Grocery Shopping on the Cheap
I was checking out this website, AllRecipes, tonight after making their easy recipe for banana muffins (they turned out great, by the way) and clicked on a link about cutting grocery costs. These are all principles that I follow and they're practical and sustainable over a period of time.
* Shop the sale circulars before heading to stores (I always look at the online version). Plan out menus based on specials and in-season produce.
* Always make out a shopping list and stick to it. I use Publix's cool online list generator. It's fun and efficient.
* Clip coupons from newspapers, magazines and the Internet. I use coupons for products that I need that week for recipes, but mostly I save them and wait for them to go on sale and then use the coupon to maximize the savings.
* Stock up on frequently used items while they're on sale.
* Go through cabinets routinely to use up staples. This is a great place to start when you're planning a menu for the week. What do you already have on hand to use as a foundation for a recipe?