Virtually eliminating convenience foods, mixes & snack foods.

No more sodas.

Buying bulk meats & freezing.

Making homemade, from scratch meals.

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"When we are no longer able to change a situation — we are challenged to change ourselves."
— Victor E. Frankl

Eating ahead of time
Going WITH a list
STICKING to the list
Buying our essentials in bulk

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Making a list; coupons; comparing all sale ads; only going to the store when needed; making double of dishes for freezer

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Attaining financial freedom is like eating an elephant . . . it takes one bite at a time.

My garden. It's not really big (3 rows about 40 ft long). I've been keeping track of what we use from the garden, and what it would cost if I had to buy it in the store: Tomatoes, peppers, onions, zucchini, pumpkins, potatoes, green and yellow beans, carrots. So far, we've saved about $300 on produce this summer. And there's still a lot out there!

I only buy the staples now, and make just about everything homemade. I have a scratch & dent store where I get my canned veggies, etc for .25 a can, but he said he was going to cut out most of his groceries. So, I'll have to find a new bargin elsewhere. I also shop the mark down isle in my stores.

I second everything everyone else said---My two biggies were staying out of the store---if I go I buy and not buying snack food/soda. We barely have any of it in the house anymore and if we do it was on super sale.

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"Families are like fudge... mostly sweet with a few nuts."
~Unknown~

Besides all that is mentioned.. I DO NOT bring my SO.. He makes my budget cry...

I use to do this but this year I changed things up a bit.

I write

4 meats
4 fruits
2 loaves of bread
4 bagels
etc, etc

and then I could go in any only buy what was on sale. Certain things (like milk) never went on sale so I just bought the least expensive brand I could find. I still make the list and stick to it but I just make the items on the list more generic than fixed. Then I come home and make a menu to eat what we bought.

I also buy almost everything on the outside aisles and rarely go in the middle except for pasta and rice, peanut butter, jam and coffee & tea.

No pop.
No canned veggies.
No soup.
No crackers.
No rice-a-roni or lipton side dishes.
No water. (we drink tap water)
No juice (other than 100% pure which is located in the sold section in the outside aisles.
No cookies (we make them)
No muffins or baked goods (we made them)
No syrup (we make it)

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Check ads. I'll go stock up when it's a good price on something that I use alot. I try to buy as much as we will use before it goes bad or it will be on sale again.

I buy meat in bulk and separate it all out at home, label and freeze it.

We buy frozen orange juice and mix it in a big orange juice container instead of buying pre-made orange juice ($2.50 vs. >$4).

I make a list of things on sale sorted by which store it is. I go through the list and put a star beside the items I have coupon for. At the end of the list I put in what we need that isn't on sale and we buy that from one of the the discount grocery stores in town.

Write down everything that is bought and keep a running total. This really helps me.

We rarely buy pop anymore unless it's a good sale or we happen to be in a convenience store and decide to treat ourselves.