The following article is a featured post by Donovan Baldwin. He covers the essential principle of frugality, a practice ALL homesteaders cherish! Enjoy:

One of the things that takes some getting used to, especially as a senior citizen on a fixed income, is living on that fixed income.

credit: moneysense.gov.sg

Even if you have a healthy retirement income; investments, a 401K plan and Social Security benefits, when you stop working, your income comes out of that nest egg which is, for most of us at least, a diminishing bucket of funds.

So, anything you can do to protect your money and economize means that little pot of money will last longer, be there for you when you have an emergency or be available for fun things which is what retirement is supposed to be all about.

If you are someone who is able to continue to prepare your own food, you are already well ahead of the game because one mega expense for any budget at any age is the food budget. And, if you are buying food for a spouse, older children still at home (common these days) or you are helping to raise the grandkids (not un-common), you might see a food budget that can get out of control.

So, it pays to come up with some tips for how to slash that food budget but do so in away that does not hurt the quality of food you eat or feed your family.

Like charity, economy begins at home; so, you can do a lot before you even get to the grocery store by learning to use everything you buy.

An investment in some quality storage units so you can keep leftovers fresh or keep fresh vegetables or fruits on hand will help you eat everything you buy and cut down on waste. In fact, if you like to garden, you can even take the organic waste such as coffee grounds and apple cores and make your own compost which can go into your garden to help grow your own food next spring.

But, still, the key to saving money at the grocery store is to be a smart shopper.

Remember that grocery stores stock lots of items that are made to appeal to people who want convenience over low prices. So you can save a lot of money by avoiding fast foods, frozen foods or “TV dinners” and buying the ingredients to make your own meals every day.

NOTE: Years ago, I worked in the grocery industry, and every inch of the store is designed and intended to help you part with your money. Nothing in a grocery store is where it is, or how it is, by accident. One of the ways to defeat the “superior” advantage these stores have is to make your shopping list at home and stick to it. If you realize that you need something NOT on that list, start a new list with it when you get home. If you have to go back to the store for one item now and again, that is better than adding item after item that you “forgot” once you are in the store.

Being a smart shopper also means knowing when and where to shop and how to find the good values in food and grocery supplies at the store. Some core principles of smart shopping are as follows:

1. If you can buy in bulk – do so.

Most items are cheaper at the unit cost level if you buy larger quantities. So if you can buy and store more food at once, you can take advantage of those savings. However, in the last few years, the grocery chains, and independents, have caught on to this. Take a calculator and do the math for yourself.

2. Avoid impulse purchases.

Stores carefully place items that are appealing so you will buy higher priced items. Work from a list and stick to your list. Exactly as I said earlier.

3. Slice your own cheese.

Pre-sliced cheese comes at a higher price. Buy a good cheese knife and buy cheese in blocks and slice it yourself. In fact, almost anything which requires preparation before the purchase will cost more.

4. Buy fresh produce. Fresh foods are not only better for you nutritionally, they are cheaper. As in number 3 above, it takes preparation to get that food into a can…and you pay for the can!

5. Know your town.

Each grocery store has certain categories they do best at outselling the others. Know what stores are good with produce, with meat and with everyday savings and create your shopping lists accordingly.

NOTE: However, if you have to burn a $3.00 gallon of gas to save $2.00 on groceries, it isn’t worth it. I used to live in a small town where the three grocry stores were within a half mile of each other, however. I took their ads and made my shopping list accordingly and saved a bunch of money each week by buying specials at each store. One store always had the cheapest meat, so I always shopped there. I flirted with the female butcher too, and that helped.

6. Know your store.

Each week, your store marks down certain items in preparation for the weekend. Routinely they will slash the prices of fresh meat to get rid of last week’s supply in preparation for the higher priced specials for this week. The Kroger down the street from me is a prime example, no pun intended.

If you know when that stuff hits the shelves, you can score big savings and freeze what you buy to use over the next few weeks.

7. Know your items.

Saving money on groceries works best if you treat it as a business. Learn your price points of what is a good price for each item on your list. Try to buy under those price points so your budget is controlled.

8. Buy store brands.

While you may find the occasional tough piece of asparagus in the store brand, overall you will save and get good tasting, nutritous food products. Even more, such things as store brand toilet paper, paper towels, and pet supplies can be just as good as name brand items.

When generics first hit the market, many were pretty bad. However, a whole new industry has sprung up and there are companies providing quality items under various labels to cover different store brands. About half of what I get at the grocery store is store brand.

9. Use coupons.

Don’t turn your nose up at using grocery coupons. Saving ten cents off of a dollar item may seem like chump change, but it’s 10%! Take 10% off a weekly grocery bill of $100 and you save $10 a week or $520 a year.

Actually, if you treat grocery coupons like a business, you can save even more. My best performance was the day the cashier rang up $120 before the coupons, and I paid her $20 and some odd cents after coupons.

Would you like to save $100 a week on groceriea?

It can be done.

10. Leave the rugrats at home.

Sorry, don’t mean to sound disparaging. Too many years in the army , I guess. However, the fact is that children will generally add dozens of items to your shopping cart, distract you from your mission (army again) and slow you down.

Leave them out of the picture and you won’t have to buy their impulse items and the trip will go faster too. Remember the list? Was Cocoa Pebbles on it?

“But Grandma………..”

By being a smart and savvy shopper, you can stretch your food budget and see an impressive savings on what you spend on groceries. That, in turn, helps you stretch your retirement savings which means a longer and more prosperous retirement and one that is more worry free as well.

Speaking as someone on Social Security and military retirement, that is worth the extra effort.