1. The fewer trips you take to the grocery store the better!
Having a store just down the street is convenient, but if I make little stops several times a week, I start soaring over my budget. Once I limited my trips to twice a month with a plan I kept the costs down.
2. Make a menu and grocery list and stick to it.
Don’t just go to the store and pull things off the shelfs. This will rack you up way over your budget. I use a blank sheet of paper with traced lines to make 30 different boxes for a month worth of menus. I work in two week segments.
3. Buy in bulk.
I buy 25 lbs of oats or other items and can save a few dollars hear and there which all adds up. When they are on sale, accumulate.
I completely agree with the idea of making menus. We go shopping once every week or two (we don’t have a lot of storage space for groceries at the moment… we hope to buy a large freezer some day so we can do more bulk shopping), and we’ve seen our grocery bill up to thirty dollars less when we plan our meals out.
I decided not to accumulate because it is sleeping money …
I do my shoping once a week and complete sometimes with a quick stop at the meat or vegi shop.
I don’t make my menues I just have an idea of what we need alltogether, and it allows me to invent a new recipe and be creative with the same ingredients I get every week or so.
At the moment, for example I will get leeks. Half of it will go in a soup that we will eat with fresh cooked bread and cheese.(sunday evenings) or followed by pancakes, waffles or crêpes) The other half I frye it in a pan and keep it for a leek tart(leks + eggs beaten up with milk + grated cheese + diced bacon on the top) served with carrot salad or beetroot.(it serves 5 adults)
I feel we eat quite differently from americans. We always trye to have a raw salad or vegetables…
It is interesting!