Saving money on food

I do all that and then some, o2bnocn. I am not fond of eating the same food two days in a row, but I have learned to change the leftovers in such ways that many times they are better than the first time. I have found that eggs, one of the most inexpensive proteins, help a lot there. I make omelettes, quiches, tortillas and puddings with leftovers plus beaten eggs. I never, never oeder food. It is all made from stratch. And even bones are saved for broths. Snacks are not something you will see in my house, unless I have guests and I serve appetizers (homemade and less expensive) with a drink. I have been drinking water out of the faucet, but I boil it first to eliminate the chlorine taste. And I recycle bottles and jars for homemade juices and jams. I even grind my own meat. I but meat that is less expensive, grid it taking away the unwanted pieces. Those that will make the meat hard to eat, I boil for a long time with onion, carrots and herbs. That broth is woderful for vegetable soups. And when that meat is so much boiled, it is not tough anymore.

These are wonderful tips and I'm proud to say that I've also been doing all that you mentioned :) I prefer home-cooked meals since aside from the fact that it's healthier and less expensive, it enables me to experiment and improve my cooking skills :) although me and my family eat out once in a while or whenever there's an occasion to celebrate :) In addition to that, I don't bring my daughter in the grocery. She has the tendency to point at foods she like such as cookies or sweets and I end up buying her otherwise, she'll throw a tantrum. So as much as possible, I don't bring her so that I can stick to my list and budget :)

I agree with all you say except the grocery list part. I think a list is not that great for saving reasons. I make a list of things I am "out" of and need to replace, or things I want to remember to get. But then I just take my list and coupons, and go to the store and watch the sales. I don't plan meals before I go. I don't buy only what is on my list. I buy what is on sale that week. For example...if I plan the meals I want and decide to have tacos, and go to the store nad burger meat is $3.99 a pound but boneless, skinless chicken brest is on sale for $1.99... I will buy the chicken...and even stock up on it and freeze it when I get home for next month or so. Or, maybe strawberries aren't on my list, but they are cheaper than the oranges that I have on my list...do I still buy the oranges anyway just cause they were on my list? Where's the savings in that? Canned food is the same way. I never put it on m list, but I go down that isle every time with my coupons and see what is on sale. I might not be wanting any canned chili, but there Hormel is on sale and I have a coupon. Get it now cause next week I might want to make chili dogs for lunch. Or get it cause NEXT WEEK chili will be on my list. or just get it as I like it, use it from time to time, it is on sale and I have a coupon...now that is saving money! I just don't get why they say buy only what is on your list as things are on sale..and that is how to save money. Dry cereal is not on my list, but it is on sale this week for $2.50 a box...and I have a 50cent off coupon...to save money, you buy it now, while on sale, with the discount of the coupon and then put it in the pantry until next month, when you are out of dry cereal and need it...there you have it and saved money. I refill water bottles too. I will buy a case and take out 6. those 6 bottles last me a month of refills. I rinse them out, air dry them, then fill them from the water fountian in my fridgerator..it has a filter to filter the water that makes ice cubes and a water fountain feature in the door,,,so I am saving by not buying and still getting filtered water. A filter is $20 and it lasts me 6 months...now that's a savings! I keep some in "stock" so when others visit, no I dont give them one of my reused bottles, but I will give them a glass with filtered ice cubes and water or put unopened bottles in the fridge and give a cold water bottle. I detest those "extreme couponers" on that show...they are so wasteful. They don't spend any money on the groceries but they buy so much and stokc up...it expires or goes bad before they can eat it. THat one guy was so proud that he had 338 2L bottles of soda stacked up. Soda goes bad fast. I bought, on sale one summer, 10 cases (12 cans) of soda as it was a great sale and I thought I'd but it now at the beginning of the summer and have it all summer drinking and for when the kids come over. End of the summer, I still had 7 cases. 4 months later I opened a can and it was flat...several more...they were flat to. So soda doesn't last long enough for him to drink all that, and unless he gives it away, which he didn't say he did...that will all go bad. So basically, he is costing the manufacture, cause he got it for free (store sale, double double coupon) and now disposes of it and costs the city in trash and fill up the sewers.

I know the feeling every week I go food shopping I am always worried that prices keep going up and that I am not going to have enough money. I have to be careful what I buy because Randy is diabetic and we have to watch the sugars. I do write down a list of things we need to buy and I do find as many coupons as possible, but they are hard to find. I rarely buy any junk food because I do not feel that I need it. The water in our area is terrible and we buy bottled water. I save money by using coupons and buy only the necessities. I am taking craft classes and am hoping that these skills will help me make things to sell online.

wow good tips. I never had a grocery list like that, I always pick something that I like in that time, making my budget drops. I think I will use this grocery list next time, wit this I can reduce my monthly costs.

Its always cheaper to cook your own food than to buy it outside. You save zillions that way. You also have to do without the convenience as well. But when you have little cash what choice does one get ?

We try not to buy too much processed foods but to be honest have sort of lost track of any sort of food budget. We don't impulse shop though - we have a plan for the meals we are going to have and just buy those things, and then we stock up on things that we routinely use when they are on sale.

I do couponing when I can. I want to set aside a grocery fund and only go once a month but that will also mean I'll have to be creative about what and how I store the items. I work for a grocery store, and our brand of stuff is discounted for me and so I often will pick that up and save even more. For instance, something of our brand is $10/10, I get a 10% discount on top of that... I win out.

I have never think of any practical way to save money out of my grocery bill like you do, i always taught that it is impossible for me to save money on food except to eat less meal and in smallest portion possible in every meal or cut down eating 7 days a week to let's say 4-5 day a week. I'll try to apply some of your money saving tips in my next grocery shopping list, hoping to save me some $$$ and waste less.

I do think that all of the tips that you've shared here on ways to save money on food are great suggestions. Another thing that our family will do is that we will use coupons on items that we are going to be buying otherwise. I know there are some people that will use coupons just to use them, but that just isn't for me, I do it for the items that I buy any way and that does save money. Also trying to buy things only when they are on sale is something that will save a lot of money as well.