Saving money on groceries. How to save money on groceries? Since last year, our business as other businesses has been struggling. After the shock and denial, we have been forced to take a hard look at our expenses and find ways to cut down on our spending. It has not been easy. It has not been comfortable. BUT it can been done. Doing it is going to take work, time, and sacrifice. For the first couple of months it can be very hard but, eventually it will become a habit and it will start to get easier. This is not a plan or anything, I just want to share what steps I have taken to lower our grocery bill. When I said time, that is one of the things that will help you save money, you´ll have to spend more time in the kitchen. This is more or less an overview of my family´s shopping list and meals. I won´t write down dollar amounts, but my bill has been slashed approximately 25%. One of the things I decided was that eating more vegetarian meals was cheaper. To talk my kids into I told them that we had to change our eating habits to help their dad on a path to a healthier heart as heart disease runs in his family. Some tips:

• Instead of buying pre-packaged bags of greens, I bought different kinds of lettuces and washed and made my own mixes
• Instead of buying our usual fruits, I looked for the cheapest ones
• Instead of cans of beans, I bought dry beans, garbanzos and lentils (really, really cheap)
• Instead of sliced cheese, I bought unsliced
• I bought the generic supermarket brand of the cleaning supplies that I needed.
• I bought meat for only three out of seven dinners and promised myself I would cook vegetarian.
• I bought a tube of cookies instead of a box and decided to tell the kids to eat them as a treat as I wouldn´t be buying any more.
• To cut down on cost, calories and sugar I stated by slowly diluting all the juice the kids drink with water. Save on groceries!
  

I knew that pasta is a cheap, inexpensive way to eat, but I also wanted to improve our diet and I had read that beans, garbanzos and lentils are super foods. Save on groceries by buying in bulk. Most recipes use rinsed canned ones but I really wanted to save money also. I followed the recipe for cooking them below (but to each I added some onion, a garlic clove, a teaspoon of olive oil, and to the lentils and garbanzos a couple of bay leaves). DON´T ADD SALT, you will season the afterwards. I soaked them all the night before, and cooked all of them on the same day, cooled them and refrigerated them. The garbanzos and lentils I drained. Next came the fun part (I like to cook, but even if you don´t think of the money you´re saving, or as my husband likes to say, "Not spending". As the days are getting warmer, I decided to look for salads. I love the Epicurious Website, I typed in lentil salad, garbanzo salad and bean salad and choose three I liked. I´ve cooked a few and made some adjustments to them to use ingredients I have on hand (no savings on running out to the supermarket). This one is my one and my kids love it, adjust the quantity of the ingredients to your taste:

• make a vinaigrette with olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper
• chop a little bit of onions, a couple of tomatoes, and avocado and some sprigs of cilantro.
• Mix all the ingredients together with a cup of cooked garbanzos.
  

I served them for lunch with a side green salad, fat free tostadas and Greek yoghurt. The kids made the tostadas by spreading Greek yoghurt and topping them with the garbanzo salad (almost a salsa).

Changing habits is very hard, it takes patience and determination, but it can be done! Save on groceries, it can be done!