Saving some green at the grocers

My husband and I stopped in at Kroger yesterday and bought just a very few groceries. I was expecting everything to cost about $30 max. NOT! Our few grocery items of fruit, coffee creamer, tortillia chips etc cost over $40!
I had noticed that it seems as if cheese (any kind) has gone up at least a $1, along with other dairy products such as milk, cream, even eggs! We’ve not noticed in our home the rising cost of rice or flour, but I am almost at the bottom of my 5 gal bucket of wheat flour and will be looking for a good deal on that soon!
One media outlet stated we are experiencing the worst food inflation in almost 20 years! Another suggests giving our children soda rather than milk because it’s cheaper!? (We’ve not bought any soda in months so I don’t even know the cost but I suggest you give children a much healthier choice – WATER…would save even more $$)
Food is not the only place we’re noticing a squeeze in our budget. I am sure you all have dreaded pulling into the gas station and filling up. Here in my town gas was $3.75 for a gallon of unleaded! Wowzers! But still gas is cheaper than a gallon a milk…go figure. I was surprised however that the average American spends more on groceries than on gasoline. Households spend an average of 13% on food but only 4% on gas. While we need to budget the gas and be frugal with our trips, I think it would be wise to find ways to cut our grocery bill as much as possible.
Seeing that we can’t just boycott food (although it would hurt some of us eh!?) here are some ways I’ve compiled to help us save some green at the grocery store.

1) See my previous post Quit wasting food as well as wastedfood.com to find a wealth of interesting and informative articles on this problem.

2) Grow a garden!

3) Buy local

4) Eat less…Drink more water. Most of us mistake thirst for hunger. So, next time you get that twinge of “hunger” drink a large glass of water. A good rule of thumb is to halve your weight and drink that in ounces. Say I weighed 130 lbs ;) 1/2 that to 65 lbs, so I should drink 65 oz of water a day.

5) Don’t forget to menu plan!

6) Make foods from scratch. Bread, muffins, cookies, ice cream, salad dressings etc.

7) Avoid processed foods, buy whole foods. Whole foods fill you up more and are better for you. Processed foods cost more per ounce than whole foods.

8.) Don’t eat out.

9) Skip aisles in the grocery store. You’d be surprised at how many aisles can be skipped in the store when you cut out processed foods! Flee the temptation to walk down aisles that do not have the food items you need.

and lastly

10) Budget and carry a caculator with you. Tally your purchases as you shop. Stay within your budget.       Occasionally stop, look through your buggy and ask yourself “Do I really NEED this?” We’ve returned       several items back to the shelf doing this.

There are a ton more ways to save at the grocery store but these are a few that I am partial to.