Grocery Savings - Your Kitchen is a Goldmine!

Your food budget is the most flexible area of your household budget. Grocery savings will free up a significant amount of money if you need to balance the budget, or fund your savings accounts.

If you haven't figured it out already, your kitchen is a Goldmine. There are numerous ways to reduce the grocery budget and free up funds to use in other areas.

How much should you be spending on groceries?

The USDA Food Plans at the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion suggests that a family of four is currently spending about $100 to $116 per week based on the "Thrifty Plan", depending on the age of children. Anyone trying to reduce the food budget should follow the guidelines for the "thrifty plan."

This should give you at least some idea what the average family spends. I recommend you shoot for something less than that figure if at all possible by implementing as many of these grocery saving tips as possible!

• Eliminate eating out! Period! - O.K. if you're family is screaming mad at you then take them out at least once a month. Make it an occasion. Most of us get caught up in fast paced living and eat out at least one or two times per week. It's just an insane waste of money.

  Your family will appreciate a dinner out much more when it's not such a regular event. Consider it "quality time out". And, remember to look for coupons good at local restaurants for additional savings.

• Minimize the use of convenience foods. - You can make it yourself for a fraction of the cost, try it! Many of us are so accustomed to convenience foods that we forget we can make it ourselves.

  If you already love to cook from scratch then congrats! For the rest, I know this is a scary thought. It's hard to go back into the kitchen and actually get your hands dirty. However, I must insist you try this. There's gold in them there hands! Use 'em.

  If you don't have a lot of time, don't worry there are literally hundreds of recipe books for the busy lifestyle. There are many that promote frugal living as well.

  You'll find substitute recipes for everything from baking mixes to shake and bake and salad dressing. All it takes is a little extra time. Even if you had to pay yourself for doing the cooking you would come out ahead.

• Do your homework! - Know what's on sale and plan your menu around the weekly sales flyers. Investing a little extra time in planning will help maximize grocery savings and reduce the food budget!

  I make it a rule to never buy meat over $2 a pound. Although I allow myself $2, I usually only spend on average 39 cents to $1.69. Occasionally, (rarely) I indulge in something special if it's a good value.

• Eat meatless meals at least twice a week. - Beans and rice are a good example. Egg dishes are a nice change in routine for dinner. Try a vegetable stir fry or casserole.
• Don't use packaged mixes. - Cake, breads, muffins, pastry, pizza dough, pancake, and waffles all come in a variety of pre-packaged mixes. Make your own for not much more effort and a lot less money!
• Know what your local stores offer. - Which ones have the lowest prices? Start carrying a little memo book to record prices of items you buy regularly. You can organize trips to save time and money when planning your grocery shopping.

  Who accepts coupons and do they double? Do they have a rebate program? Do they have a clearance or bargain area? Which grocery stores accept additional discount programs like ValuPage?

• Build your coupon file! - It seems coupons are available everywhere now. Your newspaper is a great starting point. Pay careful attention when looking through magazines. These are easy to miss. I often find coupons in home, ladies, or cooking magazines.

  Check out the free grocery coupons on-line. Be sure to do your research, many stores do not accept computer generated coupons due to the high incidence of fraud. Be sure not to waste your valuable time on this one if you don't have a local store that accepts them.

Be an informed consumer. I can't stress this enough!
Informed consumer = More grocery savings!

Once you know where to shop, use all your resources. Combine rebates, sales, and coupons whenever possible for maximum grocery savings. This takes a bit more dedication but, you can literally get paid to purchase items if you're willing to invest the time.

Grocery savings aren't just for the grocery store. many drugstores now have food sections where you can save on groceries.

Here's a great tip:

Always check your cash register receipt. Many stores offer a refund of full price policy for items that do not register the correct sale price. I have cashed in on this one many times. Remember, these price adjustments are usually entered by humans. Human error is always a possibility, so cash in on it!

Because of a simple mistake, you have increased your grocery savings!

If you....

Plan ahead - Use your sale flyers to plan weekly meals.

Use what you have on hand first - Plan meals based on foods you have in your fridge, freezer, and cabinets already

Utilize your savings tips - Get more for your money using a combination of resources listed above

Make it yourself whenever possible

....You will be able to tap into that Goldmine hiding in your very own kitchen!

Cheryl Johnson is a mother of four helping herself and others become and remain debt free. Publisher of Simple Debt Free Living at http://www.simpledebtfreeliving.com - A self-help plan, ideas, and resources for debt management, household budget planning, frugal and debt free living, and extra income opportunities. Money saving tips for groceries, clothing, home decorating, and much more, maximize savings everyday.

---

University: A Course in Personal Finance

Recent findings from the Educational Policy Institute indicated that the... Read More

Saving Money - The Magic 20 Percent

Saving money is not easy and is made more difficult... Read More

What is a Traditional IRA?

With a traditional Investment Retirement Account (IRA) you pay taxes... Read More

Live Green; Save Green!

Have you seen the recent article on a new "green"... Read More

Healthy Eating On A Budget

It is possible to eat a healthy, balanced diet without... Read More

Chex Systems ? Why Every American Needs To Guard His Checking Account With His Life

Most Americans have been brought up to be concerned about... Read More

Vacations Made Easy: Buying a Florida Investment Property

Vacations Made Easy: Buying a Florida Investment PropertyA relaxing beach... Read More

5 Ways to Absolutely Destroy Your Finances!

Ben Stein has a book called How to Ruin Your... Read More

Reduce College Debt with Scholarships

Six Scholarship judges were sitting around an oval table. Forms... Read More

Personal Loans For Homeowners ? One Of The Numerous Rewards For Being A Homeowner

You no longer look at the pictures of homes cause... Read More

Tips To Save Money At The Supermarket

Are you interested in saving money off your grocery bills?... Read More

Simple Ways to Save Money

Things are so expensive these days. We seem to be... Read More

Save Your Money, Dont Give to Charity Scammers

**If it's Spam, it's a Scam!- If it sounds too... Read More

First Checking Account ? When is it Time?

We all know that money doesn't grow on trees, but... Read More

Adverse Debt Levels Blight UK Consumers Personal Finances

Debt levels are at an all time high in the... Read More

Strategies for Success

Holy Shenanigans! More STUFF?Loosing one's business due to lack of... Read More

Bankruptcy Laws Get Tougher - More Expensive

If you've been thinking about filing for bankruptcy, your best... Read More

Kundalini Lessons - Money

I've been going through and interesting growth period lately that... Read More

Budget Planning - Its Elementary My Dear Watson

Does it feel like you have to be Sherlock Holmes... Read More

One Income Source Is Not Enough!

My personal opinion is that in today's new economy, it... Read More

Honor Those Who Serve with Checking Account Supplies

Our global society has had a wake up call in... Read More

Why We Are Never Satisfied with What We Have

I have to admit, I do it too. I complain.... Read More

Is There A Retirement Crisis?

When people speak about the increasing age expectancies, they generally... Read More

Grocery Savings - Your Kitchen is a Goldmine!

Your food budget is the most flexible area of your... Read More

The Magic Of Compound Interest

Christians are called to be good stewards of God's resources.... Read More

Saving Dimes Can Go a Long Way

On the other hand, there are those people who are... Read More

Introduction to Australian Superannuation

Australians, in general, constitute some of the worst savers in... Read More

Financing Collectibles for Fun and Profit

With the advent of the internet and especially auction services... Read More

The Joys of Address Labels

Address labels are many things to many different people. If... Read More

Risky Business: You May Not be as Daring as You Think

I thought I was through with exams when I finished... Read More

Creating A Household Budget

Creating a budget can be a very difficult task. Although... Read More

Debt Management ? Watch Out for Bank Fees!

During the last twenty years, banks have offered a number... Read More

Personal Finance - Have Consumers Had a Belly Full of Personal Debt?

For months, we were trigger-swipe happy, putting our groceries, clothes,... Read More