Ever wonder how you're going to have money to put food on the table? In this economy today most of us are feeling a financial crunch. In times like these we need to tighten the belt, and give up the non-essentials. However, groceries are essential. For larger families this is even more difficult. Many families are surviving on one income. A lot of us have to learn how to be a frugal grocery shopper. The good news is that there are things that you can do to save on your grocery bill. If you make a few changes to your normal grocery routine it can make a good impact, allowing you to use that "extra" money towards another essential. You should minimize the number of trips to the store by going at least every two weeks, monthly trips would be even better.
First start by inventorying what you have in your kitchen, and plan your meals around that. Plan out a menu around what you have that will cover until your next planned grocery trip. Make sure that your menu includes three meals, one snack, and drinks. Desserts are not really a necessity, but you can include those as well if your budget allows.
Now, using your menu and kitchen inventory, write a list of what you still need for the meals that you have planned. Add any basic household staples that you know you will need. Good staples for a limited budget are: Flour; Milk; Beans; Rice; and Pastas
Plan your budget, know how much you can spend, and have your list. Next you will need to gather grocery circulars for the stores in your area, you can also look at circulars on-line, and a good resource for this is: HTTP://www.grocio.com/news.html. Look through the circulars to find where the best deals will be. Cut out coupons that are for items you buy on a regular basis. Do not buy items simply because they are on sale.
Prepare to go shopping. Be sure to eat before going, when you are hungry you will tend to buy more. Take with you your list, your coupons/circulars, a pen and paper, and a calculator. Write down the price of everything that goes into your cart. Before going to check out total it all up, and figure in all applicable sales tax. Make sure that you avoid impulse buys, if it's not on the list, it shouldn't go in the cart.
When you get home, put everything away right away. Freeze anything that will not be used right away. You can freeze meat and cheese just cut into a size for one meal. Bread can be easily frozen. Freeze milk buy pouring (or drinking) some of it first. Milk expands, and can pop open the container if you put the full container in. Also with milk make sure it thaws completely before drinking, milk thaws unevenly and will taste funny if not thawed completely. Smaller paper milk containers freeze better, but you can still freeze the larger plastic ones.
Find some good tips for frugal living at http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/ or http://www.frugalmom.com/
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Melissa Van Horn is a work from home, homeschool mom. She has spent several years and several thousand dollars searching for the perfect home based business. She has finally found that with Ameriplan®. She has a passion for sharing her experiences with others through Examiner. In addition to running her Ameriplan® business, Melissa has a Barefoot Books business and does freelance writing for several clients.Melissa can be contacted here.
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