Not buying groceries isn't the answer to reducing our food bill

I think I mentioned it earlier this week that we didn't have any food and dear husband had to go to the grocery store and pick us up some supplies. It was a combination of laziness and financial frugality on my part. In December, we spent an insane amount on groceries, about $700. I thought initially we were in the $625 range (which isn't exactly good) but I later found a receipt in the bottom of my purse for about $75. I could chalk up our food expenses to the fact it was the holidays, but we did cash in some Sobey points, which helped out.

So this month I'm on a mission to reduce our grocery bill. Eating leftovers for the first little while helped immensely. But the leftover train has run out and I'm back to planning and making meals.

Earlier this week, dear husband started complaining that darling daughter didn't have all that much fruit. She did, but I guess cutting apples and clementines isn't all that appealing when you can wash and rinse berries. But we did start to get low on the basics so I had to break down and buy food. Now, I want to point out that I wasn't going to let my family starve in my mission to reduce our grocery bill. But I have discovered that we waste a lot of food when we have a lot of food in the house. It is easy to not use soon-to-be expired produce or leftovers when it is hidden in the back of the refrigerator. Although I still have a close eye on the bottom line, I've eased up on the purse strings a little. If anyone has any tips, I'd love to hear them. I'll let you know how we fared at the end of the month.