TIps For Stretching Your Gorcery Dollars

With gas prices going through the roof and the economy going down the tubes, it is becoming more difficult for families to spend money frivolously. Folks are really starting to look at how much prices have risen on everything nowadays. It's no different at the grocery store either. Between rising transportation costs to get the groceries to the store and the mark-ups store owners are having to place on products. Many folks are having to find unique ways too stretch their dollar. People who normally go out to eat for dinner or grab something quick at the fast food restaurants are now having to look at creating meals at home as well. Here are some tips for stretching your grocery dollars and still have restaurant quality meals.

I am assuming that some people reading this are relatively new to home cooking. If you're one of those people chances are you don't have the on hand item that are staples for any home kitchen. This little tidbit is especially for you. You do not have to buy name brand products all the time, especially with things that will be ingredients rather than prepared meals. Items like butter, cooking oil, flour, sugar, and other spices can be generic brand purchases. You will save big money here and that is the only difference you'll notice.

As a struggling freelance writer, my wife and I had a substantial loss in income. During my first few months we had to cut expenses everywhere. You can find ways to make meals out of low cost items, just keep in your mind that these cost cutting measures are temporary and you'll be fine. I kid you not, I made rice everyday one week for dinner. Rice with salsa, rice with canned chopped tomatoes, rice with beef bouillon, and the list goes on. The idea is to mix things up a bit.

Start using the internet for free recipes online. There are numerous site on the web for meal planning, the key is finding the ones generated to cheap meal planning. One site I found was The Hillbilly Housewife. They have great recipes and menu plans that you can adjust to your tastes. They have other inexpensive food preparation ideas as well. Just type in "inexpensive meal recipes" in your web browser and start looking. Find a few recipes you like, print them out, and jot down the ingredients. You can also check food packages for good family meal recipes. Soup cans are especially good for this.

Once you have retrieved your recipes, it's time to put a plan together. What I do is plan out the menu for the week. Leftovers from dinner are my lunch plans for the following day. Basically I just figure what I am making for dinner for the week and, looking at my recipes, figure out the ingredients I will need. I make out my grocery list for the menu and start looking through the cabinets and refrigerator to see what I have and don't have. Important note here is that you must write out all your ingredients. If you need one cup of oil for one recipe and a half cup for another, make sure you have or get enough oil to last both recipes.

After my ingredients are set, I also add what other staples we need like paper towels, toilet paper, toothpaste, soap, and other things we use everyday. I add these to my grocery list and it is done. If you are a coupon clipper, now would be a good time to compare your coupons to your list. Now that you have your menu for the week and your grocery list in place, it's time to go shopping.

When you are at the grocery store you must stick to your list. The whole idea is to save money, so sticking to your planned list is crucial. It's just too easy to pick up this small item that wasn't on the list or that pack of cookies. Before long you will have added ten things to your grocery cart and thirty extra dollars to your bill. Purchase generic staples and canned foods whenever possible. Some things you will have to use name brand products, but use your judgment and you will find that you can purchase more for less.

I hope this helps even in a small way. With prices going up on just about everything, we all need to find ways of stretching our dollars. You can eat well and not spend a fortune at the grocery store with proper meal planning and creating a grocery list. With a little research and time you can save extra money each week.