Can you share your tried and true methods to saving money on

When you say dh won't eat certain brands of canned stuff, is that negotiable? There are only two brands of canned red kidney beans that I like in a salad, but I'll buy the other brands and use them in cooking (for example, chilli), where I can't taste the difference...

I'd say getting rid of the extra dinner guests would help too...lol Maybe cut back to one night a week for friend's over?

From sample week you gave, I'd say you could make some savings with the tacos... Mix in some beans so you only use half the amount of meat, instead of buying the kits buy taco seasoning (or mix your own) and the shells separately... Make the rice from scratch, and the salsa too... You can make and jar salsa or make and eat it fresh... I've switched from taco shells to tostadas because I can get them cheaper... Taste just as good and you can still add the toppings you want, just flat...lol (They're also great topped with beans, cheese, a poached egg, and some salsa...) I find that tacos can be more expensive than I think because of the cheese and sour cream... I think watching prices there (and with the meat), would probably have the most impact... Buy blocks of cheese, shred it, then freeze it...

Garlic bread is easy to make... Either with butter and minced garlic and parsley, or with roasted garlic on top...

The deli pizzas at the shops near me are always the same or more expensive than frozen... I stock up on the frozen brand I like, and it's more convenient (no stop at the store), and just as good... Buy the cheapest 'flavour' too - I buy cheese and pepperoni, knowing that I have onion, peppers, etc, at home I can add on... Watch for sales at pizza places too... I once got a coupon for two jumbo party sized pizzas... An insane amount of pizza that worked out to be three times the slices for the same price as the frozen ones on sale... I bought the pizzas, wrapped slices up in pairs, and froze them...

I love homemade mac and cheese, but it's another one that can be expensive if you don't get the cheese on sale... I'll buy a block of old cheddar on sale, shred it, and freeze it in the amount called for in the recipe...

I think the biggest down side for me was that when you make/prep everything from scratch, it feels like you're always cooking... I started doubling up when I made stuff that I knew would freeze and reheat well... So when I would make mac and cheese, I'd make two pans... Both go in the oven at the same time, one gets eaten and the other gets frozen...

I hope your dh is open to some new things... It's hard with kids and their developing taste buds, but if your dh isn't 'in it' with you it'll feel a lot harder... Any time he's willing to say that he's open to trying a different brand, take him up on the offer... And if he says it's okay, not great - then mark that one down as a brand that can get used in stuff where the taste is somewhat hidden...

Try to match your menu with what is already on sale

I use to do the half whole milk half powdered milk and you really cant tell a difference at least with my dried milk from the LDS cannery.
i have a friend who buys whole milk and mixes it with half water.
Sabrina, I would love to hear whats on your meal rotation.
on my way to church.
jen

Consider a Sam's or Costco membership. I buy lots of our groceries there. You need to be disciplined and not give in to impulse purchases.

Their rotisserie chicken is 4.99. DH and I get at least 3 meals out of it. I cut it up for soups, chicken & dumplings, sandwiches, etc.

I save enough on just the granola bars DH likes (over the cost at Walmart) to pay our membership.

Good luck! BTDT.

Grow and raise your own food if you can. Granted we have 2 acres, but you can grow a LOT of food in containers on a small deck if you need too. Most people I know that garden are wrapping up their garden now and putting it to sleep. But you can garden for much more of the year if you plan on it. Look up Elliot Coleman's Winter Gardening book. We live in a mild enough climate that I can keep most root veggies in the garden most of the winter. We keep winter squash, potatoes and onions in our cellar. I can a ton of stuff and we had so much success in our garden this year (just shy of 1000 lbs of produce harvested so far!!) we just bought a second freezer. I don't can peas or broccoli but they just go in the freezer after being blanched and bagged up using the food saver. I also made a ton of zucchini muffins when we were over run with them this summer, and they are in the freezer. We also keep chickens, and we do put the extra boys in the freezer. Grow a couple fruit trees in your yard if you can. We picked 65 lbs of pears off one tree yesterday, and made 26 quarts of pears in syrup. We are going to be picking apples today and making applesauce, apple pie filling and apple juice from them.

Gardening really isn't as hard as some people think. It's actually quite easy. Plant seeds, add water and sun. Mulch to keep weeds under control, and enjoy the harvest. Added benefits, you know exactly what is in your food, what was sprayed on it, where the seeds come from, etc.

A few things off the top of my head:

Plan meals around what is on-sale at your favorite grocery store
Use up what is in the freezer
Eat vegetarian a couple days/nights a week
Eggs are relatively inexpensive, we do breakfast for dinner a lot when money is tight.
Soups are inexpensive and make a lot. 
Make a chicken stretch - baked chicken one night, chicken salad or stirfry the next, then boil the carcass for soup. 
Use your weekends, to cook and prep items for the week: Cut up veggies, make granola bars, boil a chicken for stock, etc. I find the more items I have "at the ready" the less I'm tempted to order a pizza. 

Here are some ways I would cut costs:

Only do a roast when it is on sale and buy two. Freeze one for another day.

Make your rice. For the price of 2 boxes you can get long grain white rice and a small can of tomato juice and have rice left over for more meals. Yvonne's recipe rocks!

Buy the soft tacos as well as corn shells and fry your own. I do mine in veg oil. I make my own seasoninv with tomato juice, cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, etc. Make half the meat and get refried beans.

Do grilled chicken instead. Steaks are pricey. You can get a whole chicknlen for $3-4, enough for 4 people. Have butcher break it down the backbone so it lays flat on the grill.

For pasta, find homemade sauces you all like. A fave here is a lemon olive oil sauce.

Do a double meal for freezer meal. Those pizzas can add up.

Do meatless meals.

Also a fave for us is stir fry. I make my own fried rice and do sweet and sour veggies with some chicken. And there are left overs.

Two things I see that you can cut out to save money... Taco kits and boxed spanish rice... the convenience of those things is costing you money.  I would google recipes and you will save money making your own.  Pizza night... check out coupons from places like papa john's you can get a cheap dinner, if you don't like that try frozen pizza's they are cheaper and if you buy the higher priced ones you might find one you like as much as the ones from the deli section.
If you are buying a stuffing mix.. make your own from old bread.. or try the mix in the bags.. usually cheaper than the box. You can also stock up when they are on sale at Thanksgiving.   One thing I do to save money is when I find ground beef/turkey/chicken on sale I buy a bunch and cook it all up. I usually cook 1 to 1 to 1 , Ground beef or chuck, to ground turkey or chicken to finely chopped mushrooms.  I usually make 9 pounds at once.

Typically  I cook one pound ground chuck, one pound ground turkey and one pound chopped mushrooms.  I sauté them with garlic and onions.

I do this three times.  Then I feeeze them in one pound bags.  I use these whenever I would use ground beef.  The turkey/chicken and mushrooms really absorb the beef flavor.

Good luck

I always use the weekly sales flyer to plan my grocery list. I buy the produce that's on sale - which usually means it is in season as well. If we need cereal, I buy the kinds that are on sale. If there is a good deal on an item that we like or use a lot of, I buy more. The only coupons I use are the ones from the sales flyer. I spend less than $100 each week for a family of four. I should mention that I never buy beef. We get a quarter of beef every year from my dad's farm, so that keeps my grocery bill under $100.

Helllloooo lady! <3 Message me on the Facebooks!

I'm not usually one to give advice on this type of thing because I"m lousy at all things kitchen related but a few things that stuck out to me.

1. I've always found WM to be pricier on groceries than you'd expect (last I checked their milk was like $1 more than Meijer, where I usually shop). Same with GE, the only time I used to shop there was when I was hard-core couponing and they doubled to $1, otherwise I'd go broke in there. I understand your dh's aversion to Aldi, my dh is the same. Not bc Aldi is crappy, but because it reminds him of when he was a kid that's all they could afford along w/ clothes from Kmart that he was teased about.

2. Menu planning is an absolute must. When I don't plan we spend a ton more. My most recent issue is when dh decides to cook on the weekend and has to make special grocery runs to get the ingredients (plus whatever else he sees).....grocery budget goes out the window. If you can, avoid any extra trips to the store, deal with what you have or wait.

My advice on your menu (remember, I hate all things kitchen, you won't find me frying my own taco shells or anything)



Roasts are expensive. Buy them on sale or switch with a whole chicken or something cheaper.
Are those kits really a good value? I've always bought our stuff separate. Taco seasonings and shells go on sale often, if you eat them as often as we do, stock up when they're on sale. You can get a big jar of Chi-chi's salsa at Sams for under $4, I use that sometimes to beef up the meat (we don't like beans in tacos).
Steaks are expensive. Consider grilled chicken breast (under $2/lb).
Are you making the sauces or buying them? If buying them, are you using 2 full jars? Assuming you're not, make sure you freeze the rest so you only have to buy 2 jars every other time. Consider just doing a butter/garlic sauce instead of the creamy sauce, top with the left over grilled chicken from the night before.
I live in the middle of nowhere, so no pizza options, but don't alot of them have the $5 grab n go pizzas? That might be better than deli ones.
Hot dogs go on sale alot in the summer, but they're really expensive if not bought on sale, so stock up when they are and freeze them. I find homemade mac & cheese expensive and a PITA so rarely make it. I'd probably sub in a salad and/or boxed mac n cheese

Do you do leftover night? I don't know how big your family is, but that sounds like alot of heavy food for the week and probably leaves some leftovers. Make sure you use the leftovers, either as they are or repurpose them. I plan 1 leftover night Tue or Wed, then we eat the rest of the week's leftovers for lunches on the weekend.

I must be the only one who actually LIKED powdered milk as a child! Sure, it was a bummer if you got a lump, and even MORE of a bummer if you ran out on a Saturday morning, but I loved it!  When I moved out on my own, I made it and it just didn't taste right.  Took me a while to realize it was because as a kid, we had well water.  Powdered milk made with city water was just icky.  I don't drink much milk now, but boy do I miss my younger days!