Has anyone here cut back on the amount of food they are eating at each meal as a way to save on the grocery budget? I've had to start being much more conscious of how many meals I can get out of a pot of stew or bowl of pasta. It certainly has helped my wallet and my waistline :-)

Just curious as to how many others have done the same thing.

We're not eating less in terms of getting full, but we are eating smarter, so we get satisfaction and nutrition with less empty calories and less mass.

Whole wheat pasta and brown rice are more filling than the white stuff.

Fresh vegetables are more filling than canned, and more nutritionally dense.

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We have cut down on the amount of junk food we buy to save money.

If you don't buy it, you can't eat it, so that has help our waistlines!

Like ruthie we have just cut back on some of the junk we buy like chips, and little debbie snacks.

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We do not deny ourselves anything, but I have learned to use less meat. I started doing this when I noticed I had too many meat leftovers that would sometimes be wasted. It just wasn't necessary for me to include so much meat in our daily dinners.

I started sectioning out meat into realistic portion sizes right when I buy it, so it's easy to grab exactly what we need from the freezer for dinner. It doesn't always yield leftovers, but nothing is wasted. There is usually leftover from another meal in the fridge, like pasta or stoup, so it hasn't been an issue.

I do still cook one large piece of meat, usually a chicken, each week, but I make sure to include the leftover meat in another dinner meal, once again not wasting any.

When I started doing these two things on a consistent, weekly basis, I saw a drop in our grocery bill because I buy less meat than I did before and we really don't notice the difference.

We also don't really buy snacky foods, but that's more from a health perspective. I can bake healthier snacks that cost less than the choices from the store.

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We have stopped buying most junk foods and sodas. I will buy my dh diet coke, but he has cut down on that alot lately. No I have not started eating less, but I am pregnant. Maybe after the baby is born, I will need it then!