Reduce Your Food Bills

Don't look the other way, we're in a recession, and now is the time to buckle down on your budget because maybe you've lost your job or maybe you're on the precipice of losing your job. Boeing will be laying off 10,000 people, and whatever my cheery supervisor says to me, I can't just sit idly and assume my job is safe.

Chainwhip and I have already added some money saving items to our list, which has been growing since almost half a year ago. We cut our free spending, pushed back our Hawaii vacation to next year, and pretty soon we'll be living cable-less and perhaps landline-less.

But one change that has taken me the most effort is reducing our food bill. I stopped buying breakfast at work which saves at least $15 a week, and Johnny stopped buying lunch around work. That means, every morning, instead of hashbrowns, eggs and bacon or hashbrowns, bacon and donut (and coffee), I bring oatmeal, an apple, yogurt and tea. That's good for my overweight coworkers who use to longingly berate my breakfast choices, but boy do I miss my morning pork fat.

I'm also clipping coupons and spending more time staring at those grocery store ads with teeny tiny photos of grocery items while simultaneously keeping a mental list of future meals and costs between stores. It's tough, but Tuesday night I had $130 of groceries in my cart but saved over $40 with sales, coupons, double coupons pushing my bill to under $100. Hooray! But I still think a $100 grocery store trip is expensive.

Here are some KKRRR tips on saving on your food bills...

* Cut the Starbucks. I know you love your latte. I know you're addicted to caffine. But there are alternatives to feed your addiction like drip your own coffee or brew some tea.

* Cook cook cook. Get off your lazy butt and bring your lunch and cook your dinner more often. Not only will you spend less, but you can control what goes into your gut.

* Eat less meat. This is a hard one for you carnivores, but meat is an expensive item, so if you cut down your intake to maybe once a day, then you'll save $$ plus you'll live a little greener. Eggs are a good source of inexpensive protein.

* Entertain by potluck. Sure you'd like to be the generous host who serves everyone a spectacular prime rib roast dinner, but if it's going to set you back hundreds, then maybe you can do that roast and ask others to bring sides.

* Buy on sale and stock up on staples when sales are hot. Plan your meals around the sale items and buy meat in larger quantities and freeze them in smaller portions. Last week I bought a bevy of oatmeal (since I've upped my intake substantially) because they had buy one get one free deals. Cha-ching.

* Pair down your organic food buys. The benefits of organic food is high, but sometimes it might not be worth the cost. Check out this MSNBC article (particularly the 2nd page) to see if you can return to conventionally farmed foods for some items.

* Buy generic. You love your Honey Nut Cheerios, but I've found something better, Mom's Best Natural Honey Nut Toasty O's. Try the other less expensive brands, and you can probably find something that meets or even exceeds your taste bud needs.

Do you have any money saving food bill tips? I'd love to save more.