When grocery shopping wait to get the grocery store sale paper in your mailbox on Wednesday. Shop on Wednesday and thursday for double or triple coupons. Plan your meals around sales and discounts.

Go to local fundraiser silent auctions bid on free milk for a year and items your family will use.

For babies 6+ months use the Help Yourself Feeding Solution you insert baby food containers direct no dirty bowls to wash — saves water! shop.markindustriesllc.com

So two things can help you save money on your groceries – one, eat less or no meat and two, learn to cook or do what I did and find a boyfriend who’s a chef .

Now we freak out over how much we spend on dairy products because it’s the only thing on our bill that ever goes over $5 for an individual item so we try to limit that as well.

There are SO many advantages for eating less meat and the last thing I want to do is start a debate in this forum, but trust me it will definitely save you money!!

What an amazing job you’ve done cutting down your grocery budget to $250. Feeding a family of four can really be expensive and you’ve really managed to live frugally. It also sounds like you are eating wholesome home cooked meals too. My wife makes some great waffles and pancakes and I really enjoy them once a week. We should take your suggestion and freeze some waffles and reheat them for the kids. Thanks for your suggestions.

Another thing I do is plan my menus around the meats that are on sale. I usually don’t pay more than $1.50/lb for meat ( I don’t by beef)) and no more than $3.00 for fish. Which is really easy if you just wait on the sales.

The biggest and most recent thing I’ve done to cut my grocery bill by $50/month (my family of 4 is down to 250/month in groceries) is to NOT buy “pre made” products.

So I stopped buying, pancake mix, and frozen waffles, and instant oatmeal, or pre-made cookies. I don’t even by canned soups for recipes. Those kinds of things can easily be made at home. and in the case of waffles just make a bunch on a Sunday and freeze them. Same with pancakes if you like.

Even for you cleaning products. I’ve found that if you have vinegar, baking soda, and laundry detergent you can clean anything. Just make your own mixture and put it in the empty cleaning prduct bottles that you don’t buy anymore.

Cutting out the ready made products really helps you cut your bill.

25% is a wonderful goal. Keep me posted on your progress so we can all share your savings tips.

I share similar feelings with coupons and thought they were a hassle as well. Also, I hate keeping people waiting in line. But, if it can help us keep our grocery bill under $500 a month it’s worth it.