12 Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill

The price of gas isn't the only thing that's been rising in recent months.

Putting dinner on the table costs more, too. The global Food Price Index compiled by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has been rising for at least eight months and has reached a 21-year high. Shoppers are paying more for everything from corn flakes to coffee.

In the last nine months, costs for commodities such as corn and wheat that are used in food and as animal feed have doubled, but producers haven't started passing the full increases onto consumers yet, economist Bill Lapp says in this report on Minyanville.com. However, those higher prices are coming "sooner rather than later," says Lapp, president of Advanced Economic Solutions, a consulting firm in Omaha, Neb.

Clipping coupons and signing up for grocery store loyalty programs to get members-only discounts are two easy ways to stretch your dining dollars. I also asked chefs, cookbook authors, food bloggers and veteran bargain hunters for their best advice on how to cut food costs without sacrificing nutrition.

Here are their suggestions:

1. Buy in season. The strawberries in grocery stores right about now might taste delicious. But unless you live in Southern California where strawberries are in season in late winter, they cost a bundle -- so walk on by. "Eating seasonally is one of the best ways to cut costs," says food writer Jeanette Hurt, co-author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wine and Food Pairing and author of The Cheeses of California: A Culinary Travel Guide, among other books. "Right now, asparagus can cost up to $4 or $5 a bunch. In season, you can get it for $2 or $3 a bunch."

2. Use sales to stock up. When items go on sale, load up your pantry or freezer, says Karin Amour, 53, of Redondo Beach, Calif., an inveterate sale shopper. "Our food budget has been blown out for the last six months," Amour says. "I know it's bad when my husband notices the cost of tomatoes is too high."

3. Buy in bulk. Food experts all say that buying in bulk at warehouse clubs and discount chains such as Costco and Sam's Club should be part of your shopping regime. Stock up on cereal, coffee, nuts and other staples.

4. Plan meals in advance and build them around specials. Sit down with your supermarket's weekly circular and organize meals around what's on sale, says Melinda Fulmer, who covers pocketbook issues for MSN Money. "Then see if you have coupons to pair up with these specials," she says. "The best way to save money is to really plan for every meal and snack, so you're not blowing money in the vending machine or fast-food drive through."

5. Avoid paying for convenience. Don't buy snack-sized, pre-cooked or pre-packaged foods -- they cost more. For snacks, select items such as popcorn kernels or bulk raisins, Fulmer says. "Cut up your own carrots. And think about meal stretchers like soups."

6. Use everything. If there's one area of her budget Laurence Hauben splurges on, it's food. But the French chef, head of Slow Food Santa Barbara and owner of Market Forays, knows how to cut corners, too. One way is using up every scrap of what you purchase. "Buy your chickens whole and use the carcass to make soup," Hauben says.

7. Cook from scratch. "Make your own salad dressings, cookies and pizzas," Hauben says. "Cook more at home; reserve eating out for special occasions."

8. Eater lower on the food chain. Even if you're not a vegetarian, not every meal has to have meat. "Beans are nutritious, cheap and tasty," Hauben says.

9. Plant a garden. If you're skittish about doing all the work yourself, consider partnering with neighbors to cut the work and share the harvest. Blogger Tracey Chang details six easy steps to urban homesteading here.

10. Grow pricey produce. Jodi Torpey loves heirloom tomatoes but not the $8 per pound she pays for them at her local farmer's market. So Torpey, who writes the WesternGardeners.com blog, started planting produce, herbs and spices by price. "Instead of spending $2.50 for a single head of organic red kale, I'd buy a $2 packet of seeds and grow my own," she writes. This spring Torpey is planting saffron, stevia and Hungarian peppers to make her own Hungarian paprika; the three spices cost a fortune at the store.

11. Make do with what you've got. When Leah Ingram's husband came home from the market one day last month and couldn't squeeze another item into their already overstuffed freezer, the frugal living author challenged her family to make dinner for an entire month using only what they had in the freezer and pantry -- with the exception of fresh produce and dairy products. With only a few days remaining in their frugal dinner challenge, the family is down to some frozen hamburger patties and hot dogs and a free Thanksgiving turkey, says Ingram, author of Suddenly Frugal and a blog by the same name. Meanwhile, Ingram says she cut her grocery bill more than in half, to $506 for the past 26 days from $1,186 in the 30 days before that. "I'd say that's a pretty huge difference, wouldn't you?" Ingram says.

12. Make it fun. Online coupon sites like the Grocery Game turn bargain hunting into a contest to see how much you can save.

Read more: Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half (And Other Stories)