Tips and Tricks for Trimming Your Family Budget

Lower Your Grocery Bills Without Cuponing

Shop Wisely for Groceries
Groceries and gasoline are my family's two largest expenses. Shopping wisely for groceries requires forethought and preparation at first, but quickly becomes habit. Use tags on the store shelves to help you compare products by cost per ounce. Different brand names and grocery stores can save you as much as eight to ten cents per ounce on the same products. However, it's important to check the nutrition information on food products when you price compare. It is no good saving money on a certain product if it's not nutritious for your family. Some stores have nutritional index tags on the shelves that show a score from one to one hundred. Fresh and frozen broccoli, score 100, while snacks such as ice cream can score as low as 3.

Stick to the grocery budget you've created. You've heard it before, and it may sound silly, but don't go shopping without making your grocery list at home. This keeps miscellaneous items and "impulse buys" out of your cart. Try not to shop for groceries on an empty stomach. That often leads to buying sugary snacks or extras, such as two or more types of cheese or dressings, when one will do. Use your cell phone's calculator function to compare per-ounce price on fresh items from the meat or fish counter. Sometimes, the fresh foods cost less than the prepackaged and preserved items, and they're better for you. 

Know the best places to shop. Comparing the price per ounce on products reveals little tricks that stores can play on you. The "One Dollar" store may be the best place to buy a certain item, but be wary; often the products are packaged in a slightly smaller size in these dollar discount stores. Big bulk stores also play similar tricks. Sometimes bulk items are not cheaper, and can often be more expensive than their counterparts at regular grocery stores. Don't waste gas traveling to specialty stores, if they aren't cheaper than your regular grocery store. Using these simple techniques during the past two years, my family has cut our grocery bill by roughly fifty percent.

Plan Your Errands, to Budget Gasoline
Don't waste time and mileage going across town to that one gas station that is four cents cheaper than the one near your house. At most you save 80 cents, and it's rarely worth the time and effort. You'll save much more on gas by planning your trips wisely, especially while shopping. Making that shopping list at home, and not being fooled into traveling to multiple stores will save you far more money on gas, than quibbling over a few cents. Between driving my son to daycare, work and shopping, I can save as much as ten dollars a day by planning the order of my "away missions" before I leave the house. Keep your tires properly inflated, use the air conditioner less, charge your electronics at home, and obey the speed limit to improve your fuel economy. Don't sit in drive-thru lines with the A/C blasting on a hot day. Go inside and get your food, instead of wasting gas in an idling car, while you wait for fresh fries or coffee. If you still want to save that couple of cents a gallon, look for a brand such as Sheetz, which offers a reward card. Sheetz's reward card is free and earns you three cents off of every gallon, as well as product discounts inside the store. 

Forgo Cable TV
With the amount of free content on the Internet, cable TV is more an extravagance than a need. Internet services such as Hulu can keep you up to date on your favorite shows; Network websites show a wide range of programming. Game systems such as PS3, Xbox, or Wii can stream the Internet, or Netflix right to your TV, Netflix has a huge array of programs for about a third of the cost of cable television. I buy bargain DVDs at stores such as Big Lots and WalMart every month. My family has a DVD collection numbering in the thousands, and we still spend only a fraction of the cost of cable TV per month.