10 TIPS FOR MONEY-WISE MEALS: Trying to save money and still make great meals for your family?

10 TIPS FOR MONEY-WISE MEALS:  Trying to save money and still make great meals for your family?

 

1. Shop your pantry

If you're like me, you load up on chicken breasts, boxed stock and other staples when they're on sale. It's fun, thrifty and a chal­lenge to see what you can cook up with what you already have.

2. Go frozen

Fruits and vegetables are flash frozen at the peak of freshness, so you can buy them out of season for less. They taste great, too!

3. Shop on-line

Each time you enter a grocery store, you're tempted by impulse buys—a bag of cookies here, a box of crackers there, a pack of gum at the checkout—and suddenly you've spent an extra $10. Try grocery shopping on-line. You pay a few dollars more in service charges but save big by sticking to a list.

4. Shop bulk sections of health-food stores for grains, nuts, dried fruit and cereal.

You can buy as much as you want, and prices tend to be more rea­sonable because you're not pay­ing for brand names and flashy packaging.  I stock up on these essentials and then vacuum seal into mason jars to keep it fresh and my trips to a minimum.

5. Make your own 100-calorie packs

I love the idea of calorie control, but not the idea of paying for it. Instead, make your own 100-calorie packs when you get home from the store by separating cookies, chips, etc. into re-sealable plastic bags to toss into lunches.

6. Eat Your Leftovers

Wednesday night (or any night that you have a lot of leftovers on hand) is smorgasbord night, or whatever you want to call it. Haul what you have out of the fridge, and let the family make their own plates. Or take a sta­ple—like that leftover rice—and turn it into a fried rice dinner.

7. Know when organic is worth it

Stick to the "dirty dozen": peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nec­tarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, grapes, spinach, lettuce and potatoes. These items tend to be the most contaminated, so it's worth splurging.

8. Coupon, coupon, coupon

With this recession, couponing has come back with a vengeance. Believe it or not, 80 percent of the coupons used in grocery stores are still found in Sunday circu­lars. If a week's paper is particu­larly good, it can pay off to buy two copies—or ask a non-couponing neighbor for hers.  But don't forget that you can print at home too!  There are tons of printable coupons available here!!

9. Be loyal

For years, I didn't give the loyalty program at my local supermarket my actual information.  I fudged on the ad­dress; skipped the e-mail. No more. That's because now I know my shopping patterns are used to send me offers and coupons I'll actually use.

10. Make a list

Planning your week's meals before you hit the store saves money because you know exactly what you need to get through the week—no more, no less. Writing it down is the key to saving money.