How does an economic crisis influence food related practices? This study explored how shopping, storing, cooking and eating practices changed in Danish households as a consequence of experienced restraints on food budgets. The study applied a mixed method design. The qualitative data source consisted of interviews with 30 individuals from Danish households with different socio-economic characteristics, who experienced food budget constraint. The quantitative data consists of a survey among 1650 members of a household consumer panel. The quantitative results revealed how differences in terms of application of various types of strategies are related to different levels of food budget restrictions. Strategies applied to storing and cooking food in more efficient manners were widely practiced across all groups. Strategies which affected eating experiences, first seemed to appear when food budget restriction increased. The qualitative study revealed important factors that link strategies toeither positive or negative experiences. Interviewees who made a positive experiences out of coping with food budget restraint reported extra resources in the shape of e.g. more secure life circumstances, higher cooking skills, and a supporting social network compared to interviewees who had more negative coping experiences. We propose that Zygmunt Bauman's metaphors of the tourist and the vagabond can inspire us towards an improved understanding of different experiences of and reactions to restrained food budgets.