Frugal Eating

Our family isn't exactly frugal with our eating. This can be seen by our grocery bill and unfortunately some of our waistlines. Ugh! I really would like to think that we are more frugal than some people. While I don't want to blame my husband entirely, he has some expensive tastes and goes through chips and snacks fast. As a mom, I also easily give in to my children's wants. I have noticed my older daughter has pretty good portion control, so no complaints there!! My younger daughter is picky, which is another way of saying she doesn't eat a large variety of foods. All of that to say, we don't have this eating thing down perfect.

What we do well over many of our peers, is that we watch for sales on foods we normally buy and use coupons when we can. Although, I've noticed there are not many coupons for fruit and veggies, but they do go on sale and are less expensive in season.

We make a list when we go grocery shopping. This means we make fewer trips to the store, which saves time and money, but also keeps us  from buying too many extras. Yes, extras do pop into the cart at times. Darn extras!

The one thing that helps the extra spending on food is that I make a point to make sure we eat what we purchased with as little waste as possible. This involves looking in the cupboards and fridge before we go shopping and while we are making our meal plan. For example this week, I chose to make tacos since I noticed we had a full container of sour cream. We need to use that up. We also had tomatoes, shredded cheese and refried beans already on hand. I plan to eat a salmon filet that has been in the freezer awhile. I will probably eat it for lunch since there is only one. I might make a salad to use up carrots and lettuce we will have leftover from tacos.

I have my eye on some applesauce, margarine, and ripe bananas that need to be used up this week. We'll see what I can come up with. Banana bread is a strong possibility!

Do you make a conscious effort to eat things up in your fridge and cupboards as a way of being frugal with the things you have already purchased? Do you have anything you can make an effort to use up this week before it expires or use instead of buying more at the store?