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Yes, look for small ethnic markets. We have just discovered an Asian market tucked away across the street from our regular grocery store. Good prices and the husband and wife who own it are just too happy to explain what something is and how to prepare it. We have Indian and Hispanic markets not too far away and pretty much the same thing there. Scour the grocery store fliers and hook up with a friend if there is a limit on something that your want to stock up on that is on sale and return the favor for them.

I'm in Minneapolis. We do have a good number of ethnic markets, so I will absolutely check that out. We're pretty close to a farmer's market, which I guess I'll be buying a lot more produce at.

Great suggestion about cutting up our own meat. I do tend to buy everything all ready to go, and I know I pay for that. Reminds me that I should start buying block cheese instead of pre-shredded.

I really appreciate the suggestions!

Great suggestions above.

It's not too late to plant a few quick growing vegetables and herbs in your garden or pots. Cherry tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, zucchini, etc.

Incorporate more eggs, beans and grains into menus. Make a couple of vegetable quiches. Think or stir frys or casseroles that stretch the use of meats or go vegetarian several days a week. Beans and rice, scalloped potatoes with ham bits, cooked sausage, cut into slices and fried with peppers, onions and zucchini. Add tomatoes or sauce too if you'd like and serve over pasta. Make tacos with potato filling. Search out recipes for Indian food using chickpeas, potatoes, peas, cauliflower. Make simple, hearty, stewy soups with little or no meat, just good bases or homemeade stocks. Save your meat bones (ham, ribs, etc.) and roasted chicken carcasses to make stocks or soups. Buy turkey- almost always a great price even when NOT on sale. Cut it up and make several different dishes with it- fajitas, braises, stews, soups or poach the meat and remove from the bones for slicing, casseroles, lunches, salads, etc. Use the liquid it cooked in to make a soup or freeze for later use.

Cook from scratch- breads, beans, puddings, spaghetti or mainara sauce, add more beans/less meat to chili then serve it over macaroni to extend it further.

Don't be afriad to buy bruised, reduced price fruits. Clean and peel, cut out bruised areas and simmer with a little water and sugar for delicious fruit sauces or butters to top bread, french toast or hot cereal.

Hot cereals are very economical and nutritious. Buy day-old bread and toast it for sandwiches. Make macaroni or rice salads to extend vegetable ingredients.

One thing we do-- always and only buy meats on sale. Then instead of buying lunch meats at $4-6 dollars a pound, we'll roast pork or bake an extra chicken, simmer a corned beef, bake a ham, etc. and use the leftover meats for sandwiches and salads.

One more tip-- Go to the library and check out old cookbooks and old recipes from the Depression. Those ladies knew how to stretch a dollar.

I'm frugal, but follow a fairly low carb diet. If I don't eat enough eggs, dairy, meat or fish, my skin and hair looks terrible and I gain weight.

The bargains in the meat section are ground chuck and chicken thighs, which are usually around $2-3 a pound. Besides burgers, ground chuck can be used in chilis, stir fries with tofu, piccadillo, moussaka, stuffed cabbage, among many other dishes. Chicken thighs may be used for any baked chicken recipe requiring a cut-up chicken.

Other good inexpensive cuts: calves' liver, lamb shoulder blade chops (just as tasty and cooks as fast as rib or loin chops), veal shoulder blade chops, veal sweetbreads, veal brains, chicken livers, pork chops, ground lamb.

Forget most cereal except plain oatmeal.

Only buy cheese that's under $10/pound.

Finally, here's an interesting new food blog, about eating well at $50/week
http://www.fiftybucksaweek.com/

@Ortolan - I don't want to give up the meat either, but I know I'll need to scale back. Thanks for the food blog link. I've been collecting some great ones that focus on saving money, and I will check it out!

Shredded cheese is just one example of where you're paying extra for convenience. You pay a lot to have the convenience having things cut, shredded, sliced and bagged.

If your family eats a lot of bread and baked goods, you can save a ton of money by making your own. The price of flour went up a bit, but it's still nothing compared to buying bread or cakes at the store. As for cake mixes, yeah they seem like a bargain when they're a dollar, but you still have to add eggs, butter and liquid. All you're getting in the box is flour, sugar, leavening and flavor. And a bunch of preservatives. But you're not getting a dollar's worth of sugar and flour in there.

Another tip is to find a way to use every last bit of the more expensive ingredients -- like meats. Use the carcass to make a stock and then make soup or use it to flavor rice or noodle dishes.

Make friends with some farmers if there's a farmer's market nearby. There's always some produce that's a little bruised or ugly that they aren't going to be able to sell. Offer to buy it at a discount and then use it right way.

I think the best way to save money on food is to plan ahead very carefully. While it can be constraining, it is much more economical to plan meals, buy what you need for those meals, and stick to them rather than buying lots of things that end up getting thrown away. Also, living in new york, i don't know if this is the case in minneapolis, we have found that trader joe's is a life-saver. We buy five pounds of frozen chicken for $7.99 which lasts for a few weeks. While there are definitely some things that are expensive, if you seek out the deals there you can do really well. We spend about $50 a week on groceries for four adults, so that is not bad at all.

The freezer! We rarely eat a whole loaf of sliced bread, so half goes in the freezer. Leftovers (eating lasagna 4 days in a row is monotonous) can go in the freezer. Frozen veggies are super cheap and they go on sale pretty often.

I also clip coupons and shop at a supermarket that does the double value thing (up to $1.00). I look up store circulars online to see what's on sale and where. We have several large chain grocery stores all within the same distance so this makes sense.

There's also lots of recipes that are cheap to make. I found that making pizza from scratch is really inexpensive. Even buying store bought dough it comes to about $5 a pie with veggies and home made sauce. Mac and Cheese is also inexpensive to make when cheese is on sale. We also eat rice and beans and have a frequent burrito night (beans, leftover meat, salsa and whatever else we have on hand). It's also easy to stuff lots of inexpensive veggies, like yellow squash or bell peppers, into a meal to stretch it out.

I got laid off 2 1/2 months ago so I feel your pain. Our eating habits haven't really changed since we were poor to begin with. And I refuse to skimp on good ingredients. I'll forgo shoe shopping/cable before I eat crap.

Gingercookie, Amen. The freezer is the greatest bread box ever invented.

Oh, and someone mentioned it earlier but it deserves another mention: careful menu planning!

Ditto on saving vegetable scraps for amazing stock. Great suggestion.
Ditto on buying and grating your own cheese too. Super cost saver.

Another simple suggestion- Simple dinners.
Pasta and cannelini beans with a garlicky marinara sauce and lots of fresh basil or thyme.
Stuffed, baked potatoes. (chili, sauteed mushrooms and onions, broccoli and cheese, etc.)
Bean and potato burritos or enchiladas. Make salsa or sauce from scratch. (tastes better too)
Substitute ground beef or pork in recipes that call for pork loin or sirloin--
ex.: hamburger vegetable soup, hamburger stroganoff, pork lo mein, pork paprikash
Turn leftover into a frittata and serve with a salad and bread for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Serve "summer suppers". Pasta slald, corn on the cob, fresh bread and butter, sliced tomatoes, watermelon..... Enjoy the furits and vegetables of the season. Eat outdoors for a festive touch.

Add cooked chickpeas to tabouleh for a heartier salad.
Make bread pudding or rice pudding. Good for breakfast too.

BTW-- after soaking overnight, your slow cooker is awesome for cooking beans. Low energy user and doesn't heat up the kitchen. Good for soups too.

Buy those ripe bananas (and other clearance fruits), peel and freeze for later use. They are super in smoothies.

Make pancakes or waffles on the weekend for a breakfast treat. (Make extra and freeze) Just pop into the toaster or toaster oven for quick breakfasts.

Serve "summer suppers". Pasta slald, corn on the cob, fresh bread and butter, sliced tomatoes, watermelon..... Enjoy the furits and vegetables of the season. Eat outdoors for a festive touch.

heck ya! and it doesn't even FEEL frugal :D

Try and make friends with your local butcher,even if it's in a large grocery store.Explain that you need to start stretching your food dollars and ask the butcher for any money saving cuts or money savings tips.Look for beef roasts on sale and have the butcher grind it for hamburger,ask him to cut up the chicken thats on sale and find out when they normally mark down their meat.

@cyberroo and @joyyy - loved the suggestion of using eggs more often. I hadn't thought of that. Quiche, omelet, casseroles, etc. Of course.

Okay, I'm sold on cutting everything up myself! I'm always trying to save time, but now that money is an issue, I get it.

w. hodding carter is writing a series of columns about being frugal. i find them very entertaining. there was one column that had a lot of great ideas for cutting down your food bill. here's a link to the series: http://www.gourmet.com/profiles/w_hodding_carter/search?contributorName=W.%20Hodding%20Carter

My first post!
I have been very frugal since the day I had to start buying my own groceries. I have kind of challenged myself to stay as cheap as I can with my food budget yet still make tasty dishes. z
I have probably too many kitchen gadgets and appliances but I manage to make use of most of them. My favorite is my kitchenaid mixer. I have a meat grinding attachment and make my own hamburger and other ground meats. I can take a super cheap roast and make a boat load of hamburger that is 10x better than store bought. I make bread - not all the time, but when things get tight, sometimes I need to whip up a few loaves.
If you have a place you can buy bulk, stock up on spices, pasta, beans etc
I know living in NY this might be difficult - where I live we have a huge bulk section in our grocery store.
You can buy a lot of bulk things online.
I can a lot of things - it's fun for me and saves money. I live in a very farm centered community and there are farmers markets all over the place. Rumor has it that if you shop these - do so late in the day and on the last day. They don't want to bring that produce back home and are willing to sell it for cheap.

I just want to chime in to echo what PeanutButter said about shopping in your own cupboards--it is so easy to go grocery shopping every week and to bring more food into the house, that it can become impossible to use it all up before the next shopping trip. This is a lesson I've learned recently! I may not even need to go shopping at all, because I may already have a few meals at home just waiting to be made!

I second (or third, or fourth) the suggestions regarding making more from scratch. I'm big into bread and bread-products baking (loaves, English muffins, tortillas, etc.) and am recently starting to make more of my everyday staples from scratch, like yogurt. It's fun to me, plus I think anything I make myself is going to taste far and away better than anything I can buy, and it's at a fraction of the cost.
I was tied to my nightly fix of ice cream for a long time...until I started realizing how expensive that vice is. I'm now experimenting more with homemade dessert-y type things. Thick, rich, yummy pudding is now on the rotation quite regularly, again at a fraction of the cost of pre-packaged, additive-heavy grocery store items.

The Mennonite cookbook "More-With-Less" has been a life saver for me. Wholesome, frugal recipes that are good, with ideas for how to use leftovers.

PS - Whatever you do - do NOT watch Sandra Lee Money Saving Meals. Because then you'll be sick as well as strapped and no one deserves that! Besides, we know more than she does.

@mollykate678 - I already know a lot of the snack foods will need to go. Maybe I'll even learn to enjoy water. I doubt it, but...

@therealchiffonade - you'll be happy to know that I am not wasteful with food at all. I am very mindful to use everything. Leftovers have always been a big deal in my house. And I love my crock pot.

@Cantaloupe Alone - my husband and I seem to be of the few people in the workplace that actually brought our own lunches. I always made enough for dinner the night before so we could avoid paying outrageous prices for sub-par sandwiches. And quite frankly, my cooking is better than anything you'd find in a cafeteria!

Walmarts have a special section for discounted and discontinued foods. I recently bought 88 cans of sardines for $.20 per can. The usually sell for $1.00 a can. I also bought shredded wheat cereal and Honey Spins for $1.00 a box. Gourmet coffee goes for $2 to $3 a bag. The expiration dates were over a year away on these items. Turkey TV dinners are only $.99 at Walmart and they have less than 300 calories!

You can also find great food buys at the Dollar Stores ( DollarTree etc.) where everything is a dollar or less. Milk at Sams Club is usually $2.00 a gallon.

Fresh fruits and veggies get real cheap near the close of the day at local flea markets. Make a low ball offer and you may get a deal.

A baked potato and a bowl of chili is less than $2.50 at Wendy's and it is also a low calorie meal.

Make lots of cornbread as it's great and cheap to make. Don't throw out sour milk as it makes cornbread even better. Learn to enjoy grits as it's the cheapist cereal around and can be eaten at any meal. If you're ashamed to eat grits just say it's polenta.

Check your stores weekly circular to see what is on sale. Cut coupons and pair them with the sales. For instance, my favorite cereal at my local store runs over $3 for the small box. It goes on sale 2/$5 plus I usually have $1 coupon, so I am saving over $1 per box. When something is on sale like cereal, pasta, baking goods, red sauce, etc. buy lots and store in your pantry or basement. This way you will never be forced to pay full price. If you can grow your own veggies that will save money or buy at a local market.

Re: dried beans. Use a slow cooker if you have one. You don't have to soak the beans. Six hours on high for pinto and two hours on high for black worked for me.

p.s. about the shredded vs block cheese. most of the time, yes block is less expensive, but watch the sales closely. check your ounces, and sometimes you might get lucky and find the shredded is cheaper than the block.

my husband has been out of a job for a year now, We knew that sometimes eating cheap meant eating things that were terrible for you (mac and cheese, hot dogs, white rice) so we made a decision to do away with anything that we deemed "wants" like cable tv, cell phones (now have prepaid), eating out, long trips, So we could eat better. I make alot of eggplant dishes, its cheap but really hearty and i use it in place of meat many times. We eat vegetarian chili with lots of veggies, buy in bulk chicken leg quarters. Most of our money goes to fresh veggies and fruit but we have never been healthier and happier and surprisingly stress free.

Well, those are all great suggestions! I run a blog about living frugal on one income, and recipes are my favorite part, so I've had to become an expert in making wonderful things on a very low budget.

The suggestion of cutting down your drinks is a good one, but we love our juice here, so here's what we do: I take a half gallon of 100% juice, pour it in a gallon container, and add 4 cups of hot, brewed tea to it. You can use black, green, or your favorite herbal tea. You may think that this just waters down the juice(which it does) but the heat really enhances the taste of the fruit AND you get the benefits of drinking tea in every cup you have. In order to make this last, everyone starts off with a glass of juice for dinner and after that glass, if you're thirsty, you have to have water. Cranberry and Apple are our favorite juices to do this to.

Also, I've learned that my weekly meal planning has saved us tons of money. It helps me keep tabs of what's in my fridge, freezer and cupboards(you have to look at them before you even sit down to think about your plan), but it's helped me use up those odds and ends that may be hiding in the corners. Please take advantage of this.

Also, shopping at warehouse clubs is not needed if you live in an area with many grocery stores. They will always have competitive pricing that will knock the socks off any warehouse club price. Unless you have a big family, it's unnecessary to waste your money on those memberships. Paying attention to sales cycles of your favorite items will yield better results.

If you need any other ideas, please feel free to check out my blog: www.4hatsandfrugal.blogspot.com

@CATERPILLARGIRL - we actually did away with a lot of the extraneous items when my second child was born. And we live debt free. So food is really the only place to cut back. I'm not willing to give up the great food, either. But clearly I need to make some adjustments.

@wasliche & @hereandthe - I love the bulk bins at my local market. I'm actually a huge lover of trail mix (which is an upcoming blog post of mine.) It does help cut down on bad snacking, and also so much cheaper than buying it pre-made. Also great for oats, cornmeal, etc.

@amiyrah18 - I have to do weekly meal planning for sure. I'm way to anal not to! I sort of take "inventory" of what I have every Sunday morning and then start my list based on that. I will check out your blog, thanks!

The one thing I haven't seen a suggestion for is making your a lot of your condiments from scratch - salad dressings, bbq sauce, pickles, jam, salsa, mayo etc Of course they taste better that way too.

Eat a plant based diet - really. In season vegetables are so cheap - you don't need to buy much of them for most recipes. I just buy whatever is in season/on sale and make a dish based on that. I recently made a zucchini gratin that fed us for 3 or 4 meals (2 people) with one single zucchini and about about 6 potatoes.

Oh and other than beans and rice - eat lentils! They are so so cheap :)

I have not worked for 10 months now but, because I have such a well stocked pantry I only buy the odd fresh veggies, fruits and eggs. I have my own veggie and herb garden. I pride myself on having a pantry well stocked enough that I don’t have to leave my house for 6 months - yes, I did say 6 months and I live by myself.
In addition because of health concerns I have to make pretty much everything from scratch, I love my own pasta and again I almost never drink soda. I’ve always made my own bread, why pay 2 dollars for a loaf of bread when you can make a loaf for about 70 cents. One of my rules is to use everything, I keep the skins to yellow onions and peels of veggies, with the backs of chickens I end up with chicken stock to die for. Another rule is that I have to use everything at lease twice anything that is plastic and can sorta be used as a bag get’s used as one, paper towel if I can gets washed out dried and used again. I do these things more for the environment then to be cheap. I suggest anyone that can should start Now in creating a pantry and a chest freezer is really your friend. BTW I make the best graham crackers and to be honest crackers in general are not all that hard to make and they last forever.
With a very few exceptions I buy everything on sale and I scour every single store within a five mile radius of my home. At this point I know which markets have what on sale or at the best price and also since I’ve been doing this all of my adult life I pretty much know the sale cycles of canned goods. My rule is that I should strive to spend no more the 3 dollars a day for food. As another responder pointed out only Americans eat meat (and a lot of it) for every meal. Try looking at how other cultures eat and adapt the recipies. I almost never eat fast food and rarely go out to eat. Yea, I’ll treat myself every now and again, but it’s pretty rare.

I buy whole pieces of tenderloin, whole cases of chicken breast, etc, and cut them up myself. I spend a little more at the start, but in the long run, I end up saving tremendously, because it lasts a long time.
For instance, when on sale, I can get whole, boneless pork tenderloins for as low as $1.49 (I've already gotten them for as low as 99 cents a pound in January). I cut them into 3/4 inch boneless chops and small roasts. If I cut the whole piece into chops, I can get as many as 36 chops per tenderloin. The trick is to poke the fat - if it's hard, it's thick, and vice versa. Of course, I always buy the soft one - less to trim.
I've already landed a deal on boneless, skinless chicken breast - $1.49 for the entire case. The same day, I got boneless, skinless thighs for 99 cents a pound, by the case. I also buy round roasts (as low as $1.29/lb) and cut them into steaks.

I wrap in foil, then I exclusively use Ziploc freezer bags, but not the ones with the zipper tabs, the ones that you have to press shut. Wrapping in foil first keeps the bag clean, so I can re-use them. They're thick and strong, and can be used several times before the zipper wears out.

Theresa

I make my own yogurt and kombucha. I make Caspian Sea yogurt and kefir as they ferment at room temperature, no special heat gadgets required. Same with kombucha and flavored with fresh ginger. Drink it instead of soda or pop.

Also have a vegetarian night or day once a week.

Mark

Hi - I'm in Minneapolis too, and luckily have a job (again) but the majority of my friends are out of work. I live alone but love to cook - and find that the biggest waste comes from letting things GO to waste. My favorite money-savers are buying the "ends & pieces" bacon that comes in big blocks, then separating into small portions and freezing and just using crumbled cooked bacon to flavor and enhance most everything. And shopping for bargains at Trader Joe's. In particular, their goat cheese logs are great priced and obviously wine.

But general just being inventive and using everything instead of throwing out something that's gone bad because you never got around to using it.

Good luck, and try to enjoy having a "wife" at home to do the chores while you're working. I've been out of work since February, and my husband is trying to enjoy having me do all the chores. I used to say I needed a wife, now I am the housewife.

I second @Anneesha about letting food go to waste. Now, after go to the store I spend half an hour or so unpacking and washing everything and portioning all the groceries for the freezer. I spin dry and wash and pack the veggies and lettuces in tupperware with towels to keep them from rotting.

I inspect the veggies for brackish leaves and squishy spots and kinda sort everything by how long I think it'll last in the fridge. I find that often, the sale fruits/veg has a shorter shelf life.

I always wasted most of a celery head when I made soup since you only need one or two ribs and a carrot. Now, when celery is on sale (in Brooklyn last week it was half price (?!)), I buy a couple bundles and the giant bulk bin carrots, whirl it in the food processor til it's chopped fine. (You're welcome to do a fine dice on 2 heads of celery and 4 lbs of carrots, but I don't care about pretty) Then I'll sauté big pots of carrots and celery til soft and portion them into 1-2 cup portions for the freezer. When I want to make soup, stew, a roast, or beans, I add a chopped onion and voila, mirepoix was zero waste at a fraction of the cost and way less time. (I don't like frozen onions, and don't think it's worth the time saving.) Good luck and keep your chin up.

I just discovered this great idea tonight...I wanted good chinese food so I went down the street to my local chinese take out place, asked for a container of the sauce they put on sesame chicken. One cup only cost me $1! I steamed up rice, chicken and broccoli and added the sauce on top. Super cheap and tasted better than any sauce I could make!

Start thinking ethnic. Not only shopping at ethnic markets which are often overpriced at certain items but using meat and fish as small parts of the meal. I make a lot of Chinese stir fried dishes. Vegetables, some meat, rice and sauce. YUM. Also start rethinking what you eat as breakfast, lunch and dinner in the typical American way. Eggs can be dinner easily -- poached on vegetables, fritattas, etc. ( I think this was suggested earlier). Cereal with added vegetables and perhaps a slice or two of meat can be breakfast or dinner. (Chinese congee). Buy large, cut small and freeze.