10 Tips to Fight SKY HIGH Food Prices

See if your store has the bulk spices and seasonings purchased by weight. We have saved a ton using these! Don't buy a whole jar of little known spices for a recipe, you can measure out just what you need into a small plastic bag and it costs a fraction of the price. Pay .10 or .15 for 2 to 3 tsps of allspice or dry mustard instead of $3.50 for the can that sits in your spice rack forever.

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Buy substitute, such as food in season. Are you pregnant to crave for food that is not in season? Be aware of the regular price of items, so buy items when they are on sale and you use them. Put them in your freezer.

This may be off-topic but one for consideration:
This is how I write the date and time: YYYYMMDD.hhmm where YYYY is the year, MM is the month from 01 to 12, DD is the day from 01 to 31, a period or dot to separate the date from the time, hh is the military 24-hour time from 00 to 23, and mm is the minute. There is no need to write am or pm. Hence, Mar 30, 2011 6:55am PDT could be written as 20110330.0655 PDT. PDT or time in the time zone is optional. To put the day of the week, such as Wednesday, a hyphen followed by day number, 1 to 7, could be written at the end. 1 is Monday; 2, Tuesday; 7, Sunday. This would also show that the data is not a number but a text field. Hence, 20110330.0655-3 PDT.

I am not sure how many others do this, but I am very careful when shopping and checking off my list- I get the essentials first THEN the "extra" stuff, all while adding on my phone's calculator. I go in with say, $70 and make sure I don't go over. If I have to, I will put some stuff back. Of course I have some coupons and always get what's on sale if I can.

I would like to shop at BJs but we don't shop there enough to pay for the membership fee. Trader Joe's is pretty affordable too.

We switched from ground beef to ground turkey. We also grow our own veggies, have fruit trees, fruit plants, grape vines and chickens for eggs. I make enough so that we have leftovers for lunch the next day or another meal to freeze. Store brands are basicly the same and at a better price point. We live 15 miles from the store so I plan a shopping trip once every 2 weeks as much as possible to also save on gas. I am dreaming of a deep freeze so I can stock up more when things are on sale and get meat from the butcher that is fresher and usually cheaper in our area. A good place to get coupons that are not available in your area but accepted in your area is from www.thecouponmaster.com I also make a list so I can keep the budget in check.

Grow your own veggies if you can. O_O

Watch the meat counters for sale items they want to be rid of quick. I buy large packages of hamburger and make a meatloaf and burgers out of the rest and freeze them. Also check with your local store about quantity discounts on meat. My one store sells me chicken thighs for .69 to .99 lb if I buy 40 lbs. Plus I get chicken breasts for .99 to 1.69 lb for 40 lbs. I bag them in ziplocs or sealer bags and freeze them.

Shop at Aldi if there is one in your area. Half the cost of my other local stores.

Unconventional tips;

Do not regularly make recipes that require a little of this and a little of that.
1 recipe with carrots... uhm... the rest will go bad. Even if you promise to snack on them.

Buy fresh vegetables that are versatile. such as onions, bell peppers, & tomatoes.
making pot roast that requires celery and carrots? Plan on chicken soup or another recipe that will also require it.
1 head of lettuce can be used on hamburgers/sandwiches, shredded/cut for tacos and wraps and of course salad.
A dish that requires mushrooms? Forgo the bulk fresh and buy just the necessary 3. In the end, it's cheaper.

burritos or enchiladas that require monster tortillas? make wraps a few days later.
siften chicken tacos one day can be fajitas the next.

Yes, buy generic when you can, but stock up when they're on sale. Know your cheap meals and try and expand them.
we all know the stand bys of spaghettis, chilis and hot dogs. But for $5, you can throw down a mean meal of tortellini and alfredo sauce. for 8, you can add a nice salad. I forgo bread sticks because they come in larger packages.
Just the two of you for salad? Hit up the grocery store salad bar. Is it a wee more expensive?
Sure. But a lot less cheaper if you want cucumbers, tomatoes, nicer leaf lettuce or spinach.
onions, olives, bell peppers, all the snazzy stuff. Use "house dressing" at home.
The larger container of stuffing is a better choice over the boxes, because you can make 1 or more servings, not the whole box.
Fresh herbs.. freeze what is left over. snip it up, lay flat in a zip lock bag until frozen. you can then pull out small bits at a time.

"end of the month special" My grandma use to make this. Typically it was a can or two of chopped stewed tomatoes, elbow macaroni and left over meats and veggies. usually generous with cilantro. Learning to cook enough for minimal left-overs is the biggest money saver you can make. My kids still use small kid sized cups. it's 8 oz, little waste, and I know for sure they're getting the milk they need.

In addition if you have a large farmers market in your city it might be worth checking it out. I have cut $25+ a week from my grocery bill just by buying my produce and most meat at the farmers market.

Seconding yup03...ethnic markets are a great source of cheaper produce. Also, any shop that is cash only is likely to be less expensive as they don't have to offset processing fees...I buy most of my produce at a corner store in my neighborhood that does not accept credit cards, and save 25-50% off what I'd pay at Safeway.

as much as i do love target, they are still expensive when it comes to produce. for cheaper fresh produce try mexican markets. their selection is fresh and it's easy on the wallet. for example, yesterday i went grocery shopping at safeway. a bunch of cilnatro costs 99 cents as opposed to 3 bunches for 99 cents at the mexican market. i know people don't need 3 but theyll still honor the price if you get one. so your cilantro comes out to 33 cents compared to 99. come to think of it, everything is usually cheaper there. is there really such a thing as a "one stop shop"? i don't think so. not all markets have everything you need. i would suggest looking at a newspaper and mapping out your options.

Great article all the facts are there. Clearly shows how and where to save money which is what a recovery economy needs right now.

Don't forget to check out the end of the produce section with the "not so fresh" stuff. They are cheap and great for soups. All you have to do is a little extra chopping and peeling.

Great advice, but not new advice.....

Anybody got any unconventional tips?