I’m thinking of starting some new lines of posts.  Since today is Friday and frugalness is on my mind, I would like to share some tips on what we do to help save money on our grocery bill around here.  And I welcome your comments if you have anything to add.  I may even have some of my frugal friends work up a guest post here at Taracooks.com in the future.

We all are aware that our economy is struggling, and has been since 2008.  It was May of 2008 that my husband’s position was eliminated and it took him 18 months to find permanent employment.  I tell him often that is one experience I do not care to ever have to repeat.  We are still in recovery mode – anyone who has seen my mini van with the handles duct taped to the doors knows what I’m talking about.  We have been frugal out of necessity and I am sure many of the Taracooks.com readers are kindred spirits to us in this respect.

So today I want to share some ways I reduce our grocery bill and still try to maintain a healthy diet.  I welcome comments at the end of the post. And PLEASE let me know if you would like to work up your grocery saving methods and share here on a future frugal Friday.

PLAN – I always spend less money when I go to the grocery with a plan of action.  If I spend some time browsing the store ad’s online first and plan our meals around the meat sales, I save money.

PRESERVE – Summer is a busy time here, although home school is not in session.  I freeze, can, and preserve as much summer harvest as possible.  I also make a couple trips to KY to the Mennonite country.  If I can take a friend it is worth the hour drive and the gas to get fresh produce at a discount price.  And it makes a fun day trip too.

ALDI – I LOVE ALDI!  I make a couple trips a month to ALDI to stock up on staples I know we will use every week.  Eggs are often 29cents a dozen.  Real butter is the cheapest of all at ALDI as well as their NOT FROM CONCENTRATE ORANGE JUICE.  I also watch for their fresh blueberry sales in the summer months.  At 49-99 cents a pack, I can afford to buy in bulk and freeze a year’s supply for our morning shakes, blueberry waffles, and blueberry crumb pie!  I also bought a couple of flats of strawberries for 99 cents a quart pack and froze those for use throughout the next year. I can’t go pick the berries myself for the ALDI’s prices.

BAKE FROM SCRATCH – I love to make up my own mixes and seasonings from scratch.  This saves us money and is healthier.  The kids love my pancake/waffle mix which can be stored in the freezer and used a cup at a time for a small batch.  Home made ranch dressing mix is much cheaper than store bought.  I also love to make my own taco seasoning, pie crusts, and biscuits.  Pie crust and biscuits can be made in multiple batches and frozen for convienience cooking later.

So I’ve shared 3 ways I have found to save money at the grocery.  I am looking for more ways so please feel free to share your comments with us!  Happy Frugal Friday everyone!

Share on Facebook

Tags: Frugal, grocery budget, money saving