Expense

- Plan meals around the weekly ads.
- Eat vegetarian meals at least a couple times a week. Dry beans are cheap, yo.
- Make planned-overs. (Double the dinner portions so you have lunch the next day for everyone)
- BountifulBaskets.org
- Local Farm Co-Op (yes, it's $450; but it's once a year and I get six months of fresh, local, organic fruits & veggies)

$250/month - 12 month average for family of 3.

Can't do vegetarian meals, gotta have my meat/fish everyday lol

If you absolutely can't live without meat... put a 1/4 lb of burger/ground turkey into that bean dish... teensy bit of meat = very long way.

This. Also mushrooms, to me anyway, have a "meaty" flavor to them and go great in pasta dishes if you want to skimp on the meat. Or large cut onions (a little undercooked) can sometimes give that texture.

Another trick that I use on my husband all the time is if you are using hamburger meat, cut it with ground turkey. The turkey is much cheaper and a bit healthier and tastes about the same, especially when mixed.

The first thing I bought for our house 10 years ago was a FULL SIZE REFRIGERATOR!!!!! I stock up when the meat is on sale. Our market will have Perdu Boneless Skinless Chicken breasts at $2.99 a lb once in a while (regular price is $5.49). I will buy whatever is in the bin when I am there and make a point to go every couple of days and buy them out. With me eating two breasts a day and DH eating 3-4 it is well worth it. I'm looking into getting back into Costco as I hear their prices are cheaper too! For the fruits and veggies we go with what is in season. I also rationalize that while my grocery bill is higher, we are not eating out. We can easily spend $30 for one meal. If we did that for two meals a day everyday we'd spend $420 just on lunch/dinner, way above what I spend in a week at the store. I also agree with the poster that I'm investing in my future self! I want to live a long healthy life and so I'm going to invest in that with good food instead of having to pony up the dough in my later years for meds!

I'm really lucky living in the valley in California, produce will not break the bank. Same with milk (I live about 35 mins from the u.s. largest dairy plant) and meats are reasonable too. It's still pretty expensive when crap food is dirt cheap.roman noodles etc. for lunch I usually have a peanut butter sandwich and some Greek yogurt and an apple. All total prolly costs around 3 bucks. Not bad. Considering before this, it would be like 5 bucks at McDonald's or some other fast food chain. And I feel a lot better after eating my lunch then I did eating that junk. Unfortunitly I am a terrible cook, lol but I can grill some chicken and corn and that's good enough haha

Well, we don't eat out like we used to ....... no fastfood places, and very little junkfood ...... the $$ we save now goes into food shopping & cooking at home. I shop the perimeter of the store first for veggies, meats and dairy. I look for sales, and if something is too expensive will substitute or do without ..... be flexible .....

When I'm cooking, I aim for smaller portions of protein & starch, and much larger portions of veggies ...... this time of year is great for veggies ...... the stores are loaded with more reasonable pricing ....... and farmers' markets are fun too ..... veggies are a priority for me ...... I get shaky if running low on them ROFL

During the winter, I buy all types of frozen veg to incorporate into soups, stews, and chili ....... batch cooking always make extras, either for other meals that week or to freeze for a later date.

Oh, and just before I go to the checkout, if within budget, I might break down & get a small icecream for hubby & some dark chocolate for me ..... all work & no play is just wrong :drinker:

I have drastically cut down the amount of money I spend by buying healthy stuff. However I found one of the best things to do is buy what you need and then use it.
I'll buy one bunch of kale or two big mushrooms and use them up before buying more. Maybe if you're good at meal planning you wouldn't have this problem but I love buying food and then forget I have it. Terrible habit. Now if I have an orange but want an apple for a snack, I just eat the orange and get an apple next time. I use the MFP tracker to see what I eat the most of and see how long it lasts.
(Obviously this wouldn't work as well if you have to travel a distance to a grocery store or only have time to go once every week/every couple of weeks).

I also buy from farmer's markets or check grocery flyers. I got tofu for .99 this week. Awesome! Time to stock up!

I bought a bunch of herb plants and now never spend money having to buy them.

Places where I've cut down-
buying packaged stuff- nuts, guac, etc. I buy bulk or ingredients to make my own.
I got an air popper and now make my own popcorn (anywhere from $1-$5 for the kernels and it lasts for so long! Even if you have some every night).
buying frozen stuff- I have a crappy fridge/freezer so stuff gets freezer burned easily if it's left too long. I limited what I buy and try to get stuff on sale (sales cycle). This is a good place to use coupons too! I also don't buy already prepared stuff unless it's for an occasion.

Meal Planning, meal planning, meal planning!!!

I literally get a blank calendar and write in what we will eat for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner and then, per week, I make a grocery list based on what is on the calendar.....and I don't buy unless that's what is on the plan for the week.

Cuts out impulse buying and you don't have to worry about food going to waste!!! I even make sure I have left overs!!

If you are not buying the junk, chips, candy, cookies, or whatever you are eating less of to get healthier then you will have more money for the healthier stuff.

We eat a lot of ground turkey (and I get the really lean stuff which is more $$), chicken, pork chops and some fish. We usually can keep our budget to around $100/week for a family of 4!!!

I just started doing the whole frozen veggies bc I love fresh. But it's working. I can hit Kroger or Tom Thumb and get them on sale and make it work. Meat I buy when it's on sale and stock up. I make my meals on Sunday for the week. I buy things like oatmeal in 2's so night when I don't want to cook I don't have to. It's cheaper to buy good solid groceries than to have all the health issues. Since i know Wednesdays is when new sale ads go out I go to those grocery stores I shop at websites and make my plans accordingly. It takes time to real fine tune your grocery bill. If you have a decently stocked kitchen it shouldn't be too bad.