by Dan Blade

Created on: December 09, 2007   Last Updated: February 22, 2009

Inflation has increased everyday expenses and it has become harder to save your pennies. Unfortunately incomes don't increase as quickly as costs do and as a result household expenses keep going up.

Food is no exception, grocery bills continue to climb, yet you know you have to eat. As a result you may be wondering how to eat well and not clean out your wallet in the process.

The good news is you don't have to wipe out your savings account to keep your refrigerator full. Even though the price of food is consistently climbing, by using the following tips, you can still have a good meal and not leave the table hungry.

*Prepare your Meals at Home

Stop eating take out, carry out and fast food. These are good when you have no time, but are costly to your wallet and to your health. By preparing your meals at home you will save significant dollars.

You can buy the ingredients for several meals and it would cost you less than if you'd pay for an order of take-out or a restaurant meal.

*Savings Cards

Another way to help keep your pantry stocked frugally is to sign up are all your local grocery stores for their "member's card". They do track your purchases, but in exchange for information they lower the costs when you buy their specials.

Recently I saw a $124 grocery bill drop to $95 with the card alone! The tradeoff is you give up some information such as sharing your buying habits, so you will have to weigh this out.

*Weekly Ads

Frequently check the weekly circulars from your favorite stores. There are some great deals to be found, but the trick is to stick to a list and clip out any coupons of items you use.

Make sure you don't clip for the sake of clipping because you'll end up buying things you normally wouldn't and spend more. Be aware that some coupons are only a way to advertise the normal price of an item that you get using the member's card.

*Coupons and Special Sales

Coupons and special events are great ways to get deals. If you watch sales carefully it is entirely possible to obtain four boxes of name brand cereal, which normally cost over $3 each, for only $6.

*Buy in Bulk

If you are like me and eat a bowl of oatmeal every morning, try the big 40 oz containers instead of packets. They are the same price but you get 30 meals opposed to the 10 breakfasts you'll get from the packets; a bonus is you can create some new flavors.

Additionally if your favorite items happen to be on sale, be sure and stock up. There may be a limit on how many you can buy, but any extra quantity

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