Tag Archives: food prices

Five Little Grocery Shopping Tricks: Look Left and Right

When it comes to shopping for groceries, we need all of the help we can get. Rising prices and reduced coupon values make reducing your grocery bill by 70 percent a thing of the past. And those grocery stores have plenty of tricks up their sleeves to get you to buy the products they want you to buy and to buy as many of them as they need you to do. We’ve been going over the different strategies these stores use to grab your shopping dollar, Now here is a really sneaky one. Marketing research shows that when someone is … Continue reading →

Beware of the Shrink Ray

Packages of food in grocery stores are shrinking faster than anything these days. In fact, the practice has escalated so much that a common term has developed among consumers, the “shrink ray effect.” Some manufacturers are using this idea to their advantage. I spotted one message on a recent bottle of Kraft salad dressing that proclaimed, “Still no shrinkage.” Manufacturers are not only raising prices, but they are also shrinking the amount of product that gets put into the package. I’ll discuss the products I have most frequently seen that suffer from the shrink ray. Later, I’ll address some ideas … Continue reading →

Ways to Avoid Food Waste

One sure way to reduce the amount of money you spend on food is to avoid wasting any of it. The average American wastes up to 50 percent of the food that they buy. From half-eaten sandwiches and chicken nuggets left by the kids to lettuce that wilts and leftovers that turn into science experiments, chances are that you throw some food away every day. Think about your food bill and halve it or even quarter it if you are better than average. That is how much money you are throwing away. A $200 food bill could be reduced to … Continue reading →

Frugal Living Month in Review: June 2008

What a happy month is June, filled with the renewal of spring and the promise of summer. In the last month, we have shared so many ideas for frugal living and saving money. This past month has seen some pretty big increases in food, gas and other items (look for an upcoming post about strawberries increasing more than 100 percent). Now more than ever, it is important to save money where we can. This is why I decided to do a month in review. June 2nd Frugal Living Review: May 26th Through June 1st Garage sale shopping has got to … Continue reading →

Frugal Food Growing

Everyone knows that growing your own food can save you a lot of money, right? Well, in some cases, it may actually cost you money! That is right. You may find yourself spending more money than growing your own food saves. Here are some tips on really frugal food growing. Use the space you have. If you live in an apartment, see if you can grow some plants in containers on a porch or Windowsill rather than buying space in a community lot. Later, when you are experienced enough to get a huge yield from your garden, then go ahead … Continue reading →

Training the Frugal Palate

Are your taste buds sabotaging your budget? Sometimes our bodied are just used to expensive food even when it is not good tasting or good for you. I’ve been sharing one example of how you can change your palate to one that is better for your body and for your budget. When we last left off, I was talking about how much I was looking forward to eating a food that was a favorite a year and a half earlier. If you missed the first article, click here: The Frugal Palate Phenomena Let’s continue… You know what? I couldn’t stomach … Continue reading →

Frugal Living Week in Review: May 5th Through May 11th

Catch up on the latest tips and advice for frugal living! May 5th Frugal Cinco de Mayo Want to have a fun way to celebrate the day without spending a lot of money? Here are some fun ideas that you can use to celebrate today, Cinco de Mayo. Frugal Burgers The pleasant weather outside brings lots of great spring and summer food, especially food cooked on the grill. One of the favorite types of grill food is the hamburger. It used to be that hamburger in itself was frugal, but that is no longer the case. Exotic ingredients and fixings, … Continue reading →

Our Changing Grocery Prices

Have you had to adjust to rising food prices? Of course we all have. One thing that has to be adjusted is those price books. Trends in higher prices can make your price book obsolete, since grocery food prices are rising across the board. So how can you adjust? I have a frugal confession to make. I don’t actively keep a price book. Yes, I know that they are a way of monitoring prices. So how do I even know that food prices are rising when I don’t have anything to compare them to? Okay, I have another confession. I … Continue reading →

Frugal Living Week in Review: April 28th Through May 4th

With food and gas prices being so expensive, even the non frugal are becoming frugal. People are having a rude shock when they realize that their dollars aren’t going as far as they should. This is leading a huge interest in frugality and saving money. Living frugally is becoming a widespread necessity. That is why I hope that you can use and enjoy all of the great articles here in the Frugal Living Blog. Here are just the ones from last week, in a handy review. April 28th Frugal Living Week in Review: April 21st Through April 27th This week … Continue reading →

Three Ways an Organized Pantry Saves Money

One of the great pitfalls of frugal grocery shopping and stockpiling can be an unorganized pantry. Unfortunately, a pantry that suffers from disorganization can wind up costing your money instead of saving it. Here are three ways why it pays to take the time to organize your food. The biggest cost to your food budget can be food that expires or goes stale before you can use it. When this is the case, it doesn’t matter that you only spent 50 cents on a jar of pasta sauce if you never use it. One recent study suggests that Americans throw … Continue reading →