We’re officially on the other side of Christmas and New Year’s and the wallet is feeling pretty thin. We’re pretty sure we probably aren’t the only ones feeling that way, so we thought we would share some of our favorite budget soups. We’ve collected the site’s four most popular budget soups, which also happen to be simple and easy to make.

But before we get to the recipes, here are a few of our tricks to stretch those last pennies until the end of January.

Choose in season vegetables
Items like cabbage, Jerusalem artichoke, onion, parsnip, turnip, potatoes, broccoli, carrots and beets are perfect during the winter months. Buying and eating food according to the seasons is both tastier, cheaper and better for the environment.

Pick your own veggies
Buying unpackaged vegetables from the self-weigh sections is often an easy way to both reduce costs and avoid food waste. Remember to eat the whole vegetable too. Eat everything from root to stem and cores.

Dive into the freezer
Food that is left in the fridge for too long loses both nutrition and freshness. Freezing is often more nutrient dense so don’t be the least bit afraid to buy your vegetables from the freezer section. Also, try to get into the habit of freezing your leftover vegetables, herbs, fruit and breads before they go bad so that you can take them out and use them another day in the future.

Make a big batch
Cook in large quantities while you are already at it in the kitchen and then freeze into portions. If you have ready-made food at home it’s also easier to resist takeaway, and junk food products when you come home too late to cook somedays.

Those are just a few of our favorites tips to get the most of your food and here are four wonderful soups putting those tips to the test.

Quick Creamy Spinach Soup

Super quick and simple, creamy spinach soup. Perfect to make when you’re short on time! Only a few ingredients that are quick to put together, and they are also easy to keep at home as staples. Combine the soup with a moderate salad, hummus and/or your favorite bread. Recipe here.

Pea Soup

This pea soup is just what early fall time needs. An easy peasy (sorry, had to) recipe that’s light and refreshing but still warm and cozy.  Recipe here.

Leftover Soup

The whole point of cooking a soup using leftovers is that the recipe is adapted to the vegetables you have at home. Then just take a little bit of this and a little bit of that and in the end it turns out quite lovely! Recipe here.

Chickpeas Soup with Thyme, Pine Nut & Mushroom 

Our beloved hummus may (temporarily) be put on pause from our rotation while we make this soup over and over again this winter. Super good and super simple. Recipe here.