It never fails, we budget for our groceries, but the bill always ends up being more. We underestimate, run out of things faster than expected and overall, everything is becoming just too darned expensive! To make things a little bit easier, here are 9 simple ways you can start saving money on your groceries.

1. Go with a List: Yes, I know…it’s a pretty obvious suggestion, but it’s amazing how effective it can be. You can purchase only what you need and avoid all the other yummy distractions of the grocery store.

2. Meal Planning: Planning your meals in advance makes it easier to get your list together and ensure you buy only exactly what you need. You can get help with your meal planning at Dine Without Whine AND they actually put your grocery list together for you too.

3. Eat Before You Go: Another classic tip. If you’re hungry, you’ll want to buy (and instantly eat) everything! Have a meal or good snack before you go to avoid impulse purchases.

4. Stock Up on Staple Items When They’re On Sale: If you see ketchup or your family’s favorite sauce on sale, stock up. Or if it’s a certain type of soup or frozen vegetable your family eats all the time, buy a bunch of it. As long as it doesn’t spoil and you have space to store it, you will save money in the long run. The nice thing about this is if you continue to stock up on a variety of items, you’ll have a nice pantry full of food at any given time.

5. Cook from Scratch More Often: Yeah, yeah…it sounds easier said than done, but it doesn’t have to be too complicated. It’s no secret that pre-packaged items and convenience foods come at a premium price. They save you time in preparation, but they eat up your budget and let’s face it, time IS money. Plus, if you’re using Tip #2 and planning your meals, cooking from scratch more often is a whole lot easier.

6. Comparison Shop Before You Leave Home: No, I’m definitely not suggesting you go from store-to-store looking for the best deal. That takes too much time. Check the flyers that come to your door and see who is offering the best deals on what you actually need. If you don’t have any flyers at your door, visit the store website as they generally post flyers online.

7. Use Coupons Sparingly: Sure, coupons offer a great deal, but most coupons you’ll find are for items you don’t really need or use. Resist the urge to think, “Wow, that’s a good deal” and search for coupons based on items you need to purchase instead.

8. Keep the Little Ones At Home: If you have young children that want everything that they see, it’s easy to get into the trap of buying items you don’t need, treats that aren’t healthy and become victim to other grocery store distractions. Keep the kids at home with Daddy (it’s a good bonding opportunity) or a relative. You can even swap grocery store shopping times with your neighbor. Not only will you save money, but you’ll save your sanity too!

9. Make Quick Stops for Fresh Ingredients: This may not be easy if you’re on a tight schedule, but if you can work it in, it can save you a bundle. One of the biggest culprits in grocery budgets gone bad is spoiled food. If your fruits, veggies and other perishable items are always going bad, consider shopping for them more frequently, but in smaller quantities and restrain yourself from buying items you don’t need. If you have any teenaged kids, this would be a great chore for them too.

There you go – 9 ways to save on groceries. But in order to make these tips work, you really need to have a plan in place. You need to know what your family needs and what you’ll be eating. To make your meal planning a whole lot easier, sign up for you 1 ¢ no-risk trial at Dine Without Whine. You and your grocery budget will be glad you did.

This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

9 Simple Ways to Save Money on Your Groceries

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Can Planning Meals Save You Money?  You Bet!

OK….let’s see a show of hands.  How many of you know how much money you spend on groceries per month?

A recent unscientific survey conducted outside a grocery store in San Francisco offered some surprising results.  It doesn’t seem most people keep track of how much money they spend on groceries, because trips to the grocery store usually include non-food items such as health and beauty products, pet products, etc., and there are usually several trips per week.  Who scrutinizes receipts?  Do most of us go to the grocery store armed with a list of just the essentials?  The answer is a resounding “NO!”

Multiple trips to the grocery store almost always seem to include purchasing unnecessary items.  You have a coupon.  You see a new product that looks interesting.  You pick up two even though you only need one because there’s a sale, and never get around to using the second item.  A federal study conducted in the ‘90s estimated that the average family of four throws away about 120 pounds of food each month in waste – that’s about 1 pound a day per person.  Now where do you suppose some of those 120 pounds comes from?  From buying food items that are only half used, not used at all, and eventually go to waste…literally.

What does this mean to the average consumer?  Very simply, it means you are spending your hard-earned money on food items that you just aren’t using.  During these turbulent economic times, we can certainly learn how to avoid wasting some of our money by just following a few simple guidelines.  Here’s how, in a nutshell:

After several weeks, once you have mastered preparing the menu and shopping list, you will begin to see a pattern emerge.  You should be spending about the same amount each week.  If you follow these simple guidelines, you will be amazed at how much you can lower your grocery bill.

Planning meals in advance not only saves you money, but is also a more balanced, intelligent way of eating.  With careful planning, you will also only have to make one weekly trip to the dreaded grocery store!  By cutting out the spontaneous shopping trips, you will have more time to prepare the meals from the menu you devise.  Eating out and fast-food take-out can also be eliminated.  That’s not to say that eating out should totally be eliminated, but it should be something to look forward to, instead of a last-minute necessity.

By planning your dinners ahead of time, you eliminate multiple trips to the grocery store.  You have more time to spend with your family, in a time where less than half of American families eat dinner together.  Even if you play taxi often after work or school, you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing you have a meal plan, recipe, and ingredients when you get home.  Plan your meals!  De-stress your life!  Save money!  What’s not to like?

This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

Why Meal Planning is so Important During These Bad Economical Times

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Living Cookbook 2008 is the latest version of the award-winning recipe software from Radium Technologies.

Use Living Cookbook to organize recipes, plan meals, create menus, calculate nutrition information, create shopping lists, publish cookbooks, export, e-mail and much more.

The software is extraordinarily flexible and easy to use and Living Cookbook’s comprehensive help file, tutorials, demo videos and customer support will ensure that you can find and learn to use the features (more…)

This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

Living Cookbook 2008

Easy Meal Planning

Meal planning may sound intimidating at first, but it’s really not that hard.

The first thing you should do is to write down all of your family’s favorite dishes. This will be very handy when you just can’t think of anything for dinner

Next, grab the grocery ads. If you don’t get these in the mail or in your weekly newspaper, just jump online and visit your favorite grocery store’s website. Most grocery stores have their weekly ads listed right on their websites now, and some are even interactive (allowing you to create a printable shopping list – very cool!). Once you have your grocery ads in hand, scan them for sale items that can be used for this week’s meals.

Before you get to deep into your menu plan, you might want to look at your calendar for the week. If you have family or work activities that will keep you from getting home at a decent hour, you will want to plan very simple meals or even leftovers for those particular nights.

Next, you should take an inventory of the items in your fridge and pantry. Do you have any food that needs to be eaten right away? This is one of the greatest benefits of meal planning. You waste much less food because you only buy what you plan on using that week.

At this point, you should have an idea of what you want to cook for the week based on the grocery store ads, what you already have on hand, and your family’s activities for the week. Go ahead and write out the meals you plan on cooking for the week, and fill in your grocery list for the items you don’t have in hand.

All you have left to do at this point is to do the grocery shopping, post your menu on the fridge for all to see, and create your meals each day. The rest of your week should go much more smoothly now that you don’t have to worry about “what’s for dinner” at the end of each day. See how easy meal planning can be?

This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

How to Get Started Meal Planning

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It’s a simple worksheet that allows you to list breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks for each day of the week.  This is a great worksheet to post on the fridge so everyone knows what’s for dinner each day.

You can find the worksheet here:
http://www.healthymenumailer.com/ebooks/weekly-meal-plan.pdf

This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

Free Weekly Meal Plan Worksheet

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Groceries are a major expense for many families and individuals.  While this expense is necessary and will never be eliminated, there are many different strategies that can be used to save money at the grocery store.  By using a few of these simple techniques, you will find that you can save money on groceries while still getting the things that you need.

It is a simple fact that every time you go to the grocery store you will spend money.  Unless great self discipline is exercised, every trip will result in one or two unexpected purchases.  To cut down impulse spending at the grocery store, limit your trips to the store.  This solution sounds very simple and it is.  However, to be effective at cutting back on trips to the store, it is important to plan trips carefully.  Make a list and be sure to include all needed items on the list.  This will help to ensure that nothing is forgotten and that additional trips will not be needed to pick up items that were not purchased.

The second strategy to saving money at the grocery store is to make a list.  Having a list makes it easier to say no to unexpected purchases.  A list will focus the shopping trip and will result in fewer impulse buys.  Impulse purchases add up and the simple elimination of these items can save hundreds of dollars each year.

Grocery store ads can be a great money saving tool.  Consult your weekly ads before shopping trips.  Plan your weekly meals around items that are on sale.  If an item is on sale that you know you will need in the next several weeks, stock up while it is on sale.  By shopping sales and using these sales to plan meals and purchases, you can save valuable money without clipping coupons or sacrificing the items that you love.

Never go to the grocery store when you are hungry or rushed.   Go to the store when you will have time to evaluate purchases and needs.  Hunger will always result in many items purchased that are not needed.  When you are in a rush you will not have the time to evaluate prices and find the best deal.

Consider using store brands when possible.  Sometimes name brand products are a higher quality.  Other times you are only paying for the label.  Try a few store brand products and see if any will work for you.  These products can save you quite a bit of money without compromising quality.

There are many different methods that smart shoppers can use to save money at the grocery store.  Apply a few of these strategies into your shopping routine and start saving today.

This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

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This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

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“Eat it or it’ll go to waste” she’d always say.

“If it’ll go to waste, what did you cook it for”? was my thought, even as a young kid. “Isn’t there a way to figure out exactly how much you should cook?” I didn’t actually say that sentence out loud…I never was fond of the taste of soap. But, it only took my 8th grade math skills to figure out what grandma hadn’t been able to for decades.

The precise portions you feed your family is the basis of cooking on a budget. When you know exactly how much each person will eat, you’ll know how much to buy, and how much to cook, eliminating over-buying, over-cooking, wasting leftovers, or letting food spoil while in your possession.

The average cooked portion is 4 ounces protein, 3 ounces vegetable, 5 ounces starch per person. If your husband is a big eater, adjust upward. If your wife is petite like mine, adjust downward. But, with a digital scale and keen observation, perhaps a notebook, you’ll arrive at the quantifiable amount that everyone in your house eats.

Now, you can begin saving money at the grocery store, or using the money you’ve saved by buying more wholesome, exotic, or expensive ingredients because you know there will be little waste. You’ll also be helping the health of your family buy controlling the amount of food they eat.

In her everyday cooking, Grandma offered you more and more of what she prepared and she did it out of love for you. Today, when you’re cooking at home, the best way to show love to your family is by preparing a wholesome meal that is an appropriate amount for all to enjoy, while still being able to cook on a budget.

This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

Can’t Cook On a Budget? It’s Grandma’s Fault

This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

How To Organize Weekly Meals & Shopping List w/ Nutritionist Linda Miner – Goal #5

First, there is usually more than one place to do your grocery shopping every week. Even in the smallest burgs of America, you do have a choice. Grocery stores carry most of the standard food and non-food items, but prices vary from week to week. Wholesale clubs such as Sam’s Club, Costco and Gordon Foods sell food and non-food items in bulk packaging and are found in larger cities and metropolitan areas. These stores normally do not advertise sales, but typically accept manufacturers’ coupons. Convenience stores like Circle K and 7-11 are simply convenient to purchase one or two items and fill up with your favorite beverage while traveling or shopping. These types of stores do not offer sales on grocery items and charge more on standard grocery items. Then there is the online option. Yes, now more national retail chains are offering online shopping; they will either ship the grocery items or have them available for pick up if located nearby.

Knowing where to shop to save the most money on your weekly bill is the most important step. One does not have to buy groceries at the same place week after week and month after month. Even if you must travel a few miles, you may be able to save on your monthly food spending. Retail grocery chains such as Albertson’s, Kroger, Giant Eagle, Publix, Safeway, and others run an ad circular each week advertising select brands for a specific price; many also include their own brand items on sale as well. Check each circular for the items you buy the most and compare the prices. Buying only the items that you need and that are on sale will also save you money. It is important to know the price range for items you buy frequently, so you know which store is offering the best price.

Second, wholesale clubs can be more affordable on items that you use more often or specialty items. Canned food items including soups, beans, and drink mixes are sometimes cheaper to buy in bulk than at your traditional grocery store. When comparison-shopping, do not look at the ticket price alone. Wholesale clubs base their prices on volume (ounces or pounds), which can be found on the shelf price sticker. Compare the volume price to the weekly price at your grocery retailer over the course of a couple weeks since grocery chains vary their prices from week to week.

A comparison of several products between a Costco and Giant grocery store was conducted by AOL Money & Finance, which found many of the bulk products were much less expensive at the wholesale club.

Sample of products compared:

Tropicana Orange Juice, no pulp – Costco savings of $.60/quart Maxwell House coffee – Costco savings of $1.54/pound Fillippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Costco savings of $9.93/quart Nabisco Oreo Cookies – Costco savings of $1.55/pound

Be aware that the above savings are for volume pricing only, and these savings do not represent the actual prices. Your state may charge additional fees including sales tax on food or non-food items. Wholesale or warehouse clubs also charge an annual fee, which varies at each club.

When you join and shop at warehouse or wholesale clubs, jot down what you buy, the date purchased and the date the item was completely used or the packaging was thrown away. This will give you an idea how long the product lasts and the cost to replace it on a monthly basis.

Lastly, knowing when to shop or which week has the best sale items is crucial. Typically, retail grocery chains will charge more the first week of every month. Why? Through observation and experience, retailers know this is when most people get their paychecks and Food Stamps are uploaded the first ten days of the month; therefore, people are likely to spend more on groceries. The best time of the month is to shop the third to fourth week when people are running low on cash and need to get through the rest of the month until payday. Oftentimes grocery chains will offer their 10 for $10 sale, which sometimes are good deals. In addition, they are more likely to sell multiple quantities of the same product for a reduced price.

Get more and spend less when you know where to buy groceries, when to shop during the month and how to stretch your budget throughout the month.

This post provide courtesy of: My Weekly Menu Planner where you can find meal planning tips, recipes and more.

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