1) Cook more from scratch. Collect your favorite recipes from relatives and friends and try them out. If you cook more than you need for one meal, reheating the leftovers for later meals is very quick and easy.

2) Choose lower-cost options. If you like two things equally, choose the lower-cost option more often. For example, if you like spaghetti as much as steak, have spaghetti more often. Also look for lower-cost substitutions such as ground turkey for ground beef (I like to use half ground beef and half vegetable protein) and mustard for mayonnaise. Try cheaper brands (after checking the labels to make sure they’re not made of garbage).

with this small list I cover a lot of junk without having to read all the labels

I recently learned and commented about in my blog about Treasure Box, a company that puts together a box for families that is supposed to be able to feed a whole family for one week on $30. Do you think that this is a good or flawed plan for families trying to save money?

I really appreciate you pointing out the fact that buying locally grown produce actually lasts longer without all the intermediaries.

Just a quick question, when you mentioned cutting back on junk food, I was just curious how you define what that is. We nutrition-conscious people throw that word around a lot, and I would like to know how you would decipher between junk food and what to look for on labels to make better grocery shopping decisions.

Thanks!