I started shopping at Aldi's. I had never given them a thought before. I also now make a point to go to Wal-mart for items that are significantly cheaper there than at other stores, such as Shampoo and heavy cream for the hubby's coffee.
If I see something on sale that we use often, I get it. Otherwise, we shop as usual. If we need it, we get it, although we may buy store brand instead.
I also joined a CSA farm co-op this year. Last year, they supplied all my veggies from May to September for only $250. It was more than we could eat and it was all wonderful, locally grown organic food. So we jumped right on for this year at the same price.
We also plant a veggie garden every year. Last year, between the farm co-op and the garden we didn't buy one veggie at the grocery all summer, except a couple of bunches of spinach. Not too bad. The garden plants cost us $26 and we bought them from a school fundraiser. Double goodness. We ended up with 50 plus pounds of tomatoes from 12 plants. We made pasta sauce from those and the green peppers and zucchini we grew. We just finished the last of it from the freezer last month.
(Mind you, I grow tons and I live on a small city lot and only use my traditional flower beds for veggies.) I like growing my own so much that I'm removing all the evergeen shrubs and planting apple and cherry trees this summer. I can taste the pies already...
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