Looking for ways to save some money this summer? Why not start with food? Summer is a great time to save money on your food budget! In this post, I’m sharing creative ways you can save money on your food budget this summer, plus more than fifty summer meal ideas!
LOTS OF WAYS TO SAVE MONEY ON FOOD
In addition to other posts I’ve written about ways to save money at the grocery store, here are some ways you can save money on food in the summer specifically.
STOCK UP ON FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
They’re in season and on sale so focus your meals around fresh fruits and vegetables. This is a great way to eat healthy on a budget.
Grow your own if possible – a small investment can yield big results, and a freezer stash for the cooler months. Nothing tastes better than something fresh out of your own garden!
MONITOR YOUR PORTION SIZES TO SAVE MONEY ON FOOD
Get your portion sizes correct; make sure half your plate is full of vegetables and salad. Your protein should take up no more than one-quarter of the plate.
The remaining quarter of your plate is reserved for complex carbohydrates. It’s important to use healthy portion sizes year round, but the summer months present a great opportunity to really double down.
As the temperatures rise most appetites decrease a bit and you can use this to your budget’s advantage! It might even come with the happy result of a trimmer waistline!
Instead of the usual portion of half a plate of salad and vegetables, why not fix a salad with some fresh carrots, bell pepper, etc and top with a slightly smaller portion of lean protein.
Just don’t overdo it with the dressing (I’m guilty of this one). If you use a creamy dressing use it sparingly or mix your own with healthier ingredients.
ENJOY SOME COLD MEALS AT LUNCH & DINNER
Skip the heat cooking in the kitchen and opt for a cold lunch or dinner; Salads aren’t just lettuce based. Here are a few examples that require minimal or no cooking and are best served cold:
- Tuna salad
- Chicken salad
- Cucumber salad
- Pasta salad
- Fruit salad
- Crab salad
- Quinoa salad
- Chickpea salad
- Cold cut sandwich
- BLTs
- Cucumber sandwiches
- Sandwich wrapped in lettuce
- Deviled eggs
- Cold soups such as avocado, gazpacho, corn, cucumber – and the list goes on. Check out this roundup of 40+ cold soups!
- Wraps
- PB&Js
- Put together a tray of finger foods – pepperoni slices, crackers, grape tomatoes, cheese cubes
- Make your own fresh spring rolls
GET OUT AND GRILL
You don’t need to visit a steakhouse to get the best loaded baked potato, kebabs, blackened chicken, etc. Find some simple marinade recipes online or just season with salt and pepper.
While you’re at it grill up some extra chicken or fish to top salads later in the week for quick and easy lunches. Batch cooking is a lifesaver in the summer especially. Fire up the grill once and get multiple meals cooked.
You’ll also save your air conditioner the task of cooling down the house after all that cooking. Not only that but you’ll save yourself time spent on cooking as well.
SKIP THE SUGARY TREAT AISLES
Avoid buying the cheap popsicles that are little more than sugar and artificial food coloring. Make your own from real fruit juice (bonus points if you are able to juice your own) and freeze them for a delicious and healthy treat.
Feed your kids the actual fruit instead of a sugary version; I’ve heard good things about popping cotton candy grapes in the freezer for a nice frozen snack. In-season fruits can make for a very cost-effective and healthy sweet treat.
On occasion we buy all natural, no sugar added, no artificial food coloring fruit popsicles at the store for a nice outdoor snack. This is a treat and not a daily expectation.
If you know you won’t avoid a late night trip to the fridge for some ice cream do yourself a favor and budget to go out for ice cream a couple of times a month. Leave the temptation at the store.
IT’S PRETTY EASY TO SAVE MONEY ON FOOD WITH THESE TIPS!
By making a few simple changes you can meal plan and prep your way to some major savings! So fire up the grill, whip up a salad, and enjoy your summer. Saving money tastes good!
This year, was the start of my growing my own fruit & veg adventure. I got a few strawberries and blackberries. By next summer I hope to have more stuff growing 😊
How exciting! We had a great garden at our old house; the previous owners were HUGE gardeners so we had great dirt already. Our new place is basically in a cow pasture and not the best dirt. It took a second attempt to get any sort of crop growing, but we’ve had some luck. We plan to till it back up, get some more dirt, and replant for a fall garden in the next couple of weeks after our tomatoes are ready! I’m not too sad since we spent so little on our garden this year and we’ll at least get our money’s worth. Plus we still have seeds left over.
Great tips! Avoiding over-spending on ice cream/ice lollies is a really great way to save money. It’s crazy how expensive ice cream can be in the supermarket! x
https://www.femaleoriginal.com
Oh yes! I make sure to buy the non-dairy kind at Aldi whenever it is available. One little container costs more than the regular size container of the regular stuff!
I am so onboard with tip number 1! I am trying to grow Basil and some peppers on my porch. I also want to get some mint to grow as well. These herbs really take cooking to the next level and it saves you money at the grocery store since they go bad easily and its almost impossible to use it all before it goes bad. I currently live in Cambodia so it seems that we can grow a lot of plants year round thanks to the climate. Great post!
Thank you for reading! And yeah for long growing seasons! Good luck with expanding your garden!
These are great tips! Luckily I’m able to eat fruit and vegetables this pregnancy. With my first two that was not the case! lol. I still don’t look at steamed broccoli the same 6 years later…
Oh my gosh! I wasn’t able to stomach raw vegetables during either of my pregnancies! It was so sad. I craved a good Caesar salad the whole time too! I could not keep lettuce down to save my life and restaurant Caesar was off limits due to the raw egg. Good luck with this pregnancy! How exciting!
Thank you for all this great tips! I’ve started saving on food during this time and I’m glad I can make saving for my future 🙂
Yeah for saving! Keep it up! Thank you for reading!
With a family of 7, I need all the help I can get here!! These are great tips. I don’t know why I didn’t think to make homemade popsicles sooner!
They’re sure to be a hit! I need to get some molds!
These are really good tips. I love having cold food during the summer, even though it doesn’t typically get warm here – this year being the exception. Our winters are so cold that we eat tons of soups and hot food then, so the summer is the time to switch it up. I would eat pasta salad every day if I could. We take full advantage of fresh fruits and vegetables during the summer, both from our garden and the store.
Yummy! I could totally eat pasta salad every day as well!
These are some great tips. I’d like to work on getting the right portion control, which will save me loads.
I just need to convince my kids – I’ve got one who wants all protein and one who wants all carbs!
I needed this. I just spent a small fortune yesterday. I buy almost all organic through so it adds up. Pay the farmer now or the doctor later.
Pretty much, but you can stretch that dollar! Maybe start growing some of your own this fall?
“saving money tastes good” I love the sound of that. These tips are great. At home we’re growing tomatoes, lettuce, and green onions so we are def saving money on that. I also like the idea of creating your own popsicles at home.
And grilling in the summer is way better than eating out.
Much love always,
GABBY | http://www.gabbyabigaill.com
Thank you Gabby! Our lettuce didn’t come up this spring, but I do plan to have the handy hubby make some planters for the front porch and I’ll plant some more this fall.
I love all of these tips and try to implement them in my day-to-day. Food can be SO expensive and I swear groceries have gone up during lockdown. I never used to like cold lunches but I’ve been eating salads everyday at home for lunch and batch cooking on the weekends and have really been liking it!
I’ve had salads almost every day for lunch too, but mostly to make up for all the local takeout! Batch cooking certainly does make life easier. I used it more when I worked full time than I do now, but I’m slowly doing it more and more. Thank you for reading Kalin!