Cooking from Scratch Saves Money!

Wow I was really surprised this month! My grocery bill was far less!

In the midst of all my trying to get organised I have been keeping a note of all the money we spend over the last few months, trying to see where it vanishes to! 

Now I have started cooking meals from scratch. No packet food. Just basic ingredients which don't contain any additives. 


Since last year I have been trying to cut down on the salt I consume. 14 months ago my blood pressure was too high and my doctor wanted me to take medicine. I refused and told her I wanted to wait first and corrected my diet. Now a year later my blood pressure is constantly in the normal range. It was possibly just the stressful time I was going through. 

However the thing is that I started reading labels on the things I was buying to cook. Reading labels on cans gives surprising results: canned beans contain both salt and sugar?! I now buy dried beans, soak them overnight and cook them in my slowcooker......yummy and so much cheaper! Win win! 

So many additives and colourants! So much added salt and sugar! 
When I can tomatoes there are only tomatoes in the jar. They keep fine. Why do manufacturers need to add salt and sugar to those? Maybe they think it tastes better? I know my home made ones taste far nicer.

Obviously as I stopped buying prepackaged foods and bought just the basics, my shopping list became so much shorter! I didn't think I was buying many in the first place but it seems I was! As I added up the money spent on food in October it was far less than what I spent in July! 

The nice thing is that I am not spending more time cooking than I did before, if anything less!
 As I prepare a meal I freeze at least one serving so I can use it when I don't have time. That way I always have something ready to cook.
My slowcooker is a great way to prepare tasty food with a minimum of effort and my dearly loved pressure cooker is always handy! 
Now it has become colder I will be making bread again as I did last winter. That should bring a great saving as well.

My family is now eating better. Healthier and more tasty food while actually saving money! 

What suggestions do you have for saving money while still producing tasty family meals?