Anonymous wrote:They are eating us out of house and home! 75% of our grocery bills seems to be things they eat and drink! During the school year they barely eat anything, or pick at things like birds. I buy in bulk but it doesn’t seem to make much difference, if I’m being honest.

What are all your money-saving teen eating tips? Help a mom out!

Everyone has given you advice but no one has asked what you are currently doing. Can you describe?

I buy ramen in bulk from Amazon.

Also a lot of pasta, sauce from scratch, and bulk items like watermelon. We have a dozen chickens so lots of eggs.

Anonymous wrote:Save in other ways, not food. Though I would say they can drink water and I wouldn’t buy tons of junk food.

This is basically my thought. My kids are 13 and 11 (both boys) and 8 and I recently started budgeting and I was basically like - our grocery bill is only going to increase not decrease for the foreseeable future.

My ideas to reduce your budget are to buy store brand where possible and make more of your own stuff than buying processed / packaged and reduce the amount you’re dining out if possible.

I would reduce whatever they’re drinking aside from water.

Go to Costco and buy their whole rotisserie chickens and croissants for meals and sandwiches. Bake a ham, bake a turkey and use for lots of different meals. Buy them hot dogs from Costco's food court. Make homemade iced tea and lemonade. Make casseroles. Bake cupcakes from mixes. One regular boxed mix makes 24 cupcakes, bake muffins and large batches of cookies from scratch.

Anonymous wrote:Save in other ways, not food. Though I would say they can drink water and I wouldn’t buy tons of junk food.

You can save on food, and not deprive your kids.

I'm the whole milk poster. My teenage boys eat a ton all year round, not just in the summer. I do lots of things to stretch meals, and make their snacks more economical and also healthier.

I buy what's on sale, and I load my fridge with things that have fiber and protein to keep them full longer. So, we always have bananas on the counter and hard boiled eggs in the fridge, and there's always cheap and filling like a pot of lentil soup, or some rice and beans, or some cabbage and potatoes cooked with a little sausage in the fridge for them to make a second lunch or third dinner.

My kids have jobs, so they have money, and they have bikes, so if they really want doritos they can get themselves to 7 - 11. They aren't deprived.

Bananas are super cheap filling and healthy. Also “chipotle” style bowls with rice and beans as the base.

I cooked big daily and baked all kinds of goodness.

Anonymous wrote:Save in other ways, not food. Though I would say they can drink water and I wouldn’t buy tons of junk food.

i agree with this--they are only teens for a short period of time and they are truly hungry. Probably they are much more active in summer which is why they are hungrier, or maybe it's a growth spurt.

If you want to save money, save as others have said, by cutting out junk food, offer only water, and give them healthful snacks like:

-apples and peanut butter
-seasonal fruit and veg like berries, melon, peaches, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc
-plain yogurt from a tub that they add sugar/fruit to
-blocks of cheese vs. individually packaged cheese sticks
-make popsicles from reconstituted frozen juice or whatever kind of juice is cheapest these days
-popcorn they have to make from a jar of kernels
-hardboiled eggs, tuna salad, sardines, etc for protein
-if they want cookies, cupcakes, etc, have them make them from scratch

But please, do not deprive your teens of food to save money.

Save in other ways, not food. Though I would say they can drink water and I wouldn’t buy tons of junk food.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop buying drinks. Water is fine.

My teens drink a ton of whole milk. It's an easy, cheap way to get the calories into them.

Milk is good. I remember my mom feeding us (many) kids with big bags of potatoes and onions, eggs, pasta and they would buy and freeze a bulk amount of cow (a side? I don't know) so she had lots of hamburger to sprinkle in for flavor. She didn't grow up with a bean culture but adding beans to that is also a fantastic way to bulk it out. She was also a decent baker but found a restaurant outlet that sold blueberry muffin and chocolate chip cookie mixes (like commercial sized, 5 lbs) and made those up so we never felt deprived.

If anyone knows of a restaurant depot that sells mixes like that, please link! I will buy some for my siblings for nostalgia

Anonymous wrote:Stop buying drinks. Water is fine.

My teens drink a ton of whole milk. It's an easy, cheap way to get the calories into them.

"Bulk" meaning Costco? Costco is expensive. Go to discount grocers. Buy ingredients instead of premade processed junk - it'll push them to start cooking got themselves. A huge vat of pasta is cheap and a teenager can make it.

Eggs and watermelons.

Stop buying drinks. Water is fine.

They are eating us out of house and home! 75% of our grocery bills seems to be things they eat and drink! During the school year they barely eat anything, or pick at things like birds. I buy in bulk but it doesn’t seem to make much difference, if I’m being honest.

What are all your money-saving teen eating tips? Help a mom out!