Food is the biggest regular expense for families, second only to rent or mortgage.
Jonni McCoy, of www.MiserlyMoms.com, says that food is the highest un-fixed item in our budget and it's where people can find hundreds of dollars in savings.
To save money at the supermarket, frugal living experts say:
DON't clip coupons, except for itms that you regularly use, and that are already on sale that week
DO make a weekly menu and a shopping list.
DO shop the perimeter of the grocery store where find the healthiest foods. You won't be tempted to buy items that your family doesn't need.
DO check your receipts carefully before you leave the store (or parking lot). MAke sure you are getting the sale prices as advertised.
More ideas:
* Cut back on juice, soda and bottled water. Instead, buy cool character sport water bottles for the kids and refill them at home.
* Shop dollar and big box discount stores for household cleaners and paper products.
* Resist cut-up vegetables and bag salads
* Pack school snacks into plastic bags yourself. Try to avoid the expensive prepackaged snacks.
* Buy generic store lables (It's Often it's the same product at a lower price.)
(excerpted, with revisions, from "Frugalizing Your Family" by Susan Flynn, published on Parenthood.com in February 2008)
