I’ve spent the last six months trying to find ways to reduce our grocery bill without sacrificing the quality of ingredients or healthiness of the menu. It’s been a fun challenge, and I am definitely still learning how to improve the nutritional value of our meals without spending any extra. Here’s a few things I’ve learned along the way.

1. Make meals with less ingredients. If you saute some chicken with frozen veggies, herbs and a little angel hair pasta, it is a lot less expensive than making a casserole with the chicken, veggies, noodles, herbs, canned soup, bread crumbs, and lots of cheese. On a health note, the first meal is also a lot more nutritious. Regardless, the less individual ingredients you need to use, the less you need to buy. That leads me to my next point.

2. Find a place to buy herbs and spices inexpensively, and make tasty meals using a lot of them for flavoring. I buy most all of my herbs and spices at Cost Plus (World Market), and they run from $0.89 to $1.39 for a small bag of them. They are typically very fresh, and the pre-mixed rubs are particulary tasty. I use these liberally on my meals to add a lot of flavor because I can get them so inexpensively and they are so effective.

3. Make your meals from scratch. This tip can scare a lot of women out there. They think, “From scratch! That’s too much time and work.” Let me tell you, you can make a lot of meals from scratch very quickly and easily. One of the keys is making meals with a lot of fresh produce. While you’re cooking your protein, slice and dice your produce to add to the meal. Zucchini is cheap right now, as well as jicama. Use the first raw with the main dish, with some couscous, lime juice and olive oil, or sauteed with garlic, parsley and olive oil. Slice up the jicama and use in a salad or like a carrot stick.

4. Plan your meals, but be flexible. I spend the day or two before I go grocery shopping planning my meals for the week. I pick my meals, write out the ingredients I need and make sure to check for what I already have in my pantry. This helps me be prepared for my trip and saves a lot of money, but I have learned to be flexible to what’s on sale (or not for that matter). For example, this last time I went shopping, I was going to make oven roasted chicken breasts with a roasted red pepper sauce and almonds, but when I saw the prices of the almonds and red peppers right now, I decided to switch game plans and make the chicken with a basil pesto. It turned out to save me about $2 and allowed my to buy the extra loaf of organic Orowheat bread that was on an amazing sale.

5. Shop multiple stores if it will save you money. I love to shop multiple stores. I am a huge bargain shopper, but sometimes I disappoint myself. Two days ago, I was shopping and went to four different stores. The first two stores where close together, as were the second two, so I didn’t waste money driving in too many directions. I started at Target to get the best deals on crackers, cat litter, and my household items. Then, I went to Nob Hill. I stopped here to get a few grocery items that I thought would be cheaper here. I went on to Whole Foods and Trader Joes to get my produce, meat, bread, pasta, and dairy. Here’s the kicker! When in Whole Foods, I walked around to see the costs of the items I bought at Nob Hill, and I found all of them for cheaper at Whole Foods! I was astonished because I thought it was so much more expensive to shop primarily at Whole Foods. Well, I was sorely wrong, and the items at Whole Foods would have been healthier too. I will have to remember that next time I shop. However, the point is that I wasted money going to an extra store, so it is not always the best idea to spread yourself so thin.

Does anyone have any good ideas for saving even more on grocery bills? Please, if you do, give us some input! Happy Friday!

~Jenny