Thursday, September 8, 2011

Grocery Shopping Budget Know-How



Grocery shopping is one of the first places you can learn how to be frugal. I am amazed when I go to the grocery store how many times people are spending so much more money than myself and getting half the amount of stuff I have within my cart. So, how do I do it?

1) Clip Coupons - Set aside some time every week to go through your newspaper and clip coupons. I found that it's really helpful to organize them by category and keep them in a notebook. You'd be amazed how much money you can save a week for your family!

2) Grocery Ads - Dare to compare! Take a peek at your local grocery store ads each week for specials. Only buy the things you'll know you'll use. And when you do find something that your family loves and it's on sale, buy in bulk. Don't buy one package of pasta when you know you eat it often. Buy 3-5 boxes of the same product. The savings ad up!

3) Plan Ahead - Plan your meals ahead of time. If you walk the grocery store aisles in search of your weekly meals without planning ahead, 9 times out of 10 you are going to end up buying more than you need. Take a list of items needed to complete a week full of meals for your family and stick to it!

4) Cook & Freeze - Make meals ahead of time and freeze them. When you do so, you'll always have an outlet for a good, hearty meal. This will help avoid last minute fast food temptations when your child is late to soccer the list of errands seems endless. When you have something in the freezer, it's much easier to push aside the idea of spending money in a drive-thru.

What do you do to save time and money for your family when it comes to meals? Let us know!



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