Money saving ideas!

Wow, it has been forever since I have posted on here! I have many new recipes for cheap meals to post on here very soon! I have some great money saving ways to lower your grocery budget!

1. DON'T BUY BAGGED SALAD! We all know that buying premade salad in a bag is just convenient, I myself have fallen into the trap. The problem is, while it is the perfect mix of what you want in a salad, they greens wilt faster than you can eat all of it many times. At the beginning of the week I make a "salad bag," it lasts waaayyy longer than the bags at the store and stays fresher. You just buy what you want to put in, lettuce, cucumbers, etc. and throw them all in the bag. That way you have it ready for meals during the week or to take to work for lunches. It really does save on costs in the long run, just make sure you buy ingredients that are on sale and not too ripe.

2. MEAL PLAN!!! I do this to a T! Before I go grocery shopping I sit down with adds and see what's on sale, mainly meat sales. I will plan 2 weeks of meals, writing down their ingredients and what sides I would like to have with them. Than I go through my cabinets and circle everything I don't already have on the list of meals. That way I have a list when I go to the store and I don't stray from it!

3. DOUBLE UP ON MEALS: This is something that follows right along with meal planning. For example, I made a crockpot chicken meal the other night with veggies that used a whole chicken (great for a cheap meal, you can get one for $4). There is a ton of chicken left over when you make this meal so the next night I made a huge delicious batch of spicy chicken soup (which hubby LOVES) and used the leftover chicken. The soup makes a huge pot so we had it for the next 2 nights. I spent maybe $7 for 3 nights of meals because I did this.

4. COUPONS: I love coupons... BUT, BE CAREFUL!!!! Coupons are great, unfortunately, many times you can spend more using them. Check the sales and see if when you use the coupon you are getting it cheaper than the store brand. Some people are die hard brand name users, I used to be as well until I stepped out of the box and tried the Food Club Brand, now I won't go back to the other unless it's cheaper! If you look at the manufacturer, many times they are the same. Also, just to throw this out there, A member of our financial peace class took her family to the Mayfield Dairy farm for a tour. While she was there they were bottling Walmart Great Value brand milk. The lady guiding the tour said that they bottle it in a different jug and the cows that drink that milk eat regular hay from a pasture so they have to send it through an extra machine to get the taste of wild onions out. Ummmm... I don't know about you, but I think I would prefer my milk cows to eat a natural diet.... Okay, so back to the coupon thing... haha I have quit buying the newspaper and started clipping online. Great websites are; coupons.com, redplum.com freeflys.com afullcup.com and make sure you subscribe for offers from P&G brandsavers and other commonly used brands in your household! Good Luck!!! :)

So these are just a few tips... More to come along with some delicious and cheap recipes!