How to Eat Cheap at Home

College students, young professionals and parents cooking for children all understand the desire to eat cheap. One of the best ways to shave food costs is to eat at home. A budget doesn't have to keep you from cooking nutritious food that tastes good and with a few simple tricks you can develop satisfying staple meals for less.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Eat a staple grain with every meal. At lunch, eat a sandwich on hearty wheat bread. At dinner, cook with white or brown rice or pasta. These complex carbohydrates will fill you up and keep you energized, but are also incredibly cheap.

2. Eat eggs. Eggs are a great source of protein and vitamins, and are also incredibly cheap (much cheaper than meats). Scrambled eggs are a healthy breakfast or snack, and an omelet with some veggies thrown in can give you a full dinner or lunch. A fried egg on a sandwich or with rice is also a nice way to add some protein without having to buy or cook meat.

3. Buy generic brands. Generic brands can cut the cost by anywhere from 10-to-50%. If you're skeptical, check the ingredients and nutrition information. You will see for yourself that it's basically the same stuff inside.

4. Act like a vegetarian. Even if you do like to eat meat, it's much cheaper to prepare vegetarian meals for yourself and only eat meat once in a while. Fresh produce can get expensive, but baked potatoes, eggplant parmesan, and a big salad made with romaine lettuce are all filling and affordable.

5. Buy some frozen and canned vegetables too. Fresh produce is nice, but have some frozen and canned veggies on hand. They keep longer and are easy to prepare when you're just throwing something together.

6. Plan for what you are going to eat. Don't go to the grocery store hungry, and plan what food you will eat every day so that you don't give in to the temptation of ordering carry-out.

Tips & Warnings

• Drink cheap, too. Drink more water with meals, and cut back on carbonated and alcoholic beverages.