by Sage Taylor Richardson

Created on: August 08, 2008   Last Updated: August 22, 2008

First tip to help you save money on groceries: Don't eat.

I'm just kidding. Living beings, including humans, have to eat. It's a crucial part of the living being package. Unfortunately our convenient North American style of hunting and gathering' has also made it convenient to consume much more fuel than we need to survive, convenient to feed our bodies with the wrong kinds of fuel, and convenient to spend a lot of money doing it. With belts tightening (no pun intended) across the country due to rising costs of gasoline and heating oil, the mortgage crisis and inflation, many find it difficult to make ends meet.

Ultimately the process begins with a reasonable budget parameter that you and your family can work within. Determining how much money you can afford to spend on food weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly without using credit cards or taking away from other important categories (like rent or mortgage payments) will help you get moving in the right direction to cut grocery costs.

Marketers of brand names employ countless tricks to lure unsuspecting shoppers to temptation. Bright colors and eye-catching logos, prominent placement on shelves at eye level, famous faces, appeals to parental guilt complexes and what's cool in the eyes of teens and the latest gourmet and diet fads all work subconsciously to make you spend your money on their products.

To help you resist temptation, be faithful to make a list of essential items and put treats and nonessentials at the bottom. If there's budget money left over after the essentials are purchased, then a treat or two is in order. Trust me, you'll enjoy those Lindt bars tremendously when you save them for special rather than gorging on most of them halfway home because the creep in front of you cut you off in traffic and now you're mad

Coupons are handy to help save money, as long as you don't go overboard. Check your local newspapers or other resources for coupons for any of the items you truly need or want for that week. You won't save money if you buy items that aren't needed in the foreseeable future, based on coupon deals. Compare the price of the item minus the coupon deduction against other brands that may be on sale or the store brand of the same item. Buy the lowest price per unit. Sometimes what looks like a deal really isn't.

Calculate your expenses as you go and don't be afraid to put things back on the shelf that you grabbed in a moment of delirium if your costs start climbing past your budget allocation.
Purchase non-perishable or freezable items in bulk and cook from scratch rather than grabbing that six-carton package of macaroni and cheese and those handy boxes of frozen pizza. Instead, dig Aunt Clara's recipe box out from under that fondue kit you never use and have fun experimenting in the kitchen. The rewards of making meals from a variety of wholesome ingredients versus the preservative-laden fare you'll find on most grocery store shelves not only include saving money but will contribute to a healthier lifestyle altogether. And you can pretend to be Rachael Ray or Wolfgang Puck and play out your own television cooking show fantasies in the privacy of your home.

Support local food cooperatives and farmer's markets. The nutritional value of local home grown organic food benefits your own and your family's health and encourages sustainable living right in your community. Maybe next season you can try growing your own garden vegetables! And then there's canning and freeze drying, and before you know it, you'll only need to make trips to the grocery store one in awhile when a chocolate frenzy hits at 9 pm during a raging blizzard and your secret stash of Lindt is inexplicably depleted.

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