Penny Pinching Ideas-Part 2

Here are my list of strategies that I'm going specifically going to try to get my grocery budget down.
-I intend to stretch my food budget by trying to do more with cheaper foods like beans, rice, pasta, and cheaper cuts of meat. When we were first married and had no money, we ate all sorts of cheap things like Ramen and frozen pizza and frozen french fries. We've of course evolved and usually eat chicken a couple of times a week which isn't exactly the cheapest thing to do. I catagorized all my recipes by protein source and really when I got down to it, I have a lot of meatless choices so we're going to be eating less chicken and pork and more meatless or beef entres. (My parents give us beef from their cattle so beef is basically free.)

-I think Kristi also suggested using the bread outlet stores. I'm going to start doing that and freezing the bread so I will get all my bread once a month or so. My aunt Sheree bakes all of her bread from scratch using her bread machine to do the kneading. (Not something I'm opposed to and something I may get around to; we'll see.)

-I'm going to do more stocking up on basic grocery items when they are on sale, especially aound the holidays. Due to limited pantry space and laziness, I usually buy canned vegetables, cereals, breads, etc. only when I am out and only a few at a time. But I think if I would be very deliberate about taking advantage of rock bottom sales, I could save money. Especially on soda. I'm not ready to give up my soda habit and I usually end up paying full price for soda. That's silly. It would be very easy to get it on sale. I also think that about household items like cleaning supplies and tolietries. Shopko and Walgreens often have rebates or special offers on this items and I think if I am intentional about stocking up during these sales, I can save money.

-I am going to create a price list of pantry staples to help me gauge sale prices. Often, I think sale prices are great steals and then think that I should stock up. But I find it so hard to remember what the "real price" of an item is and if I'm stocking up just because I think it's a good deal, that may not be a great strategy. Shopping at Walmart is especially tricky because they often post advertising that sticks out from the shelf, making it look like an item is on sale. But then when you look, it's the always low price.

-And lastly, I'm going to start the envelope and calculator method of shopping. (You know, where you get cash for the amount you have to spend and take only that cash with you into the store. And then you use your calculator to make sure you don't go over.) I hate shopping like that but I think it will help me decide if I really can afford to buy the ice cream bars or not. (I shopped like that when we were first married so it's not like I've never done it before. But in recent years, I have a grocery budget but didn't get too worried if I went over. )