Metro families stretch grocery store dollars with help from local bank

OMAHA, Neb. —

Food insecurity affects one in eight people in Nebraska, including working parents like Jessabelle Chandler, who carefully plans meals to feed her family of six.

At Chandler’s home, chicken is on the dinner menu on a recent weeknight. As a working mom with five growing kids, she prioritizes protein even during weeks when food supplies run low, and she has to stretch her resources.

“We do spaghetti, chicken alfredo; it’s not really nutritious, but ramen noodles, add meat to it, veggies and stuff like that,” Chandler said.

Chandler includes her children in meal planning and carefully spends her Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program dollars. However, at the end of some months, she finds herself visiting a food pantry.

“The weeks I have all of them, they just want to eat everything,” she said.

Union Bank and Trust hosts financial literacy workshops almost weekly to help families like Chandler’s maximize their grocery budgets.

“We’ve seen 25 to 30 percent increases [in food prices], and it really hasn’t come down,” said Brittany Planos, financial literacy manager at Union Bank and Trust.

Planos shared several tips to help families save money on groceries. She said start by going through your pantry, cabinets, fridge and freezer and take notes.

“Take an inventory of what you already have so you know what you need,” she said. “That will help reduce impulse buys, buying duplicate items, and just really stretching those grocery dollars a little further.”

Experts also recommend making a meal plan for the week, including leftovers and items that can be frozen. Planning a shopping list, using coupons, and comparison shopping with weekly ads can also help families save.

UBT tells clients to bulk up meals with cheap bases like potatoes, lentils, pasta and rice. Rely on your spice cabinet to add flavor and variety. Remember, generic products are just as good as name brands.

Planos acknowledged that finding deals has become more challenging.

“One of the challenges I continue to hear, there aren’t as many deals as there used to be. It can be harder to buy in bulk,” she said.

Still, she advises families to scout for sales, buy meat in bulk, and freeze it in family-sized portions. She also encourages focusing on fresh, in-season produce for better nutrition and value.

Chandler, who takes all the kitchen shortcuts she can to keep her family moving forward, said her children are the reasons she works so hard.

“It’s a lot. It is, but they’re the reason I do it. They’re my motivation,” she said.

This year, KETV created a family cookbook filled with filling, easy and nutritious recipes. Proceeds from the sale of the cookbook go directly to Food Bank for the Heartland.

To purchase a cookbook for $19.99, click on this link using your mobile device.

Click here to purchase charity cookbook

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