‘Big Bad Budget Battle’: Money-Saving Tips from ‘The Pioneer Woman’ Ree Drummond
The latest episode of Big Bad Budget Battle focuses on saving money on dinner party meals. The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond gave each of the contestants $60 and told them to buy items for a dinner party that could feed up to 10 people. Here are a few money-saving tips from the show.
Know what’s in your refrigerator
Drummond says one key to saving money is to check your refrigerator and see what you have before you go shopping. This way, you won’t accidentally buy an item you already have. “Any good home cook knows you’ve got to know what you have on hand before you go to the supermarket,” says Drummond on Big Bad Budget Battle Season 1 Episode 4 (titled “Party Planning on a Budget”).
Make one-pot meals
Jason Goldstein, a contestant on Big Bad Budget Battle, says one-pot meals are great for budgeting. You can save money by incorporating all your low-cost items into one meal.
“One-pot meals are really good for budgeting,” says Goldstein. “This is where you can take all of those inexpensive items and mix it around and you make magic.”
Goldstein likes to add bread to his meals so he can stretch portions. During the competition, he cut up a loaf of bread, seasoned the pieces, and cooked them in a pan. He added the bread to his one-pot chili so that each portion would be more filling.
Buy frozen vegetables
Frozen vegetables can also help you save money on groceries. Goldstein says frozen food is usually cheap, so he adds lots of frozen items to his shopping list. Frozen food also lasts longer.
Check the circulars
You can find great deals by looking through supermarket circulars. This is where stores list sales for the week. It takes time to go through the circulars, but it’s worth it. You can find deals you might not be aware of.
“While I’m shopping on a budget, I always go back to that first thing my mom taught me,” says contestant Sophia Lin Kanno on the cooking competition show. “Go back to the circulars and check those out.”
Make enough food for the week
Another tip Goldstein gave is to make enough food to last the entire week. He says he is a chiropractor during the day and a food blogger at night, so he doesn’t have a lot of time to cook. He saves time and money by making a meal that can be eaten throughout the week.
Having meals ready to go during the week will also eliminate the temptation to order out. It can be expensive to get takeout, so preparing meals ahead of time is a smart way to go.
Use coupons
If you’re doing your shopping online, don’t forget to look for coupon codes. Most coupons are digital these days, so you can often find codes when you conduct an online search. During Big Bad Budget Battle, Kanno says her mother told her about using coupons. She recalls seeing her mom gathering coupons when she was a child.
“The reason that I’m really good with budgets actually came from my mother,” says Kanno. “She was the one who actually taught me coupon clipping. She would literally have a ruler down on the kitchen table and she would rip these coupons out.”
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