Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to help a lot of people identify things in their budget eating up their hard-earned money. One of the most common places people waste money is actually a place where most people think they do pretty well… the grocery store!

It always shocks me when people tell me how much they spend at the grocery store, then act like it’s perfectly normal. “Oh, I ONLY spend like, two hundred dollars a week.”

Uh, HELLO! For YEARS, I have fed my large family on less than $100 a week! So, that other hundred dollars (or more) you’re spending each week? Stop letting that money go to waste! Because, if you throw stale food, leftovers or moldy fruit into the trash, you are throwing away your hard-earned cash.

Today I want to share a few tips to help out while actually in the store, list in hand. This is where the real damage occurs.

• Let’s start with produce! Don’t buy any of the prepackaged, pre-sliced, pre-cut fruits or veggies. They cost more money and usually pumped full of disgusting hormones and preservatives.
• Don’t buy already-grated cheese. Compare – blocks and shredded may appear to be the same price, but check the weight! More often than not, you get twice as much cheese in a block than you do in a bag or a package of sliced cheese. And guess what, grated cheese has additives!
• Make your own salad dressing. You can buy a package of seasoning, and add it to vinegar and olive oil to make your own, fresh, salad dressing. You’ll find tons of great recipes online with a simple search. It’s healthier for you and waaaay cheaper… plus, it’s FRESH!
• Don’t throw away old bread. Use stale bread to make your own croutons! In general, always try to re-purpose old food or leftovers with a bit of imagination, instead of just throwing it away. Search online for a quick recipe or instructions for free and easy ideas.
• Buy the whole chicken. Instead of purchasing pieces of chicken, cook the whole chicken. Plan multiple meals with the meat and save the broth for another meal!
• Use correct portion sizes. When you do purchase chicken breasts or fillets, learn the correct serving sizes. This tip will help your bank account and your waistline. A normal portion size of meat is about 3 ounces… or about the size of a deck of cards! In most cases, people count one fillet per person, which is almost TWICE the recommended size.
• Avoid sales and buying in bulk. Sales and bulk items encourage you to over-buy… a temptation most of us fall hard for every time. You go to buy a week’s worth of food and come home with a month’s supply of ice cream, potato chips and soda.

Recognize the fact we often pay more for convenience and that money quickly adds up! Not to mention, those “bonus” additives in pre-packaged, over-processed junk, make you fat, sick and broke.

Share this message with your friends and coworkers. These tips can help anyone to get out of debt, lose weight or just save some money. It takes two seconds to pass this message on and has the potential to totally revamp someone’s personal finances! Then, please share your favorite grocery money-saving tips below… I’m ALWAYS looking for new ideas!

And don’t forget to join me for The Dani Johnson Show today, when we share even more of my personally-selected tips and strategies to help you build a strong foundation for your success! You can find the show on your TV and radio and please remember you can always stream today’s show right here on our website.

In great faith,

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