With all the talk about the run up in food prices, I thought I’d share a few thoughts on keeping your food bill down these days. I’m a firm believer that complaining about increasing prices will get you nowhere and do nothing to change the situation. Instead, you need to focus on things that you have control over and ways that you can change your situation. Here are a few of them:

1. Change What You Buy. There’s no law that says you have to continue buying the same things that you’ve always bought in the past. Prices haven’t gone up on everything these days. If dairy products have gone up, just purchase less of them and choose cheaper alternatives. If it’s the packaged foods that have gone up, make your own “hamburger helper”. It’s just ground beef, noodles, and seasonings anyway, a far cry from rocket science. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to return to some of the basics either. Rice is still cheap, as are beans. And take a look at the fruits and vegetables that are in season instead of buying just your favorite all year round.

2. Change How You Shop. If you’re one of those people that plans what you want to make during the week and then goes and buys the needed items, maybe you should change your approach. Instead, browse the grocery store circulars and find the loss leaders and other things that are on sale. When these items are cheap, stock up on them. Your meal choices then come from what you have on hand. It’s actually quite simple, but if you’re not used to doing things this way, it can take some getting used to. For example, I have an unofficial rule that I only buy meat (such as steaks, chicken, pork chops) that is $2 a pound and under. I buy what’s on special and that’s what we eat. Pretty simple.

3. Change The Quantity You Buy. There are two parts to this one. First of all, I’m sure most of us could stand to eat a little less. And eating less means you don’t have to buy as much. Secondly, many items can be purchased cheaper in bulk. Use your head with this one though; don’t buy pounds and pounds of perishable items that you’re going to end up throwing away. But you can buy pasta, rice, beans, can goods, etc. in large quantities and they’ll last a long time. You can even buy huge bottles of olive oil for much cheaper than the smaller ones and then just refill the little one. These are just some examples, but you get the idea.

The point here is to think about things that you can do to keep your food expenses in line instead of just complaining about rising food prices. I’m sure I’ve missed many other ideas, so feel free to share yours in the comments.

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