One of the first steps I took to decrease my food budget was to plan my meals out ahead of time. This one step cut my food budget dramatically! I made a menu two weeks worth of meals, then when I shopped I bought only the foods I needed for those meals. We wasted a lot less food and saved money because we only bought what we were actually going to eat. No more running to the store at the last minute (Saving time!). A lot less throwing away of spoiled food (Saving money!).
A while later I tried to add using coupons to my routine. I would spend hours cutting out coupons that I thought I might want to use when I got to the store. I would end up saving a few dollars each trip and did not find the savings worth my time, so I stopped. Later on I heard about a couponing class at my church. I went and learned how to use coupons in a way that could save me more than enough money to make it worth my time. I started saving $100’s on my groceries each month. I was then able to build my stockpile. Now when I go to make my menu, I look at my stockpile and try to use mostly those items. This is important to take note of what is in your stockpile and be sure to use it.
There is no sense in buying something and then not using it. These days when I go to the store I usually only purchase perishable goods such as milk and produce for the week. I use the rest of my grocery budget to purchase any items that are at a stock-up point or I save it to use for stocking up on an item in the future.
