Aja's Blah-log

something that has helped me immensely that i'd like to add is SHOPPING THE SALES!!! especially with produce (which the drawer in my fridge can't be big enough)...we have saved lots of money doing this! there are some great tips online for freezing veggies and other foods for future use, so you can buy them on sale and have them on hand. kind of an obvious tip but hope this helps! :)

You know, buying veggies on sale and freezing them is a great idea that I had not thought of! Thank you so much for the tips!

Yes, I agree. Shop the sales. Plan your meals around what is on sale. I also shop at Winco, but tend to buy most of my meat off the front page of other grocery store flyers. If it isn't on the front page, it's probably not a good sale. Winco will definately save you a lot of money, but you can find meat cheaper if you follow the flyers. Also, don't buy anything that isn't on sale at these other grocery stores. Example: VFusion juice at Winco everyday is $2.98, I have seen it at Albertson's for $5.99. That is ridiculous!!!! Also, try buying some frozen veggies instead of fresh. Experts now say that frozen is actually healthier than fresh because they are frozen at their peak....it is likely that fresh has been sitting around for awhile and lost some of its value. Hope this helps!

My biggest gripe is the manufacturers keep scaling down the size of the product but keep the same price. It can really impact a recipe if you expect a pound of pasta and the box only has 10 or 12 oz. (but the box is the same size) GRRRR. And the news keeps claiming grocery prices have declined. From where I shop the only items that have declined in price are those that fall in the luxury category. I shop the sales and flyers, use coupons if they are for items I usually buy and make a list and stick to it, but I have a hard time keeping to my budget too.

Good luck with the budget! I blog about my budget, $105 a week for two people. Where I live is very expensive, an apple here is about 80 cents! One thing that helps is cutting out a lot of meat.

It's hard to keep the food money down w/items like pine nuts & lots of yummy cheeses-I would love those things but it's not workable on my budget. Also,shampoo & cleaning items are not edible, therefore they really don't belong in your food budget. Make more catogories, cleaning supplies, paper products, health & beauty, etc. These other items are quite cheap at the dollar stores-also some food items are much cheaper there also. They don't have flyers ususally, you have to walk through & see what they have. Also, fill plates in the kitchen & don't push seconds. Use up the left-overs & really try to cut out wasting food -it is literally throwing money away. Good luck!

I have to tell you, I cook for 6 people and many of their friends every week. i usually spend between $200-$250 per week. This week I decided to use coupons and scoured the store for their supersaver items. On a $150 bill I saved $71! I am so proud of myself! Good luck!

We live down in Mexico but even down her groceries can be expensive. The fruits and veggies are fresh and not that bad but when you are craving food from the states they usually jack up the price 3 fold. We have learned to eat according to whats in season and on sale. We spend roughly 60.00 a week for 3 of us. My daughter doesn't count, shes always on a diet.

OMG...our food bill is ridiculous for the 2 of us here. I cut down on other stuff, i.e.:movies, I do my own hair, I wash my own dogs, etc. I do love to cook gourmet and I am not willing to give that up! For the 2 of us we probably spend close to $800-$900 a month on food, and it doesn't help that we live in an rv and have a fridge the size of a tissue box...that means I have to go to the store a couple of times a week to re-up. What else can you do?

sorry..I read other people talking about Winco and just wanted to share why I detest that store so much! Everytime I go there and buy meat, such as steak, and bring it home, ALWAYS one steak turns out great and the other is full of gristle and cannot be eaten. I know I would probably save more money if I shop there, but I go to Safeway, which is expensive, but at least I know the meat and produce will last. Just my opinion.

I am able to save money on groceries because I shop at the commissary. The prices out in town are almost double or triple the price on many things. I never liked to eat meat since I was 2 years old, so that helps us, because I don't eat it. I use a lot of coupons when I grocery shop.

Hm. We spend about 300 a month for 3 1/2 people (my 1 yr old is still not eating lots of food.) I like Winco. Always buy fruit in season, veggies mostly frozen. I do preserve and can some and have a small veggie garden. I make my own baby food. Make my own bread. It really pays to do the math and figure out what you can buy off brand without sacrificing taste. Beans and eggs are a great, and much cheaper way to get protein instead of meat.

Something that has helped me keep the grocery bill down is shopping once a month. Granted, there are things you must buy on a weekly basis. I figure out about 15-20 meals, then I buy basics, allowing me to make a new meal or two found on AR. Buying a month at a time does require plenty of pantry and freezer space. I cook a turkey a month, shredd the meat, and place in freezer bags. We don't buy pre-made or boxed foods.... everything from scratch. I started this for my ADHD son, realized how much money it saved, and kept it up. We now can't stand the taste of pre-made foods:) There are a lot of ways to save money on foods, you just have to find what works best for you. Test out cheaper brands, seeing what ones taste the same as name brand..this can save a ton of money. If you have a Sam's Club in your area, they offer great prices on some of their fruits and veggies. As well as their dairy products. I save a lot by buying my cheeses and milk at Sam's. Good luck on your quest to lower your grocery bill!

I am writing from Australia. Nothing different here regarding the expense of food. Just the two of us these days and I have found over & over again that it is cheaper when my husband is away travelling for work!!!!!! Have a really good Meat Loaf recipe which he adores and it seems to go on and on in various menus (even breakdfast with eggs when we have the time) Good luck to everyone - I can't seem to get anywhere.

I am trying to find low calorie meals so my husband and I can eat what tastes good and still lose weight and eat with our children!!!!

I have been cooking out of my pantry and freezer for almost two months now to catch up on some bills. I just buy milk, eggs, bread, and some fresh produce. It is amazing what you can come up with for dinner when the options are limited. :) We have had a lot of bean based dinners. I cook a few different kinds of dried beans at a time and freeze them in portions. If all you have to do is thaw and reheat and season you can easily use dried beans when you have leftover meats or ham bones. I used to hate to cook dried beans, now it is so much easier (and a lot less expensive than canned). I also have been thinking about starting a freezer meal club has anyone else ever done this?

I recently discovered southernsavers.com. This website caters to grocers in the south, but the principals can easily work in other parts of the country. You basically use coupons, shop the stores with the best sales or the BOGO promotions. About a month a go, I got 4 boxes of Surf detergent (18 load) for a little over $9 by using the $1 off coupons with the BOGO sale. The receipt showed that I would have spent $22. A friend of mine paid around 0.88 for the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, which she was very excited about. Then last week I got two tubes of Colgate toothpaste for more than free. The local pharmacy had them on sale for $0.99 after using their store card. I then used my $1 off coupon on each of them. So now,I have a free tube of toothpaste to send to my son away at college and 2 boxes of detergent--Talk about needing to save money!!! It takes about an hour/week to search thoroughly and can be aggravating--but also be well worth it. it can't hurt to just go look.

One way that I saved money on groceries to feed my large family was to go to a health food store or food storage grainery and purchase oatmeal in bulk. I fed my children no-bake cookies, granola, and just plain hot oatmeal. Buying in bulk for beans, whole grains, and dry milk saves money and provides nutritious food. Sprouting seeds in winter is also a good way to save money on veggies. Buy long-storing items and do not buy short-term storage items in bulk if you cannot eat them up in time or store them safely from pests. These basics are not romantic foods, but my children's friends used to trade twinkies for my kids' home-dried apples. Making simple breads also stretches the food budget. Reading others' suggestions has helped me realize that applying various means to save money on groceries is the road to success.

I agree with everyone here who advises using coupons and shopping sales. The other thing that really helps my budget is planning out a weekly menu. There are 3 of us and I probably only spend $20-30 a week on food. Usually once a month that may go up slightly when I restock my pantry items(brown rice, flour, coffee etc.)It takes a lot of planning, but once you get a routine set it's worth it. I shop 3 grocery ads for the specials and match those up with my coupons. Luckily one store is only a few blocks away and the other 2 are very close to each other, so I don't waste a lot of gas. I also try to buy meat when it has been marked down. It is still perfectly fine, just getting close to the date. I bring this home, separate it into meal size portions and freeze it. This also helps for variety if all the stores have nothing but chicken on sale. If you love cheese, I def. would stock up when you find a great price and then freeze some. We usually have at least one meatless meal a week. I also make soup once a week so we have it for DH's lunches. We try to eat mostly "real" food i.e. not a lot of processed foods or mixes. I also make my own rolls, pizza crusts etc. Good luck getting on track. Afullcup.com is a great source if you want to start couponing. I also like coupons.com!

I have found a great way to save money is to buy 1/2 a beef. I don't know if that would be an option for you or not. We got one for about $2.00 a pound, all told. This, of course, includes all cuts of meat, steaks, roast, plenty of hamburger and many other great choices. We don't eat beef every meal, of course, but it is great to have on hand. If you know of a local feedlot or rancher, call them. You have to save up for it , but the savings and quality are great!

If you've ever looked at a "cost map" of price per calorie in a grocery store, the cheapest items per calorie are junk food, with the most expensive being produce. Eating healthy and cooking healthy are expensive, because that's how the system is set up. A good way to save money on shopping is to buy some nonperishables in bulk from stores such as BJs or Sam's Club or Costco, to get some basics at dollar stores or your nearest cheap department store (eggs, milk, canned goods), and to only buy produce and a specialty item or two in your supermarket. It's also good to figure out whether you have any food wasted due to spoilage and work around it. For example, if I know that bread will go bad soon but I want to have enough to last until next week, I buy one loaf and make another at home when needed rather than hoping the second store-bought loaf won't go bad by the time I need it.

it's a real challenge to feed a family healthfully and to satisfy the "meat" desires. Our family strives to fill half our plates with veggies and one fruit, with no more than 2 oz. meat and one whole grain, plus one milk group food. This is easier to do when making stir fries with frozen veggies (on sale), whole wheat pasta or brown rice and minimal amounts of meat. Or ratatouille wiht lots of veggies, pasta and sauce with a little meat. You're right- meats are far more expensive per pound than fresh produce- we just have to re-train ourselves!

Aja, I used to live in Portland and can attest to the high cost of groceries there. Like one of the previous respondents, I also live in Mexico, and the great price advantage here is fresh produce. I buy avocados for 7 pesos a kilo - that's about 25 cents a pound! Apples are plentiful and cheap. Limes are five pesos a kilo - the last time I was in Portland, they were 50 cents a piece! Good beef is expensive, but pork and chicken are exceptional quality and very reasonable. But some staples are high - flour, sugar and eggs are relatively expensive, as is butter. Of course, you can always buy a kilo of fresh, warm tortillas for 9 pesos (about 60 cents). Still, the two of us get by for about $400 a month. Come on down!

I've read some awesome ideas for saving money here, thanks everyone! However, I work two jobs (12-24 hours a day) and the idea of making a loaf of bread whenever I might need it doesn't work. I'd like to add a suggestion for those of us with very little time. Find a couple recipes for chili, stews and soups that you like, pasta sauce as well. Sacrifice a day off a month and cook a bunch of them simultaneously. (Add lots of frozen or fresh veggies, whatever is on sale) Freeze them in portions, take out in the morning to thaw when you want to use them. It's not fancy, but they are inexpensive, healthy meals that just need 20 min to be reheated. Way more veggies and way less salt than canned soup and they taste so much better!!

mother of 8 here, 6 of them boys. I imagine I have as much or more experience stretching my grocery dollars as most. Want to eat cheap and healthy? think soup. On my stovetop right now is a pot of stew made with a pound of cheap stew meat, half a bag of frozen okra, half a pound of carrots, some leftover lentils, and about 4 ounces noodles from a partially used bag. I seasoned it with garlic and salt and some of us add Tony Chachere's creole seasoning. So satisfying! And the entire pot cost me about $2.25 - made enough to feed 6 for lunch. Add a pan of cornbread and the entire meal cost me $4 - and everyone is happy! One thing I have done to whittle down my grocery bill is eliminate most beverages. No more sodas or coffee, very little juice and tea. We do drink tons of water - so much better for us!

My husband and I spend about $300-$350 a month on groceries for the two of us. I agree with everyone who has said to shop the sales. If there is a particular item (especially non-perishables), I will stock up when it's on sale. Same with household cleaning supplies and toiletries. I check flyers every week to see what is one sale. I have noticed that most stores seem to rotate a lot of the same sales every few weeks. I also regularly check out coupon sites, and use them when I grocery shop. Buying in bulk can also save you a ton of money too. Certain items I will purchase a store brand or no name brand because it is a lot cheaper. Things like crackers, pasta, cake mixes, etc, I buy the store brand, and save quite a bit of money.

I have to agree with everything getting smaller in size but the price staying the same or eveb higher. I shop at wal mart and all the items that I buy that is store brand has gone up 10 to 30 cents more. I was paying .99 cents for the Store brand and it's now 1.32. The Wonder bread is 1.78 so I decided to pay a little more to get a better stating bread. I've notice there is less shredded chesse in the package now but the price as gone up. Those are just a few but I know my weekly bill has gone up at least and extra $20.00

My husband and I aren't heavy on eating beef--we have it maybe 2 times a month, but we eat chicken nearly every other night. We make wraps (or have leftovers) for lunch most days. But about once a week we make our own pizzas (using Trader Joe's flatbread, some pesto and/or spaghetti sauce, mozzarella in bulk from Costco-already shredded is cheaper, and whatever toppings). We lived in Corvallis while he finished school, and I can attest that Oregon produce is more expensive and most of the year not the same quality as in Southern Ca (exceptions being apples and some berries). I actually started buying frozen produce there b/c the fresh was not good quality--I was buying green beans for stew--couldn't find one fresh bean w/out black spots on it--plus it saved money. :) And freezing methods have gotten much better recently--textures and dietary value are retained. Anyway, make pizza or quesadillas (w/ leftover chicken and beans) once a week--that'll save a bunch, and there's protein in cheese, too. I've also found that Trader Joe's has very competitive prices--most cereals are much cheaper there (at least where I live) than at Costo or Safeway--let alone anywhere else, unless they are on sale. Kashi on sale recently at Safeway was still more expensive than T.J.'s everyday price. Obviously shopping for 2 is different, and our grocery bills fluctuate, but I think we spend about $280-300 a month. Also, spaghetti is a great way to save money--and it has more appropriate serving sizes of meat--I usually make a big batch, we have it for dinner, save some sauce for later in the week, make a lasagna or 2 to freeze, and several meals are covered that way--and in bulk the cheese needed (and ricotta from TJ's) still keeps the cost of the dishes very low. Like the previous reviewer, we also drink primarily water, and every time I buy juice (Even from frozen) at the store, it feels like a splurge! But, if you are trying to eat healthy--juice and soda aren't the way to go anyway:so much sugar! and if you hate plain water--make your own iced tea with hot tea bags (you can fill a pitcher w/ water and put the tea bags in it and leave it in the sun for several hours...or just boil some water, get the good stuff out of the tea bags and add ice water later). Tea bags are always on sale somewhere. :) Also...you can water down juices w/ green or fruit tea...it tastes a little different, but it's still juice! :) Look at coupons for store flyers...but don't make your life about grocery shopping. if you end up going to 4 stores instead of 1 sale-hunting, how much gas (and money), not to mention time and energy did you spend--was it worth saving the money? My sister-in-law has managed to shop so that the grocery store actually had to pay her, and she didn't owe them one cent! That works for her, I think I'd go crazy having to fashion all of my meals based on the random cut of meat that was on sale--plus, i just don't have the freezer space. Anyway, good luck--all of us our seeing everyday items get more and more expensive. The joys of a shaky dollar!

I have found recipes for and started making my own laundry soap, dishwasher soap, disinfecting glass/countertop cleaner, scouring powder, and eye makeup remover. These changes are saving my family of 6 approximately $50-60 per month. It costs me less than $7 per month to make all of these products. Maybe this site should have a catagory for non-food recipes!

I would like to know your recipes for all of your cleaners and makeup remover or just the link

I have a problem with keeping enough protien in our diet without going over budget, so I've started shopping sales and using other protien options, garbanzo beans are wonderful, and really cheap, mix them with some chopped tomatoes, feta cheese and cucumbers and some whole wheat pasta (cooked then cooled) and it's a great meat free meal that doesn't skimp on the protien.

Yes shop the sales! Freezing and canning extras,in season produce from an orchard try pots of beans, chili,soups, spaghetti.Freeze extras of that. And don't forget to shop at Big Lots they have tremendous savings on a wide variety of staples and goodies, you can even get a few treats. Hope this helps you, I feed 3 for about $50 a week and we are fat and sassy(lol).Jane

To Red Star - bread won't 'go bad soon' if you freeze it! (Up to 3 months) it thraws out very quickly on the counter-top or microwave if you're in a hurry!

Shop the sales, and use your freezer. Most sales repeat every 6 weeks or so, so buy enough to last til the next sale. Buy berries when they are on sale in the summer, and freeze them for when they aren't as cheap. (Also, a helpful tip I got from a magazine. Get a dry-erase board for the outside of your freezer, and write down what is inside. It makes it easier to keep track of how much you have, and helps when you need to come up with something for dinner.)

try farmers' markets! they're always carrying what's in season, and it's local, and often at a better price than the chain stores that are shipping things as much as 1,500 miles or more to get to your hometown.

As a college student, I feel your pain about a tight budget. One thing that has yet to be mentioned is that your original calculation is including your 4 servings of fruits and vegges per day (great!), however, one piece is not necessarily a single serving. For example, 1/2 cup of raw vegges is a serving, and most people eat multiple servings per sitting. Therefore, your family can stay just as healthy and potentially spend less time fulfilling this seemingly burdensome obligation to stay fit.I am not sure if you have ever hear of Sandra Lee, but she does some great stuff with "semi homemade" recipes that are aimed at saving money. Lastly,this may seem silly, but evaluate everything you throw away and next time you are shopping, revise the bulk of those items and resist your urge to buy a little extra "just in case".Hope this helped a little.

Half a beef? I'm going to assume that was supposed to be 'half a cow'.....

I have found that keeping an inventory on my computer really helps me to not duplicate groceries. I use Mastercook for my pantry, freezer & frig list and make an alphabetized list of coupons on Word. I look at ads and my current stock & plan meals around these items. It all works - just have to be very organized and on top of things. One last thing, I always make a menu for a week or 10 days. Then there's no "impulse cooking" with a run to the store for items needed.

Brilliant, all of you! I've just found this blog and have (I hope) mentally reduced my grocery/household supplies bill by 1/4, just by reading your posts. Here's my issue. Newly retired and just divorced, I'm trying to learn how to cook for one and 1/2 people (my grown daughter lives in a small flat upstairs and drops in once or twice a week both to cook for the two of us and to eat with me). It's come to this, after 20 years of carrying lunches and eating cooked-from-scratch dinners, all together, every night. My legacy from this is a 'way too full pantry and a small overworked freezer stuffed with who knows what. Thank you for giving me the inspiration to throw out -- just for example -- three of the four half-used bottles of exotic honeys that have snuck onto the shelves. Same with the freezer. It's a crime to trash unopened bottles -- I wish I knew where to recycle condiments, spices, and sundries. High-end bottled artichokes and black olives, anyone? It's back to inventorying (now I know about Mastercook!) and coupons and out with food shopping as a leisure activity! Apologies for going on and on, and again -- thanks.

FARMERS MARKET, FARMERS MARKET, FARMERS MARKET....... I have found one in my town that is fantastic. I do not buy ANY produce at the grocery anymore. I find the quality to be better too. I cut my produce bill in half.

Every decent sized city has GOT to have an outlet that has dented cans and bulk foods. In central PA, we have BB's, run by the Amish. $1.50 for a 12 oz can for a dented can of Folgers as opposed to $3.50 at the grocery? It's a no brainer. Coffee never goes bad. Bulk packaged flour at $.10/ pound, versus 50 cents a pound? I cannot believe we are the only area in the U. S. where every truckload of food that has been in an accident gets sent here. No, they don't have everything, but if you can find such a place, shop there FIRST, and pick up everything else at a regular store. We have Commissary priviliges too, but even they can't beat the prices at BB's. Find a honey processing plant, offer to buy the jars that have crystalized, usually for less than 1/2 price, boil the bottles for 15 min; and voila! Buy the marked down frozen meat, plan menus around that. You can often find a roast cheaper per pound than hamburger. 2 min. and a food processer saves a bunch! Add an extra 1/4 cup of rice to the dented box of Zataran's and you've increased the yield. Hit the Farmers Markets. Use Coupons; at least give the generic store brands a try. There are a myriad of ways to save if you can get into a mindset to get creative. We only use frozen vegetables - cook only what you need, and no salt. Hope this helps someone.

I have a family of three and spend 30-40 per week on groceries and all other household supplies. I plant a vegetable garden in the summer. The fresh vegetables are so great in the summer and I can or freeze the surplus so I never have to purchase vegetables from the grocery store. Also we have an apple tree in the yard that provides us with fresh apples for a short time and again I can the surplus, making apple pie filling or applesauce. I purchase dried beans and can them myself, so they are ready when I am in a hurry. We also enjoy fresh and wholesome meals but it does not have to cost hundreds of dollars a month.

I have been trying to have 1 meatless dinner a week,seems to be working for us. 3 adults no children. Every Friday we have company for supper,2 adults 2 children.7 in all. I always prepare what ever meat was on special the week before. I also when in season chop up green,red peppers & celery, tomatoes [separately] from my container garden. freeze in portions that will be used in winter for soup,stew,pasta sauce,in the crock pot. Then I just have to buy fresh for every day eating. I have not come up with anything to help with the cost of fresh fruit.

I have a family of Two with one on the way :) Im VERY FRUGAL when it comes to groceries. I spend $250-$300 a month on food. My Key is planning. I look in my cupboards to make a mental note as to what I have to work with, then I look at the sales ad & circle things I can use , Then I make a menu( getting creative), then I look at redplum.com & coupons.com to see if any items I have on my list or have circled that are on sale have coupons to match. I use ziploc baggies to seperate the coupons so I dont have to search through 50 to find the one I want at the store. I categorize them by frozen, Meat/Deli, Prepackaged/canned, & Dairy case, oh and of course a non-food items bag as well. I always make sure to bring a pen to cross off items when put in cart. I also put a star next to items I may have a coupon for so I remember to look for it. I take all the coupons Ive found items for and place them in my pocket as I go and pull them out at the register. It really is worth the time. I get $200 worth of groceries for close to $100 each time. I also highly!! recommend shopping when it is not busy, Nightime during the week works great for me. That way I do not feel rushed and tend to not do impulse buys as much. fewer distractions n the store gives your mind better focus for your mission. Oh I also tend to buy 3 jars of spaghetti sauce etc. when it is on sale for $1 even though I only need one. I also do all this while spending the majority of my budget on fresh fruit & veggies. You also have to realize that some things are a luxury not a necessity & downgrade just a little.

I thought about what you said about fresh fruit and vegtables. I know I spend a ton of money on that alone. Ilive in the Andes mountains and just about everthing must be trucked in. I have tried to grow just a few things because our growing season is so short but between late, late frosts and bugs I have only had success in a few areas. I would love to have a hot house built, nothing special but a protected growing area sure would help cut down on my fresh produce bill. Hope you can find success cutting yous back.

I was in the same prediciment, and this is what I've changed to. I buy what I can in bulk at places like Costco, milk and some meat I buy at Walmart, I buy all fruits and veggies at a farmers market and plan all meals in advance. I try to use coupons as much as possible and for household sundries I go to the dollar store, where I have also been able to buy some canned items. I went from 800 a month down to 450 for two people. We don't eat poorly either.

Forgot one of the most important things, invest in a really good vacum sealer and crock pot.

I have a dollar store here in town that sells produce. It is cheap, but you have to use it quick because it goes bad faster than the stuff I buy at the market. I spend A LOT of money every week at the market- we eat 3 meals at home every day. I'm embarrassed to say that I throw out a lot of food. I have gotten much better at keeping my pantry organized. I make from scratch a lot too- it does save on the budget. I think planning is key and my market does Buy 1 get one free on their roast on a regular basis and I stock up.

I have struggled with this too, but for our family of 2- this is what we do. We use a co-op, for $23 a month we get 6pounds of meat, a loaf of bread, a pound of grains (rice/lentils/beans), and about 12 pounds of produce. Also, we do not eat much meat. We usually eat meals with a rice/bean base with minimal or no meat. We use lots of canned and frozen fruits and veggies, which are cheaper and often better for you. We budget separately for anything that is not food (toiletries, animal food, etc.). Also, every 2 weeks I go through and write down everything in the fridge/pantry. Then i write a separate list of every meal I think I could eat made from the things I found we already have. It is a struggle, but we have cut our grocery cost down from $600/month to $270/month.

Shopping in bulk didn't work for our family of 4, soo I tried the Grocery Outlet, which has almost expired items where I am able to get pantry stuff very reasonable. They also have an o.k. selection of veggies/fruits. Amazing selection on wine/cheese and crackers - the boxes may be damaged. I can save alot of $$$, especially with holiday entertaining!

I am so suprised at how much money people spend on food. My family doesn't go hungry at all but we only spend an average of $300 a month for a family of 5. We do this by utilizing a monthly menu and shopping carefully, using coupons, weekly ads and shopping marked down items. We use the CashnCarry, similar to Costco only with no membership fees, Grocery Outlet, sales at Albertson's and Paul's meat because it is local and not filled with chemicals. Otherwise we shop at Fred Meyer for everything else, using our 10cents a gallon off to help our gas budget. I know what weeks things are on sale and shop those weeks when I know we need those items. Then I buy in bulk. We check the meat bins and even if I don't need things like burger, roasts or porkchops I buy them to repackage and freeze. I never pay more than $2 a pound for meat. We buy fruit and veggies in season and buy frozen, it is much cheaper and just as healthy as fresh. We even have lots of food intolerances to eat around. Eating on a budget doesn't have to mean going hungry or eating cheap junk. It just means eating smart. We do, once a year, stock up on staples like bulk rice, flours, sugar, and canned items.

Great ideas all! I was raised by my grandparents who are depression babies... I have four of us at home with two more who come home when they are hungry. Our food budget calls for $600 per month. We have some special food requirements in our family (wheat, corn, soy allergies). I stretch our food budget by creating our own soup stock. If you peel you potatoes, throw the peels into a freezer pack and save, same with onions, carrots, tips off you greenbeans, leaves and stems from brocolli, the insides of bell peppers etc. You get the idea, After freezing about 4 quarts (freezer packs) I pull them out and simmer them in water, usually 6 hours. I strain the broth and use as I would prepackaged vegetable broth. Another hint is to purchase pappers and onions on sale, dice them up, and freeze. When you need onion or peppers you just pull out what you need, no waste. Of course I also use coupons and ads when available but with the food restrictions it is difficult. Just for giggles, looks at the ingrediants of everything you buy, how many times do you see corn startch or corn syrup?

Great ideas, here. I've been pretty much of a frugal shopper for years and one thing that works well for us is to buy our meat in bulk. You don't have to buy a half a cow, either. A couple of weeks ago, we bought a carton of beef bottom round (about 80 lbs) and a carton of pork loins (about 40 lbs). We spent an afternoon cutting it into roasts, chunks, strips and grinding it into hamburger. Then we package it w/ our food saver in packages from 1/2 lb to up to 3 lbs (for roasts). We keep a list of what we have in the freezer posted on the fridge door. Right now, we have about $200 worth of beef and pork in our freezer. By filling in with Chicken (when it's on sale) and sausages from the distressed bin (almost up to its xp date, but not over) we figure this will last us about 6 months. With a teenage boy to feed (and feed, and feed, and feed!) we have to be creative. Those roasts I mentioned are cooked on Sunday night, when we have a real "Sunday dinner". The rest of the roast gets sliced and refrigerated for the teenager's lunches during the rest of the week. We do the same thing with Turkey breasts and chicken. His school friends have offered to buy his "cold" lunches from him, but he ain't sellin'. :)

Just know that by buying cheaper things, especially meats and other animal products, is more harmful for the environment and the world, as these products are nowhere near organic, rely on terrible animal suffering, and are just plain worse for you. During the summer, try to buy at farmers' markets and the like, and stay away from the big corporations. The pricing is better, and you're helping your community. I can stuff my produce drawer with deliciousness every week for only like $20 at my local farmers' market.

I must disagree with your final statement, and amend it: To spend less, you have to eat differently. (Or) To spend less, you must cook (as opposed to assemble) more. I also think it's rather sweeping to imply that folks who spend less must be 'hamburger and chips' people. The recommedation here in Canada is for 5-10 fruits and veggies daily (more veg than fruit, of course). We rarely eat 10 servings, as we just can't eat *that much* food, but we eat well within the guidelines - a minimum of five a day. We eat balanced meals, made with fresh ingredients. We do it for about $325/mo. (We are two adults, a teen boy, and a 9-month-old). Our homemade meals range from the midwestern home-cooking of my childhood (meat-and-potatoes) to black bean burritos, to pad thai, general Tso chicken, and kathi kebab (a sort of Indian burrito). We don't buy chips, sweets, etc. We also don't spend extra $$ on special 'healthy' cereals or snacks. We shop sales and we cook at home. Our sweets are generally 100% whole-grain - and they are treats. We bake our bread (which is not as time-consuming as people seem to think). I'm sure some of this is redundant on others' comments, but when such a strong statement is made, incorrectly, I feel obliged to point out alternatives!

My weekly budget is $160 for a 6ppl household. $30 from that goes to school lunches. I learned to be creative and shop sales. It can be done!

Wow, great comments and suggestions from everyone. You've inspired me to search thru my cabinets and freezer to see what I could come up with for supper tonight. I found a leftover ham bone and turkey broth in the freezer so I started a soup with it. Added leftover pasta noodles, two potatoes that were just hanging out in the pantry, garlic and onion and tomatoes. Made a pan of cornbread and WOW what a great soup and filling supper just using up odds and ends in the kitchen. Almost 0 dollars! Thanks again everyone.

Have you tried coupons? You can save a lot by clipping coupons and buying produce that is in season.

I also have to disagree with everyone who says shopping at farmers markets will save you money. That may be the case in other cities, but here in western suburbs of Portland, OR the farmers markets are more expensive than grocery store produce.

I envy you guys with cheap farmers markets, ours is at least twice to price of the stores. Planning meals especially around sales is one of the best ways to save money. My DD saved a lot in college doing that. I cook once, eat twice (double things and freeze). As far as buying 1/2 a beef (yes that's what it is called when it's hanging) I can't get it for $2/pound here in ND either. My brother even has a finishing feedlot and buys meat cheaper at Sam's than butchering his own because of the cost of processing. I do freeze a lot, berry's, flour (buy on sale, it keeps fresh a long time in the freezer) and buy in bulk. I love the idea of the dry erase board by the freezer. I'm going to do that.

I only spend about 200-250 dollars a month for a family of three. You HAVE to use coupons and shop sales. Start a meal plan and try to stick to it. I love to cook but have to stick to very basic meals sometimes in order to make ends meet. Pancakes are an awesome staple every week at our house and so are chicken/turkey/beef casseroles. I still buy a decent amount of produce but you just have to learn where to sacrifice. If you pair a coupon with an item already on sale and make sure you stock up when there are really good sales then you will never go over your grocery budget. Having a full pantry is the key to keeping your budget low. That way if there is a week or two with crappy sales you can just wait them out.

our budget is $150.00 for a family of five. We just don't have the money to spend on lots of food. I go the store almost every other day and buy the marked down produce and marked down dairy food. We buy dried milk in 100lb bags and mix half real milk with half powdered milk. I only buy things when they are on sale and I have a coupon. I buy lots of coupons on Ebay. For instance kroger is doing a sale for post cereal is $1.50 a box I have a 20 $1.00 off coupons so I purchase 20 boxes of cereal for 50 cents a piece. We purchase a half of cow once a year and I also shop aldi's for produce. I bake everything from scratch including my own dog food and ketchup. I use a lot of dried beans, rice and flour. We also have a garden and I freeze the produce. When the produce has been marked down I buy all I can and freeze into meal size portions.

I do pretty much anything I have to save on groceries for 6, but I have a question- does anyone know of any grocery stores that will take computer printed coupons?

Winco is incredible for long-lasting items (flour, sugar, bulk, canned and jarred goods, beverages) but I agree with other users, the produce and meat quality tends to be a bit spotty. It takes a little extra time (and I work full-time, go to school and cook daily for three so I understand - time isn't always available) but I go there for the non-perishable items, as well as ethnic foods - since Winco tends to attract a huge variety of ethnicities (at least at my Winco in Kent, WA), hard-to-find or normally expensive ethnic foods (like lime, tamarind, Asian vegetables, etc) are ridiculously cheap. However, for all other fresh fruits and vegetables I go to the local fruit stand near my house. When I do buy meat (not often) I go to a regular or natural grocery store. I can manage on $200 a month making almost all meals we eat from home, but it does take some effort, time and ingenuity... And we don't always end up having all the staples we like to have. I try not to subject them to cost-saving science projects, but sometimes it's all you can do...

We live north of Seattle. It seems that the prices here are extremely high. I have my grocery shopping plan. In our small town, the grocery stores are very expensive. If I'm spending less than $10, I'll go to the local stores (Albertson's, Haggen, or Safeway) It's not worth the gas to drive further for a small amount of stuff. For $50-$100, I'll go to the next town, and shop Fred Meyer. For more than $100, I will go to the further town and hit Winco. That's my big trip. I also hit a local butcher shop about once every couple of months. Here I get the quality of meats that we really enjoy. I buy stuff like hamburger, and pork chops and sausage at the grocery store, on sale. When it's cheap, I stock up. I bring it home, put some straight in the freezer, and then I brown some of it with onion and garlic, probably about 5 lbs. I put this in packages in the freezer, so I can make easy and inexpensive meals quickly later. I buy lots of frozen vegetables and when I get to the point in a bag where there's not enough to feed the family, I throw what's left in a gallon ziploc. This could be mixed veggies, corn, peas, carrots, green beans. I do this with all those left over ends. This becomes soup veggies. I buy pork and beef roasts on sale, season and slow cook, and shred for bbq sandwiches, or chimichangas, etc. I tend to make a lot of soups, chilis and skillet meals. These are great ways to save money, they are filling, nutritious and delicious, according to my son. He loves my navy bean and ham and split pea with bacon. Also, homemade chicken noodle, or chicken rice. I buy chicken frozen at Costco, and keep a bag of b/s thighs and b/s breasts on hand.I cook more than I need for one meal and then use it in recipes like chicken enchiladas, or the like. I shop the sales, as long as they are for items I actually need and will use. The same for coupons. I don't use them just to try something new. It's only for what I know we'll use. I buy lots of things in bulk, beans, rice, pasta, spices, onion soup mix (huge savings there!) It's between $2-6 a pound. It's a couple of bucks just for a little box with a couple of ounces. BIG SAVINGS! We eat healthier on a tighter budget, and there is nothing wrong with using canned fruits, or frozen veggies. Just make sure that you don't buy with added sugars, or sauces. Oh, adn the apples that start to go soft? I throw those (peeled and chopped) along with some spices into the crockpot to make apple butter. I try not to buy things, especially produce, that I don't have a menu plan for. I do try to plan ahead, a week or more at a time. It's less stress and cheaper than daily, or even bi-weekly shopping trips. To minimize forgetting something, I do keep a running list on the fridge of things we are low or out on. I still spend probably close to $600 per month on groceries, I am feeding 4-6 people, 1-2 meals a day, and 3 meals each on the weekends. Good luck and happy shopping and chopping!

There are a lot of great suggestions here that I incorporate in my monthly meal planning as well, Trader Joe's being one of them. I have discovered that to save my family the most money in our budget going to the local fruit & vegetable stand works wonders! For $35 spent at my local fruit stand or international asian market I can walk out of there with 7 to 10 bags of produce and I would have spent at least $60 or more at the local grocery store. I to shop at WINCO but have still found the prices that much cheaper for produce at a fruit and veg. market. We also have meatless meals about 3 times a week and make great use of beans,lentils and dairy on these nights to increase our protein intake. Sam's Club and Trader Joe's do usually have great deals on dairy and if you have an Albertson's nearby they usually have pretty good deals on chicken breast. Also, checking the local grocery store's clearance section for good meat deals is a great idea. Learning how to create some of the prepackaged convenience items that you normally buy can cut down on your bill quite a bit, like marinara sauce or alfredo sauce. Bulk shopping is great too, at WINCO and Fred Meyers you can even buy the spices in bulk. For a family of 5 I usually spend around $450 a month in groceries and I very rarely buy anything prepackaged. Good Hunting!

Shop early, shop often is my mantra. Also, it takes a little more work, but clipping coupons and shopping sales is definitely a HUGE (did i mention HUGE) help. I have a family of 4 and i spend about $200/month on groceries...this is on the high end. On the low end, maybe about $120--$130/month. I go to the stores (Publix, Kroger (if there is a good sale), and Aldi) every week. It works out because everyone's sales start on different days. Right now (and for the past 2 weeks) Aldi has had 4 kinds of apples for 1.19 for 3 lbs. They also have pineapples for 99 cents and milk for 1.49 per gallon. Another thing I like to do is buy in big quantities. If it is something like meat, I put it in the deep freezer, if I end up buying more of the same then I rotate. For example I was able to get some Angus steaks for $2, so i put those end and the steaks i already had are next in the rotation to get used. I also will buy more than one (or two, or three...LOL) of something if it is a really good deal. A good example is my shopping today at Kroger. I got 24 boxes of hot chocolate (some will likely go to kiddie's school), 6 boxes of cheez-its, 4 pkgs boneless pork chops, 3 pkgs steak, 4 bags of candy, 2 pkgs dark chocolate covered almonds for $43 after coupons and store specials. This was considered splurging (I think I spelled that wrong...?) for me as I try to keep my bill between $20 and $25. I don't think my family wants for anything and I don't think we compromise on quality. I just try to shop the deals. I see someone else put a tip about soft produce...when mine starts to go soft I make a mean apple crisp or just some baked apples, which go great with pork chops. I normally don't utilize a weekly meal planner but the ways groceries are here at the house, I can usually whip up a meal without having to run out to the store for any ingredients. If I get stuck, I usually come here for inspiration. I check the expiration dates and buy accordingly. I have a deep freezer that I keep full. I compare prices, and again clip those coupons...usually they have a little something for everyone. I want to stress that I know everyone regionally will have their challenges so I wish you good luck and happy shopping!!!

cooking-realtor...Publix usually accepts internet coupons with no problems. I think they have to be in color (no copies) and I don't know if there is a limit. I have used up to 5 at a time and have no had any problems.

Lots of great ideas here is one more,I would suggest checking your local area for "You Pick it Farms/Orchards" I have done this for years for seasonal items. I love apples and since living in Florida (too hot to grow here) I now plan short trips north to pick apples this site is helpful for apple orchards: www.allaboutapples.com also, many of the orchards have other seasonal fruits and veggies.

Some of these ideas are great. I live in an area where there's one grocery store and the farmer's market ends in October, but I can use some of the other ideas.

I have a ravenous family of 4, all growing boys, except for myself, and man can they eat! My milk budget alone is $150 a month! I can spend an easy $600 a month on groceries, but, I found a program that has considerably slashed that figure. It's called Angel Food Ministries. Anyone can purchase from them, it's not dependent upon income. The food is good quality, wholesome, and fresh, and most importantly, cheap! You can buy as many "packages" of food you like, no minimum or maximum. You order your food a month in advance, then pick it up (bring lots of laundry baskets to load your food in). I order my food, then make meal plans for the following month, it's nice because I have a whole month to plan what I'm gonna cook. They do have produce, and I typically freeze or can what we cannot eat in a week. The meat is great because it is portioned, like a pack of 6,4 ounce ribeyes. Visit their website at angelfoodministries.com to see if they operate in your area. You won't be disappointed!

I like to cook and until recently I haven't really been watching my cooking budget. You are right - it adds up. Here are the tricks I found: 1) shop ethnic markets - everything there is a lot cheaper, especially produce, and it is always labeled with place of origin if you are concerned 2) Buy meat on sale only - I will typically buy and single meal freeze chicken breasts, ground turkey, bone-in lean pork chops or tenderloin only when there is a big sale 3) Try to cut down on meat. I try to make at least 2 dinners a week vegetarian - usually some sort Indian or Latin inspired so it feels like this is the way the dish is supposed to be and not that you are trying to substitute for meat. 4) Lunch meats and cheeses ADD UP if you buy fresh sliced at the deli. I try to trim that budget by re-making leftovers into lunches but haven't really mastered it yet.

Included in my grocery bill are laundry and cleaning supplies since I usually buy them all together. I free up money for the fresh produce by making a lot of my own cleaning supplies. Here are the recipes: Eye make-up remover is 1/2 c. purified water, 2 Tablespoons baby shampoo, and 1/2 tsp. baby oil, olive oil, or grapeseed oil. Mix together and shake. Here's the recipe for a good kitchen/bath/everything cleaner: 1 cup water 1 cup alcohol 2 tablespoons white vinegar 2-3 drops Dawn dishwashing soap 3-4 drops essential oil for scent if you don't like the smell (If you use more, it will smell better but may make glass streak) This works well for glass, mirrors, chrome, countertops, bathroom fixtures, etc. The alcohol disinfects and makes it dry faster, the Dawn cuts any grease or fingerprints, and the vinegar cuts any stickiness and makes things sparkle. Dishwasher detergent: 3/4 c. borax, 3/4 c. baking soda, 1/4 c. washing soda, 1/4 c. salt, 1/4 c. citric acid or two packages unsweetened LEMONADE Kool-Aid (yes, really!) Mix it up, keep it in a DRY place, and use half as much as you normally would. Use vinegar in the rinse aid dispenser. And the biggest money saver, the laundry soap: 1. Put 3-4 cups of water in a pan on the stove and heat. DO NOT BOIL. 2. Put 3 gallons hot water in a 5 gallon bucket or similar containter with a lid. 3. Grate a bar of Ivory soap and add it slowly to the water on the stove. Stir well (like 5 minutes) until completely disolved. DO NOT BOIL. 4. Add the soapy water to the bucket, stir, stir, stir well. 5. Add one cup washing soda, stir about 2 minutes until completely disolved. 6. Add 1/4 c. borax and stir again until completely disolved. Cover. Let this mixture sit a day or so then stir again (I use a really big wisk). Divide it up among easier to handle bottles or just use it from the bucket. NOTE: Keep the lid on the bucket! Children can fall in and drown! Stir or shake before each use (no chemicals to keep it from separating) and use 1 cup for a normal load.

Certain stores have overall better prices on certain items than others. I visit at least three stores to get all of my grocery shopping done, and even considering the gas expense to do this, I save a lot! I get meat from one store, produce from another, and all my cleaning stuff and canned goods from Wal-Mart. It is always imperative to watch the weekly ads all year long. During the summer, we have a farmer's market in town, and it is unbelievably inexpensive. Usually I take $10-$15 with me, and I leave with at least three paper grocery bags full of fresh, local produce!

I have been finding the same thing... prices going UP in this economy! I started making my own laundry detergent (I have 3 kids and do about two loads/day for a family of 5). This simple recipe has saved me LOTS. It's a little thing to do, but when you add it with other little things, they add up to big savings. 3 ingredients. Found them all at Winco. It comes out to less than a dollar for a jug of detergent! Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent 1/2 bar FelsNaptha (finely grated) 1/3 c. Borax 1/3 c. Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (don't stress this one if you can't find it....just double up on the Borax and the recipe is just as effective!) 6 qts. water Grate FN soap and combine all ingredients in the water, let heat until soap is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Separate the mixture into 2- 1gal. jugs (I use SUN detergent bottles, as the pour spout can be removed easily for taking the mixture, the cap is handy for measuring the detergent, and the opening just happens to fit my canning funnel!) I also keep 3 on hand. That way one is in use while 2 are empty for a new batch. Fill to top with tap water and shake vigorously. Let sit for 24 hours. Shake well again before use. It will have gelled clumps that break up easily and dissolve readily in your wash. This will not suds, leaves clothing soft with no need for softener (even line dried clothing) and no added smells. Option: The original recipe calls for an optional essential oil scent but I have found, though it makes the detergent smell heavenly, it doesn't carry over to the clothing. If the detergent is working properly and breaks up oils in the clothing, a carrier oil for essential oil will break up and dissipate also. This soap smells wonderful on its own! Depending on what you pay for your ingredients, this will yield 2 gal. of detergent for under $1!!! Each jug is a 40 load jug.....so 80 loads for under $1.

I too am one who has amazing savings... We go to market and purchase our pigs when little and then raise to market at my parents farm.It cost us 89 cents a pound for food, processing,and the cost tom purchase the pigs when little. You can find people who will "rent" you a pasture etc. monthly just to raise you pigs,and then use an automatic feeder for the. Its way too easy. You'll be amazed at the savings. We also did the same for our beef. We paid 2.10 a pound for all of our "side of beef. We split the other half with another family member. You can even have it split 4 ways with others if you like.... to save even MORE.. :) No sens in paying 9.99 a pound or more for steaks when you can pay 2.10. :)

Wow! Love the recipes for cleaning supplies. What a great idea! Thanks to all who contributed tips and suggestions here. I thought I was pretty thrifty, but these were some great new ideas. I also shop weekly local grocery store sales and plan my menus around those items and stock up on meat and pantry items when they are on sale. Eliminating processed foods from your diet (and therefore shopping list) is also a huge cost savings and far healthier way of eating.

I never purchase beef or pork at the store. We purchase 1/2 a beef and 1/2 a pork every 6-9 months. It's much cheaper for us to have our meat packaged and frozen the way we want. If you've never purchased from a locker before, it's very simple. They'll ask which cuts you'd like & how you'd like it packaged. We like this method since we get all cuts of meat at a set $$ per pound. With beef, we get steaks, roast, stew meat, minute steaks and usually the rest ground. For pork, it's roasts, chops, bacon, and sausage. Also, the meat is packaged in freezer paper for you so it doesn't burn.

I used to print coupons at home from coupons.com and use them at my local Wal-mart for a couple months. Then out of the blue my Wal-mart decided to stop taking online coupons! I was not happy about that (And still not!). There are only two in my household and we spend 60 or less each week (This includes non-grocery items). My sister's budget for her and her man is 50 every two weeks...lets just say they are REALLY tired of chicken!

winco is the place for meat too...get there early and they put 1-2-3 dollar off coupons on some meat. also if not freezing produce, try dehydrating

This month I have spent $297.07 for a family of 3. And its a 5 weekend month! I also do everything from scratch. I have a freezer bag full of vegi scraps that I use to make broth with, I also freeze chicken carcasses for broth. I bake my own bread, my daughter loves to help. I am lucky, my parents live in Alaska and I get sent Halibut and salmon. (Well not this year, no salmon run) I trade some of the halibut for elk. (I also supply him a home made loaf of bread a couple times a month!) I also buy 25lbs of grass fed beef. That runs about $7 a lb, and I am really surprised how long it's lasted. I also buy in bulk at Sams - mostly produce, sausages and cheese. I prefer organic produce, but the price must be comparable to the nonorganic. Is it better to have a nonorganic apple or no apple? I think the most useful thing I do is when I get the sale flyers on Weds I list items in the notebook I keep in my purse that are good buys. It really helps with impulse buys that might happen if I was not able to flip open my notebook and see if the price was a real bargain, or if it's worth $0.30 to go to another store.

Not sure where you are located, but we save a TON of money by shopping at Aldi. Produce there is 1/2 as much as other places. Our grocery bill is usually less than 100 and that is for 3 people and a baby.

For myself and my gorwing 10 yo son, I'm down to less then $100/week with 1 major (meat/pasta/cereal/etc) shopping trip a month (approx $200). One thing that I find helps me with the fruit and veggie servings is frozen fruit smoothies. I buy large bags of mixed frozen fruit, usually cheaper then fresh, mixed with fruit juice, usually apple, and any flavor of yogurt in the fridge. It's a great after school/work snack and an add on to breakfast.

To cookin-realtor..I have used coupon printed from the computer at Wal Mart. NO PROBLEM.

Many people really need to reevaluate what counts as a "necessity". Cheese for example, while tasty, has no nutrients that can't be found in other far less fatty, far less expensive items.

If you have a decent sized freezer, get the family sized packages of meat at Winco and when you get home divide the pieces into meal sized portions and freeze. Also try buying some of your fruit from the freezer section. I use strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and peaches in desserts and as pancake topping for my family to get them to eat more fruit, and the frozen variety is just as nutritious as fresh. Definitely watch the sales and ask your checkers when the best time to shop is. For instance, the Safeway in my neighborhood marks down a lot of basics like produce and dairy on the weekends. Also try shopping for household goods like toilet paper and cleaning supplies at wal mart. I've found they have the lowest prices on non-food items in my region (this includes personal care items like soap and shampoo, razor blades etc). I've cut way back on the amount of meat I serve, as well. For instance, I may make a quiche for dinner with 1/4 cup of diced ham or bacon, letting the protein come mainly from the eggs. I know that it is hard to budget for groceries. I'm at $400 a month with two very hearty eating men (one is 15 years old!). Lots of crockpot dinners, casseroles and whole grains help keep the budget in check. Luckily the guys love bean dishes like vegetarian chili and tofu lasagna. I try hard to get several day's meals out of a single roast or chicken and bake homemade goodies instead of buying pre-made cookies and snacks. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but I work full time and am in college for 10 hours a week and still manage to feed everyone. I spend Sunday morning writing up the weekly menu and then I don't get stuck when trying to decide what to fix for any meal. Also, oatmeal is an inexpensive and fast breakfast that my family just loves. Top it with raisins, walnuts, bananas, brown sugar, dried apricots, almonds or whatever you have on hand for hearty deliciousness!

My answer has been to ask myself, what would Grandma do or for you younger girls,Great Grandma. As the economy changed I found myself making less meals that my mother made and more that were handed down from my Grandmothers who raised very large families on very little money. We've been threw hard times before, and we can do it again. There's some very nice sites out there on heritage recipes and I've found country/farm cookbooks are great resources. Good Luck Everyone!!

I know others have said it, but it is true, shop the sales. I plan my meals for the week around what is on sale. Many of my meals for one week may be one type of meat, just cooked several different ways. It's one way that to stretch your money. If you have chicken today, have chicken salad tomorrow. I live on $200 worth of food stamps for 1 person and even I can't make it on that.

I don't know if anyone already suggested it but growing your own veggies and freezing and dehydrating them for later can save some dough. Growing your own fruit too can save money if you're lucky enough to live some place warmish all year long.

Do not forget to make homemade dry cream soup mixes and homemade onion soup mix from the web. Also I make homemade bread crumbs and homemade salad dressings. I make almost everything from scratch. The homemade cleaners work well. Saves a whole lot of money. also a lot of fun.

Good comments but I want to add the Cosco/WalMart meat, thats just gross. That meat is feedlot chemical laiden cancer causing eww. I am sure Portland has some sort of farm you can buy meat from. There is one 30 minutes from me and a lot of us go there, spend $100.000 and are set for the month. I am afraid a lot of people are buying cheap to save money and are sacrificing their health. I work several jobs, but still make everything from scratch because of the chemicals in cans and packages. Yes they are getting better (Campbells) but it saves money now and in the long run. All you women, that stuff is stored up in your body and affects your future children. Why do you think we have become the sickest generation?

I have spent $150 a week for a family of five. I buy what is on sale and normally shop at two local stores. If something is a lot cheaper, I buy as many as I can to stock up. I buy family packs of meat and put it into smaller bags for different meals and only buy what is on sale. Our meals are planned around the weekly sale items. I shop for produce at a local farmer's market store that has produce cheaper than the supermarkets and don't buy much processed foods. We eat healthy meals and snacks and I don't send my son to school with packaged items. I bake from scratch at least once a month using ingredients I have in my pantry. I am known as the coupon queen. I use them for products that are on sale especially if I can get something for almost free. I buy store brands and am not afraid to try new brands. I stock up on shampoo when on sale and have gone almost one year without having to buy shampoo and conditioner! Hope this helps.

PINCH, PINCH, PINCH...I'm hanging wash outside to save on electric...Windex is vinegar and water. Food is 1000 a month for my family of 6. Thats why I'm addicted to this site. I can make better food than premade processed or take out ...for less money. My favorite is left over turkey in a broccoli,cheddar casserole with ritz cracker topping... I think its a campbells soup recipe. The wild card in my house is when my teenage sons friends show up and they raid the kitchen... it looks like we were attacked by cicadas! Then I'm tapped for school snacks for the week! GRRRRR!!!! Thank God for Walmart and Costco.

We had a Winco Supermarket open up in Spokane a year ago. their prices are excellent!! Often find items 1 ore 2 dollars cheaper than our other local markets. You have one in portland. heres the addy. Good luck! www.wincofoods.com (503) 624-5894 7500 Sw Dartmouth Rd Portland, OR

So many great suggestions and helpful info here. I'd like to add a couple of my own. I use those Debbie Myer 'Green Bags' for my produce. My produce does last longer. Also, to keep your celery stalks fresher longer. Take it out of its plastic wrapper and tightly wrap it in tin foil....will keep in your fridge for a month.

Produce does get expensive, but instead of trying to get four servings of fresh fruit, try splitting it up with some dried fruit. Prunes are packed with good stuff, keep well, and taste like candy! I've had to look into many dried and canned fruit options since I have a weird fresh fruit allergy, and there are a lot of tasty choices that don't break the bank. It is sometimes easier to find good quality canned fruit than fresh, my best example being peaches. I find it very difficult to find flavorful fresh peaches, but I always enjoy them canned (same goes for pears)!

Adding beans to help stretch your meat will save $$$ buy them dry in bulk and you will save even more, just have to plan ahead to rehydrate. I am lucky that we live in an area where we can raise our own beef, and my husband likes to hunt, no chemicals in elk and deer :)

Awesome suggestions- especially about making your own cleaning products. I'll be trying those soon- I even have most of the ingredients on hand already! A couple of ideas to add...TVP- yup- textured vegetable protein. I have been adding it to sloppy joe, spaghetti sauce, chili soups and the like for years and my family never noticed- though my daughter might read this and my secret will be out:-). For milk, start replacing fresh milk with reconstituted dry milk-replace the amounts slowly over several months and serve the milk cold- no one will be the wiser. As far as making you own bread, get a bread machine- these can be bought at thrift shops or rummage sales very cheaply and it is very simple to just toss in all the ingredients and let the machine do it's thing. As far as coupons and ads go, use them!! But notice the timing of the sales- some repeat every few weeks- especially Walgreens-they have grocery items that are sometimes cheaper than other stores in our area. You can keep a shopping notebook to let you know when something is really a good deal and it will also show you the ad cycles- see coupon sites for details. Notice seasonal ad trends- ham at Easter, Turkey at Thanksgiving etc.- pick up an extra ham or turkey and stash it in the freezer. Turkey on the grill in July is like a whole new food! Be careful to compare cost per ounce/pound- sometimes bigger packages are not cheaper. I have noticed at Walmart that the price per ounce on the shelf tag is NOT always accurate- the price may be shown for a 15 ounce package but if you look at the package it is only 13 ounces!! Always carry a calculator! Carry your own shopping bags- several stores give you a few cents per bag when you supply your own bag- its better for the environment and I like having several sizes of bags to accomodate my purchases (smaller bag for heavy canned items, insulated bag for frozen, etc.)- bags can be made inexpensively or picked up at thrift shops or rummage sales. I keep a cooler in my truck at all times so if I come across a good deal on items that need to be kept cool I can pick them up regardless of how long it will be before I return home. Check if you can swap with your neighbors- I had too many apples- she had too many plums!

i have to agree with mycreation pork chops out in town costs4 to 6 dollars per pound. Commissary 1-3.

Wow, this subject is getting alot of mileage. I too shop at Costco for my bulk items but you have to be careful even there. I shop the Costco sales and freeze what I can. For example, recently they had 1" thick boneless pork cutlets for like 2 something a pound and then had $3 off per pkg at the register I then took them home and sliced them in half and froze them so I was able to get 7 meals for my family of 3 for just over 10 bucks. Lots of in season produce and simple grains like oats and rice and pasta. I don't do junk food or soda or anything like that except rarely so that helps and for the rest of our non-bulk groceries I shop the circulars that come in the mail every week. Actually healthy eating is cheaper than the way most of my friends eat. Our oldest recently moved out but before that I was spending about $125 a week on groceries and that's in Seattle with a husband and 2 teenage boys. Now we have 1 year old twins and that $125 a week is just a distant dream since I have to cook so much special food for them until they get more teeth, boy I can't wait till that day! ***Final super big tip*** sit down once a week and plan out your menue and shop only for that and any staple items you need once. That way you aren't in the grocery store more than once a week buying impulse stuff and simply stick to your list (unless you find something you use all the time on a great sale, then stock up).

"But we are not hamburger and potato chip people" I am not sure what you mean by that remark. But ma always taught us to keep plenty of lard and fat back in the pantry, lol. As for flavorful food. Food chains make millions, providing very tasty food at low prices. I think your a food snob. And if you think anyone here can help you your wrong. " I love the time consuming but mindless task of adding the broth and stirring". Geessee

First, eat beans - cheap and full of protein. Also, grains like quinoa are cheap and full of protein. Meat is not as much of a necessity as people think. You can chop up one chicken breast and add it to pasta or a rice dish and get the flavor of meat, without the big expense of one hunk of meat per person. My veggies take up about 34% of my groceries (I did the math to see where my money was going!), but I put them in soups and do things like add cut up asparagus to pasta to make the veggies last longer. I've also found that using lots of seasonings like pepper, garlic, rosemary (not salt) make beans and grains taste so much better than starving grad students would lead you to believe. When you want meat, do things like buy a whole chicken, cut it up and boil it with an onion, carrots and celery. Not only do you then make your own chicken stock as a base for soups, but you have a whole chicken to cut up/shred to add to salads, dishes etc. The biggest thing we splurge on is organic milk ($6 a gallon, yikes!!) because it tastes so different than regular milk, and high-protein cereal for breakfast. But, those are so much cheaper than Starbucks every day, it really makes a difference.

I've got better advice for you than anyone on here. Don't wait until something goes on sale and then buy 200 pounds of it. Don't stop eating good food. Reprioritize. Instead of asking how you can save a few bucks a day, ask yourself how easy it would be to earn an extra $6.33 per day. If you and your husband split that responsibility, it's an extra $3.16 per piece. Just a little bit more education or just a little bit more job skills would probably provide you that boost. You live in a country that provides you those opportunities, so instead of depriving yourself, reach out and grab for it! Eat steak every night if you want to!

A note on farmer's markets, yes they can be twice the price of the regular stores, but then again, where does the regular store get its produce from? Where I live, most of the year it comes from Florida, Mexico, California and in winter Chile and New Zealand etc, by the time produce arrives in my local store (we only have three) its probably traveled between 400 to 4000 miles, mostly by truck or however and its picked unripe to ship, and mostly has been produced by the mindset of pesticide, herbicide, and fertilize to death. I will gladly spend the extra to buy good FRESH produce in the Farmer's market, and the key to this is to consider buying twice what you need each week, and freezing the extra weeks worth for winter. It really doesn't cost that much extra over buying the organic stuff at Safeway, and I can get really fresh picked that morning or the evening before produce. Of course there are some things I can't get like sweet potatoes, they just don't grow here (Northeastern BC Canada) so those I do have to rely on the store for, but then again, by buying extra when they are on sale (Thank Giving, Christmas) and either storing them in the basement or freezing cooked, they will last well. I shop at the butcher shop, and the prices there are cheaper than in a store but they can be expensive as well, so do shop sometimes in sales. Its simply a matter of trying to keep track of what you have, using more staples like dried beans, peas, lentils and cooking bigger amounts and freezing half of it for quick meals when you need to cook fast. Crock pots and vacuum sealers (although the bags are expensive) and cooking large meals and freezing them for lunches or dinners later on, cook a large roast, for sandwiches, or whatever shortcuts for cooking and saving you can find are always great. Corn syrup is in almost everything (read karo here) including many recipes that I won't use. Corn syrup and corn solids are being implicated in obesity, as they don't set off the saity indicator in your brain, so you eat more than you need. Did you know that Minute Maid Lemonade in the cans and bottles has corn starch in it to keep it from separating? I didn't until a fellow in the grocery store line up told me, he only found out because he was allergic to corn and wondered why he had problems drinking lemonade. Cheese freezes, as does milk, cream and egg nog, it may be a bit separated when its thawed, or crumbly in the case of cheese, but it keeps well. I've been looking for a recipe for Pecan Pie that DOES'T have karo syrup in it, of course I can probably use Roger's golden syrup instead, but hey they didn't have that 150 years ago either. They had molasses. Same thing for fudges, candies and peanut brittles, indcluding one that has soda for the brittle recipe. I used to have one with the soda in it, but can't seem to find it now. It made the best peanut brittle.