Feeding your family is expensive.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average American family of four spends $8,513 a year on groceries. That’s an average of $709 a month.

And with food prices rising at the fastest rate since 1990, you’re spending even more these days to buy the same amount of food.

By following just a few simple tips, though, you can cut back on food costs and make your grocery budget stretch a little further without having to give up your favorite meals and snacks.

1. Don’t pay premium for convenience.

   Forget the bags of chopped, pre-washed lettuce and the packages of pre-diced garlic, pre-cut fruit, and pre-sliced cheese. Same goes for ready-to-serve meal kits and ready-to-pour lemonade and iced tea.

   These conveniently packaged and pre-prepared everyday food items may save you time in the kitchen, but they’ll almost always cost you more than if you just bought a head of lettuce, a clove of garlic, or a bag of lemons and did all of the prep work yourself.

 

2. Reduce the amount of meat you eat.

   Cut back on how much red meat and chicken your family consumes each week, and you’ll start seeing big savings, since meat is generally one of the more expensive grocery items you can buy.

   Limit yourself to serving meat as a main course only three or four nights a week. Or else ration it out to last you through the week by using smaller portions and mixing it in with pasta or vegetables or serving it with a hearty soup, salad, and side dish.

 

3. Buy frozen when fresh is too costly.

   Get your fruits and vegetables from the freezer aisle when fresh produce is too expensive.

   Not only will you save money on price, you’ll also save by wasting less: No more having to throw out the fruits and veggies that have gone bad in your produce drawer â€” frozen food lasts a lot longer than fresh.

 

4. Opt for larger quantities instead of individual-size servings.

   Leave the 100-calorie snack packs and the snack-size bags of potato chips at the store, and start making your own: Buy a large bag of chips or pretzels, and drop a handful or two into Ziploc sandwich bags for your family’s lunches.

   Do the same with yogurt, Jell-O, pudding, fruit juice, and anything else you can buy in larger sizes for less money-per-ounce: Instead of buying single servings, get one large container of yogurt or juice, or make one family-size batch of Jell-O or pudding, and then pack snack-size portions into small plastic containers or re-usable bottles for the perfect lunchtime treat.

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