At Home on Designing Spaces
How do you coax a picky kid to eat more vegetables? Seems we were meant for this sort of challenge. For deliciously arm-twisting ideas, watch our special segment on Designing Spaces.
10 Tips for Cooking on a Budget
Most importantly, decide on a grocery budget and stick to it. One helpful way to do that is by deciding on the meals that you will cook for the week. Do this before you even start shopping and you’ll be less tempted to just “throw it in the cart.”
Try buying 3-4 days worth of groceries at the most. Any less will necessitate more shopping trips and any more will cause you to lose track of what’s fresh in your refrigerator.
Don’t rush your shopping. Take your time to compare prices and look for better bargains.
A vegetarian meal – or two – a week can help reduce your budget. Plus, you’ll be eating healthier! Add some convenience by using canned Del Monte vegetables in your veggie recipes.
Cook in advance. You can save plenty of money by preparing pastas, soups and vegetable dishes in advance, then freezing them. An entire week’s worth of preplanned dishes saves you time and money.
Eat before you shop! When you’re starving, impulse buys can really add up.
Avoid aisles with products not on your list. That way, you won’t be tempted to spend on items you did not budget for!
Use coupons wisely. Look for stores that offer double coupons and only clip coupons for items that you actually need.
Shop with cash. A debit or credit card makes it seem like you have an infinite sum of money to spend. And we all know that that isn’t true!
It sounds simple, but bring a calculator. Juggling the kids, coupons and your shopping list can make it impractical to add everything up in your head.
These are just some ways that you can shop smarter. In time, you’ll have an entire array of tricks of your very own.