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Many families haven't lived through a time when saving money in one area such as groceries, means they can pay another bill. Thankfully though, today, saving money on a weekly shopping trip doesn't mean you and your family will need to spend your Sundays clipping coupons and eating only hot dogs. Coupons, while useful at one time, have become not only the old fashioned method of saving money, but with so many free ways to save money, they aren't worth the cost of the newspaper you receive them in.

Creating a Budget

Creating and sticking with a budget is incredibly important to saving money. Start by saving receipts for previous grocery store trips and figure out what the weekly average your family spends each week. Are there multiple trips for little things like chips? Is there a giant shopping trip each week and how much of that does your family throw away? Set a realistic food budget. It's important to be realistic as if you have a family of four and you only set it to $100.00 dollars a week, it's simply setting your budget up to fail. When you create your list, ask everyone what they would like, find compromises and take the entire week into consideration.

Shopping Around and Research

It seems logical to say to shop around for everything when one needs to spend a substantial amount of their paycheck, but how often do any of us do this when it comes to grocery shopping? Before setting out to your favorite grocery stores, ask yourself if the store you shop at is really the cheapest in your area. Visit the websites and sales papers of various stores in your neighborhood to ensure you are getting the best deal on the foods you need to purchase. When something you and your family use frequently goes on sale, purchase extra. Make sure it's something you actually need though. Many stores have sales like ten Hamburger Helpers for ten dollars, but how many of those will go in the trash after they expire? Don't purchase items just because they are on sale unless you are sure you can and will use them.

Planning, Cooking and Freezing

The downfall of saving on groceries for many families is that they simply rely on quick foods instead of cooking meals themselves. For example, the cost of one loaf of store brand bread has skyrocketed around the nation but by purchasing the ingredients to bake bread at home, you can get multiple loaves for roughly the same price as one loaf! Yes, cooking takes time, but when you plan it can be just as quick as purchasing a microwavable meal!

Planning from week to week not only keeps cost down, but allows you to cook in advance. Make it a family project to get great meal ideas for the week and write down the ingredients on the grocery list. Do your shopping on Saturday, and your cooking on Sunday. By knowing in advance what you are going to eat and when, you can cook meals on Sunday, freeze them, and then reheat them on the day your family chose to eat it. If there are leftovers, be sure to refreeze those so they can be portioned out for lunches or other dinners.

Finally, enforce portion control and the rules you have laid down for you and your family. If there is that one person who continually snacks and runs to the grocery store for more chips and cake, make sure they have ample amounts of items already in the house. While it seems like a big undertaking, these simple steps can not only save a family hundreds of dollars on food each month, but can also teach money discipline to children, healthy eating habits and can create a less stressful situation when the bills come due each week!

Learn more about this author, Marie J Kelley.
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