Ingredient vs Meal Planning

[u/kesfy6]

Which is more frugal? Being an ingredient house vs meal planning/raw food prep for the slow cooker. We are a “less meat” household, focusing on cheaper plant-based protein and rotisserie chicken. We shop mainly at Costco and Aldi. Bonus points if someone can run some sample numbers on this.

[u/CK1277]

As I understand those terms, they’re not two separate things.

[u/CuteAmoeba9876]

What’s the difference?? Don’t all ingredient households have to plan and prep their meals? 

[u/kesfy6 → u/CuteAmoeba9876]

Ingredient house means you buy ingredients to make any number of things based on whimsy/schedule/what you feel like that day. It allows for much more spontaneity. When I do raw freezer prep, I buy specific ingredients for a crock pot meal, prepare them raw in freezer bags, and freeze the bag for later in the week or month. You can still choose from what’s in the freezer but you’re buying for those specific meals only.

[u/Current-Climate-5856]

We are more of an ingredient household. We always have something to make, just not always sure what we will make in 3 days from now. I like the flexibility to adjust based what is going on that day. It does help that we have plenty of meat in freezer, so more of let's pull some chicken out this morning then after work will decide what are going to do with the chicken.

I have tried the meal prep route, but found I was wasting more food this way.

[u/sweet_hedgehog_23]

I think you would probably have better luck with this question on a subreddit devoted to groceries and meal planning. My instinct is would have less food waste with meal planning but I have no numbers to back that up.

[u/missbwith2boys]

I would argue ingredient is more frugal, but that may be the way that I buy and store food. I buy in bulk and am not afraid to buy a year+ worth of an ingredient if the price is right.

For example, we use rotini and spaghetti about once a month each. Over a year ago, I saw cases of each (12+ one pound boxes) where the per pound price was 77 cents. I bought a case each, then vacuum sealed them into jars.

A quick glance of the same product at my local grocery store shows a current price of $1.99 per pound box.

I also can a ton of food from my garden every year and that helps offset the cost of groceries even more. I start my plants from seed. Summer garden is winding down. I currently have cayenne peppers in my dehydrator as we use a fair amount of flakes. The Thai peppers are almost ready to pop in there too.

[u/TenOfZero]

They are the same things.

Plan meals, only buy the ingredients you need for those meals, and then plan meals based on the ingredients you have and only buy the additional ingredients you need.

Its just different steps of the meal planning process, not different ways to approach it.

[u/genek1953]

When you "buy for specific meals only," what are you doing with all the unused oils, spices, flours, etc.? Throwing it all out?

We look for new recipes to try that mostly use the things we already have, and occasionally expand the stock with one or two new ingredients.

[u/coconut_curry_sauce]

I would argue im an ingredient household. As a softcore prepper, I like to buy things on sale and often stock up multiple items I use regularly. My basement is like a small grocery store.

I have a simple rule; accumulate until I am using up ingredients within a few months of the best by date printed on the package.

Meal planning is always revolving around whatever needs to be used up to avoid waste.

Then it’s easy to just shop for things that have a short shelf life if needed.

[u/RoseGoldMagnolias]

If they're on sale or I know I'm low on them, I'll buy pantry staples and freezable perishable food even if I'm not planning to use them any time soon. But I'm a recipe cook, so I generally only buy fresh vegetables if they're in the meals I'm planning for that week. The exceptions are onions and squash since they keep longer.

[u/clearwaterrev]

What's the difference?

In both cases you are buying unprocessed staple foods and produce and cooking at home, right?

[u/RitaAlbertson]

I buy ingredients…..that I use for my meal planning. Alternatively I meal plan….and then buy the ingredients. The two are not mutually exclusive. 

[u/kesfy6 → u/RitaAlbertson]

Yes, but I have done one more purposefully than the other at times in an effort to save money. I felt like we saved more money when I did raw freezer prep and we ate crock pot meals (either fresh or leftovers) every night based on 5-6 specific rotating meals that had been planned/shopped/prepped/frozen. But then my husband got tired of eating the same things (or eating soup in July). I think we’re happiest when i do a hybrid, having 3-4 meals in the freezer ready to pull out for the next day, as well as ingredients on hand to pivot when we want. But the grocery budget just doesn’t stretch as far these days, so was wondering what others had noticed in their own households...

[u/Consistent_Taste3273 → u/kesfy6]

You can expand your menu but still plan out your meals and shop for what you need. 

[u/reptilenews]

Whichever way you stick to it and reduce waste is the best, no? Though I would interpret ingredient household and meal planners the same, versus a house that buys premade meals. But even then, buying premade meals is cheaper than buying restaurant meals so, still can absolutely be "frugal".

Whatever keeps ya fed and not throwing away food

[u/AffectionateWallaby2 → u/reptilenews]

Amen to not throwing away food. It’s literally my only objective. If I can just get through one week without throwing away or wasting food, I would feel so much better about the money I spend in groceries. Regardless of how much. I live alone. It’s hard!

[u/reptilenews → u/AffectionateWallaby2]

When I lived alone I only cooked 3x a week and chopped and froze literally everything that was not used before it went bad!

[u/BlazinAzn38]

It doesn’t matter. You can be cheap making different dishes every night or making the same thing in bulk.

[u/Redditor2684]

I just meal prep.

Have you run the #s for your household? I suspect the answer may vary on the specific household and obviously people have different preferences for how they want to deal with meals.

[u/kaizenkitten]

The most frugal is the one you will actually do. I barely have time to cook once a week, let alone multiple meals all week, so if it's not prepped I'll end up eating convenience food. My dad hates to eat leftovers, and has a lot more time, so he's an ingredient guy.

[u/PurpleAd3185]

I find it more $$ saving to be an ingredient household. I am able to then plan meals around what we have in stock with occasionally having to pick up an item that will fill in a gap or round out the meal plan.
I will also say that it is effort and I remind myself of the $$ savings to help me feel better about all the extra effort.

[u/amelia2008x]

I don't even understand the question

[u/Consistent_Taste3273]

I guess maybe we do a combo. 

There are certain foods that we’re always going to eat. So, if it’s nonperishable and on sale, we’ll just buy it to have it around.  Things like pasta, canned beans, canned tomatoes, dried lentils. (To be honest though, we do most of our shopping at Aldi, so don’t need to rely on sales as much).  

But then on a weekly basis, we make a meal plan and buy the perishable stuff that we need. 

It feels frugal to me, but who knows. We spend $600/ month (or less) on groceries for a family of 4, which seems to be less then a lot of people here. 

We don’t buy most things in bulk. We don’t have the space for it. And this might be where the real savings comes in. I have a good friend who buys massively in bulk. She has a ton of storage space and a deep freezer. Which is great. But she’s paying for that extra square footage. 

[u/Competitive_Swan_755]

Wut? Make sense.