When you’re trying to save money on groceries, breakfast food can actually be a great place to start.
Several of these ideas may seem routine, but I have a unique way of looking at each one.
First things first, everything costs something. What we are looking to do is trade time for money. If you’re anything like me, you may feel money deprived, but you definitely feel time deprived!
So just know that I don’t suggest these lightly. These are the things that work for us….
1. Re-think leftovers.
No, really. Hear me out. If it was delicious last night, who says it can’t also be great at 7 am?
I, for one, have never really thought about leftover mac and cheese for breakfast. Who am I kidding? There’s never any leftover mac and cheese, lol. You can click here for our recipe.
OK, so what does this look like, realistically?
It looks like using leftover chicken and veggies from dinner and putting it on a biscuit or in a tortilla. This is Georgia, and you need bread to make a meal, bless your heart.
Here are prices from my local Wal-Mart.
| item | cost per package | # of servings | cost per serving |
| Mary B’s buttermilk frozen biscuits | $3.96 | 20 | $0.20 |
| Mission soft taco flour tortillas | $2.28 | 10 | $0.23 |
A 20 cent breakfast?? Wow, that’s honestly cheaper than I realized. Cool.
On to the next tip.
2. Cook from scratch.
Now before you roll your eyes and say, yeah, right…believe me I’ve already said it for you!
Personally, it’s not even so much the intimidation of cooking from scratch. Most recipes are way more forgiving than you would think.
It’s the time factor.
{My post about meal planning might be helpful, too. Click here to read it.}
Take pancakes for instance. I truly thought that cooking pancakes from scratch would take an hour, compared to using a mix and taking about 20 minutes. Now I won’t say that I have timed myself. Because I haven’t. But, after a couple of years of mostly scratch cooking, I can say that it seriously doesn’t take me even an extra 10 minutes.
The real question, though, is: Does it save you money?
Let’s look at a typical pancake recipe.
| ingredient | cost to buy | cost per serving |
| AP flour | $1.22/5 lb | $0.12 |
| baking powder | $1/8.1 oz | $0.07 |
| salt | $0.92/26 oz | $0.01 |
| sugar | $5/10 lb | $0.01 |
| milk | $3.47/gallon | $0.02 |
| egg | $2.93/18 eggs | $0.16 |
| butter | $5.88/8 sticks | $0.27 |
| Total | $0.66 |
Hungry Jack pancake mix is $1.98. For our family, we could make pancakes twice with this box of mix.
That means that by making it from scratch, we’re getting free pancakes every 3rd time we make them. I love math!
3. Freeze extras.
Now that I’ve {hopefully} convinced you to start cooking from scratch, the key to save yourself time is to freeze the extras.
This is not as hard as it may sound. If I can do it, you can do it.
Make breakfast for supper one night and freeze the extra waffles, pancakes, and even eggs or omelettes. Doubling the recipe does NOT double your time! By not wasting the leftovers, you’re saving money and making better use of the time you spent preparing these foods.
To freeze the waffles and pancakes, spread them out on a plate or cookie sheet so they’re not touching and put them in the freezer for an hour or so. Once they’re chilled, put them all together in a freezer ziploc bag or container. They won’t stick together, so you can take out just 2 or 3 when you need them. Put the waffles in the toaster or microwave the pancakes. Done!
To freeze the eggs, our favorite way is to combine a leftover biscuit, bacon or sausage, some omelette or scrambled egg, and a slice of cheese into a sandwich. Wrap individually in saran wrap and place in a freezer ziploc bag. When you’re ready to have one, take it out of the plastic, wrap it in a paper towel, and heat in the microwave. Easy!
4. Buy the largest quantity of each item.
This tip is one of those that’s easy to overlook. But look at these numbers:
| item | cost to buy | cost per serving |
| 42 oz oatmeal | $3.88 | $0.37 |
| 18 oz oatmeal | $2.34 | $0.53 |
| item | cost to buy | cost per serving |
| 32 oz Greek yogurt | $3.47 | $0.57 |
| 5.3 oz Greek yogurt | $0.64 | $0.64 |
| item | cost to buy | cost per serving |
| 24 oz frosted flakes | $3.64 | $0.31 |
| 2.1 oz frosted flakes | $1 | $1 |
This may not seem like a huge savings, but over time and depending on what you’re buying, you will definitely spend less.
The key is to be sure you’ll use all of something before it goes bad.
Which leads us to the next tip!
5. Make smoothies.
Healthy and cheap? Surely that’s not possible….let’s see….here are the ingredients for my favorite smoothie.
| ingredient | cost to buy | cost per serving |
| banana | $0.22 | $0.22 |
| walnuts | $6.22/16 oz | $0.39 |
| flax seed | $2.88/22 oz | $0.07 |
| plain Greek yogurt | $6.94/32 oz | $1.32 |
| Total | $2 |
$2 seems like a good aim for a breakfast that needs to be healthy and quick.
If you make smoothies using frozen fruit, you have the added benefit of not having to worry about the fruit going bad before you can use it up!
Now that you have some ideas for what to make, let’s look at the next tip.
6. Make a ninja list before you go shopping.
Ninja list?! I’m just going to Walmart! 😀
Here’s what I mean. Make a plan before you head out so that you don’t spend money on things you don’t need. Stay with me.
We’ve all heard the idea that we spend more at the grocery store when we’re hungry (true)….well, it’s also said, that not having a list results in spending more, too.
OK, well, what’s the ninja part??
Find yourself a grocery app (like the Walmart app!) or even just a list app and keep it running in general…here are some features to look for:
- the price of the app should be free
We’re trying to save money here, remember? 🙂
- the ability to group items by aisle in the store or by category
I don’t know about you, but I don’t go to the same store each time. I don’t shop around for deals…I just always seem to be in a different part of town when I need to get groceries, so I tend to go to the one that is the closest on the way home! So, category is definitely better for me.
- memory
What I mean by this is that if I type in Schar gluten free bread one time on that list, I want it to suggest that to me when I type “sc” the next time!
I have tried a handful of grocery list and just general list apps. The one I’m currently using and really like is one called Our Groceries. I’ve put the link to the Apple Store so that you can see what it looks like. (I don’t make any money off of that recommendation, by the way.)
This app meets the above requirements and has a very simple interface, which I like.
OK, now let’s look at one more way to save before we even get to the store!
7. Use rebate apps like Ibotta.
I love me some Ibotta! I’ve written about it in detail, here. If you want to learn how to get it and use it, you can click on that link. It takes you to my more in-depth post.
Basically, it’s an app on my phone that has rebates (think: modern-day coupons) at grocery stores as well as amazon, target, best buy, dollar stores, etc. The deals vary widely.
A couple of examples right now: $1 off Nature Valley granola bars (family pack–the one we always buy!) and 10 cents off beef jerky (any brand). The “any brand” ones are my favorites, lol. I’ve received over $650 back from Ibotta in the past couple of years ($656.60, to be exact). That’s a major savings.
Pro tip: Use your Ibotta rebates to pay for groceries. I love when I have a $20 gift card from Ibotta to take off the total of my grocery bill.
Remember, you can go here to get more info about Ibotta. It will open in a new tab, so you won’t lose your place here. No worries. 🙂
OK, enough pre-shopping savings…let’s head to the store!
Bonus tip!
If you have to eat out, and realistically, it does come up, make use of loyalty programs. Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts both have them, but don’t forget cheaper places like McDonald’s. They tend to have pretty good deals on their breakfast menu. Every little bit helps. 🙂