice between the whole item or a small package of it semi-prepared for an added cost. Fruit often comes in punnets or bags, which are much cheaper per kilogram than the loose variety.

However, before you put that large item in your shopping trolley, ask yourself, ‘If I open this package or can, or buy this big vegetable or bag of fruit, will I be able to use all of it before it goes off or will I end up throwing most of it away?’ If your answer is the latter, put it back and look for the small or single serve can, pick up a packet of semi-prepared vegetables, or choose a few loose pieces of fruit. You won’t be saving money if you have to throw most of your purchase away.

Tip #2: Maintain a well-stocked pantry

No kitchen is complete without a pantry well-stocked with all the supplies and ingredients we need every day. Our meals might be built around ‘hero’ ingredients, be they meat or vegetable, but the ingredients that give a dish its essence come from the pantry. Moreover, the pantry isn’t just about peripherals. It’s also a great resource for those times we haven’t been shopping lately, when we need to make a meal only from what we can find in our pantry.

Keep your stock of pantry contents up to date by making a list of the items you consider essential, and check that you have adequate supplies of them when making up your shopping list.

For a useful guide to what to stock in your pantry, see Pantry Essentials. (For our purposes, your ‘pantry’ can also include your freezer and fridge.)

Your pantry essentials could include:

· inexpensive seasonings and condiments that can be used in many different ways such as mayonnaise, lemon juice, soy sauce and mild curry powder which can be combined with a stock range of herbs and spices for a wide variety of results.

· staples and long-life ingredients such as pasta, rice and noodles, frozen, canned and dried vegetables which can be used to supplement fresh ingredients and thereby stretch your food budget.

· items that can be used to make a quick meal in a pinch such as canned tuna, chicken and beans which can be used as a basis for a quick and healthy meal when you don’t have any fresh ingredients on hand. For ideas for such occasions see: Quick Meals from the Pantry.

· pantry staples such as flour, quick oats, instant couscous and microwave rice which can be used to make your own snacks, biscuits and cakes, that will not only save you money, but will also be healthier than highly processed snacks. For ideas on making your own, see: Quick and Healthy Snacks and Desserts.

Tip #3: Make good use of your freezer.

You can use your freezer, not only to save money, but to make your life much easier.

Keep a few packets of frozen fruit and vegetables on hand, especially if they’re items you use in small amounts only or are a handy standby.

It’s always handy to have a few packets of frozen vegetables in the freezer such as peas, spinach and broccoli which can be used to add to or form the basis of a quick meal. Frozen berries can always be used to make a smoothy or a quick and health dessert. It might seem counter-intuitive, but I would also suggest you include frozen chopped onion. It can be used in small quantities, will never go off, and won’t make you cry.

For more see: Essential Standby Vegetables.

Put perishable items in the freezer instead of the fridge so that they last longer.

You might only use some of the perishables that you keep in the fridge on rare occasions, or they might still manage to go mouldy or stale before you finish them off. Some of those items can be kept in the freezer instead to prolong their life a little further. For example, I keep shredded Parmesan and mozzarella cheese in the freezer, so they never go mouldy on me. Sliced bread and pita pockets can also be kept in the freezer so you always have some fresh on hand for sandwiches or toast.

Store chicken, meat and fish in the freezer in single serve parcels.

It’s almost impossible to buy fresh chicken or meat for a single serve. Supermarkets pack them in family size trays, while butchers are unlikely to be gracious when you ask for 125gm of diced steak. Nor are you likely to have the time to go out and buy a single serve of chicken before each meal. So your best option is to buy them in family size lots, split them up into single serve portions, put them in single-serve snack-bags and freeze. In such small parcels, they will defrost quickly.

Uncooked fish can be found in the supermarket freezer. Not only is it generally cheaper than fresh fish, it is cut into single fillets which are often individually wrapped.

For more see: One Pot Main Courses

Be kind to yourself and keep a few standby items in the freezer for a quick meal.

You won’ t always have the time to prepare a meal from scratch, so for those occasions, you can have a few items in your freezer which can just be placed in a toaster oven to heat through while you prepare a salad. You’ll find a wide range of convenient meal components in the supermarket freezer, such as oven ready fish or chicken, potato chips, pizza bases or pies and pastries. Alternatively, you can buy fresh sausages, rissoles, meat balls or burger patties and freeze them.

These items might be a little more expensive than cooking from scratch, but they’re a lot cheaper than succumbing to temptation and ordering take-out.

For more see: Eating In with Next to No Cooking

Cook in bulk and freeze.

You can cook in bulk either by preparing large batches especially for freezing, or you can cook family size meals, eat some and freeze the rest. In both cases the benefits are obvious. You won’t need to eat the same meal every day for a week. You can save time on cooking and shopping. You can buy larger packages of ingredients and use those vegetables that are hard to get in small quantities. And, if you have healthy meals in the freezer, you won’t be tempted to get take-out.

For more see: Cooking in Bulk.

Tip #4: Minimise food waste.

While millions of people go hungry every day, millions of affluent people throw food out every day, and usually unnecessarily. Here in Australia, we waste around 7.6 million tonnes of food across the food supply chain per year. This equals about 312kg per person, 30% of which is wasted in the household, meaning that, on average, every Australian throws out about 95 kg of good food every year. Even setting aside the environmental costs, think of the financial cost that can easily be avoided, or at least minimised.

Store fresh produce correctly.

The best way to avoid food waste is to make sure you store fresh food correctly so that it will last longer and you can be sure to use it before you need to throw it out. This is especially important with fruit and vegetables. It’s beyond the scope of this article to detail the best way to store produce, but you’ll find a treasure trove of information on the internet.

One option for keeping vegetables fresh is to purchase specially designed vegetable storage containers or bags. The plastic containers have vents in them and a raised or corrugated base so that your produce can breathe while not getting too wet. Some of these might be expensive to purchase but will last for years and save money in the long run.

Research a range of recipes for fresh ingredients.

Even if you can buy ingredients in small quantities, you might still have more than you can use in one meal. No doubt you have your favourite way to serve certain meat and vegetables, but even your favourites can get boring after a while. Therefore, it’s useful to have a range of recipes on hand, especially for fresh produce, so you can use them in various ways.

See Vegetable Essentials for a range of recipes for a wide selection of vegetables.

Get creative with cooking whatever is left in your fridge at the end of the week.

You may be the kind of cook that closely follows recipes, but there will be times when you’ll look in your fridge and find a disparate motley of items. Rather than going out to buy more to suit your desired recipe, and letting what’s in your fridge go to waste, get creative with throwing scratch meals together with whatever you have on hand.

See Quick Meals from the Pantry for a range of easily adaptable recipes for just such occasions.

Freeze leftovers and produce that might otherwise go to waste.

If you have fresh produce on hand that you won’t have time to use before it goes to waste, you can use the freezer to save it for later use. You can freeze cooked or blanched vegetables and puréed fruit and even herbs etc. Again, you can research online for detailed instructions. Milk and bread are two other commonly wasted food products which can also be frozen.

Tip #5: Don’t let take-out be your first option.

A large part of our modern economy is based on convenience, especially the convenience of take-out food, and more recently, of food delivery. Young single people are especially liable to choosing a take-out meal over cooking for themselves, and thus spending much more on food than they need to.

In a recent report, a young single woman calculated that while she spent approximately $181.00 per week on groceries, she spent an additional $155.00 per week on take-out food. While she was able to use wise shopping tips to reduce her grocery bills, she had to make important life-style choices to reduce her take-out spending.

Always have the makings of a quick meal in the freezer or pantry

There are times when we don’t have time to cook a meal from scratch or are just too tired or hungry. With food delivery being so easy, it’s tempting to just get on the phone and order in. The temptation will be reduced if you always have something in your freezer or pantry that can be served up in just a few minutes. Not only will your meal be much cheaper, you’ll be able to eat it piping hot.

Your cheapest option is a meal you’ve cooked yourself and frozen, but you could also have a meal from the supermarket freezer, or oven-ready fish or chicken etc. Whenever I go shopping, I always take a quick look at the frozen section for specials on such items. This is also an area where you can splurge, because even the best quality prepared meal from the supermarket freezer will be cheaper than a home delivered restaurant meal.

If you find that you regularly just don’t have time to cook, investigate home delivery meal services. These services will be more expensive than shopping and cooking for yourself, but certainly cheaper than take-out and better for your health.

For a few ideas see: Eating In with Next to No Cooking

Bring your lunch to work.

One meal where the temptation to go out and get take-out food is the strongest is your workday lunch. You might not have time to pack your lunch when you’re in a rush to get out the door. Or it might be a good excuse to get out of the office for a bit of fresh air rather than eating at your desk or in a stuffy lunchroom. But think of the expense. An average take-out lunch can cost up to $15 per day. Bringing your lunch from home could save you around $50 per week.

Your office lunch is a good way to use last night’s leftovers, but for a few more ideas for a workday lunch see: BYO Lunch.

Make your own coffee.

These days, one of the most ubiquitous sights in a city street is a person carrying a cup of take-out coffee — a cup of coffee that can cost up to $7 — and most people have several cups a day. Not only is this a waste of money, those disposable cups are a major contributor to landfill. If you must buy a cup of coffee, sit down, drink it from a ceramic cup, relax and enjoy it. And while you’re there, you can think about how much you could save if you made your own coffee.

If you have the means, and high standards for your coffee, you can invest in a coffee machine. Even the most expensive coffee machine will soon pay for itself.

If you can’t afford a coffee machine, a classic Italian percolator costs less that $30 and at that price you can buy two or three in different sizes for different occasions. If you prefer to start from the beans, you can get a little coffee grinder as well. You could even lash out on a milk frother. All for the amount you might spend on take-out coffee in a fortnight!

If you have neither of the above, allow yourself to splurge in the supermarket and buy a good quality instant coffee. Even the largest jar only costs the equivalent of less than a week’s worth of take-out coffees. (And if you’re observant, you can usually stock up when your favourite brand is on special.)

Use a refillable water bottle.

If you’re lucky enough to live where the tap water is drinkable, take advantage of the fact to save on buying drinking water. Invest in a refillable water bottle which you can carry with you wherever you go. Alternatively, you might find water on the supermarket shelf in an attractive bottle, or in small plastic bottles that you can rinse, refill and slip into a handbag. You can also purchase one or two family-sized bottles of water which you can constantly refill and keep in the fridge.

One caveat, however. If you have no choice but to buy a drink, think of your health, teeth and waistline and choose water over soft or energy drinks.

Tip #6: Entertain at home

These days, most young people entertain or celebrate special occasions by inviting their friends to a restaurant. Their friends are then usually obliged to pay for their own meal and sometimes even chip in for their host’s.

Back in my day we would never have put our friends under such an obligation, nor could we afford to pay for all our guests’ restaurant meals ourselves. Instead, we would entertain at home, hosting either a dinner party or a party with finger food. If we really couldn’t afford to feed all our guests, we would have a potluck party and invite the ladies to bring a plate (i.e. a plate of food to share) and the gentlemen to bring a bottle (i.e. a bottle of alcohol). Another favourite was the progressive dinner party, in which we would go from house to house, where we would be served one course of a multi-course meal in each one.

If you’re struggling with the cost of living these days, no doubt your friends are, too, so it might be time to revive those ancient traditions (though perhaps without the sexism) and start a new trend. Next time you or one of your friends is celebrating a birthday or anniversary, get your friendship group together to organise a party at someone’s home.