I really hate wasting food. Not only is it like throwing money in the trash, it also makes me feel incredibly ungrateful for what I have. Like you, I’ve seen many images in the past few weeks of Haitians enduring starvation after they’ve been through trauma after trauma. It makes me cringe when I think of how much I take my fully stocked pantry for granted.
For my final five tips for saving money on groceries I have compiled a list that I hope will provide some extra money in your budget and keep you and I from having excess food on our shelves that spoil.

1. Stockpile your savings. And then eat them. I use my garage as my secondary pantry. We’ve installed wonderful shelves in the garage where I store extra food and supplies. I stockpile deals that I can’t pass up and then I have my own mini store in my garage that I can shop from. For example, canned vegetables were on sale for 2 for $1 recently.

2. Carefully compare Costco costs. Costco is usually cheaper than paying full price for items at the grocery store. However, it’s almost always cheaper to buy grocery store sale items than to shop at the warehouse giants. Everyone knows it’s hard to escape Sam’s or Costco for under $100, and I’ll be the first to admit that it’s easier to buy items in bulk than to shop smart and save. I recently did an experiment where I banned myself from Costco for a month. I found that it was easier to get by without those monster-sized cases of tomato sauce than I imagined. As an added bonus my monthly food bill went down, too.

3. Cook with easy recipes only. Not only does it save you time it really does save you money, too. Really it’s quite logical – if your recipes require fewer ingredients you need to buy fewer things to make dinner (saving money) and it also requires fewer steps (saving time). I love watching “Five Ingredient Fix” on the Food Network because it gives you lots of great recipes that are fast, cheap and healthy. What more can a busy gal on a budget ask for?

4. Buy less and shop more often. It’s a simple supply and demand principle from Econ 101. If you have more demand than supply you’ll always be fiscally sound. I try not to stock up too much on perishables but instead replenish my fridge every five to seven days. I find we waste a whole lot less and it forces my kids to find other things to eat than the easy go-to items.

5. Have Plan B on ice. We’ve all had those days where we our best-laid plans don’t work out quite the way we intended. We’re all starving and worn out and it seems to be easier to just eat out. Instead of hitting a drive-thru or ordering pizza it’s always great to have a backup plan ready in the wings. I try to find items that can be cooked from a frozen state or prepared quickly out of the pantry. It doesn’t have to unhealthy either. Instead of frozen chicken nuggets there’s always pre-made soups or raviolis.

There are lots of quick meals that can still be healthy. I write down a substitute meal on my dry-erase board and use it as needed. I also keep a printed list on my fridge of quick and easy meal ideas. (Here’s mine from a previously blog entry – http://3girlsandapug.com/2009/05/01/foodie-fridays-29-quick-and-easy-week-night-meals/ )

Question: What do you do to save money on your grocery budget?