Weekly I prepare real food meals for my family at least 6 nights of the week. I try to keep our weekly grocery bill at $150 which is very doable when following these tips.

REAL FOOD Money Saving Tips

Menu Plan – when making a menu plan you are not going into the grocery store and just picking up all sorts of foods off the shelves. When you menu plan you are only getting the foods you need for the week and are less likely to have foods go bad because you didn’t use them.

Use Foods You Already Have – Before you begin menu planning look through your pantry, fridge and freezer to see what you already have. When doing this, you not only save money on food but you use those fruits and vegetables that would go bad otherwise.

Leftover Night – We always have a leftover night later on in the week. By doing this, I don’t need to cook one night and we get rid of those extra meals just sitting in the fridge. It saves money because you only need to plan 6 meals instead of 7 for that week. The kids like this night too because they get to pick what they want to eat from the leftovers.

Buy Bulk Meat - When buying your meat in bulk you have to put out a lot of money at once but you save in the long run. When buying organic meats at the grocery store it’s much more expensive then buying from a local farmer. Here is a great website for you to find a local organic farm in your area. If you live in the Philadelphia area you can go to Philly Cow Share – they have done all the work for you by finding the best farms in our area, and they even deliver your meat to your door.

Buy Staple Items Online - Who doesn’t like to shop online? It’s convenient and saves you time and money. When you join the Amazon Subscribe and Save service you can save up to 30% on items you run through the quickest like detergent, toilet paper, diapers and even organic snacks.

Clean Out the Freezer – Have a week that you just eat those freezer meals that have been sitting in there for months. Get rid of all those soups, casseroles, chili, lasagna etc.. that you made big batches of and put half of it in the freezer for another meal. It’s great to do this at least every 3 months so those foods are not left in the freezer for many many months.

Use the Dirty Dozen/Clean 15 Guide - I make sure I stay up to date with the dirty dozen/clean 15 list provided by EWG. By doing this I can save money by purchasing the dirty dozen produce organic and conventional of the clean 15. If you are unfamiliar with this list – here you go!

This post was originally published on Oboy Organic! (Trina's blog). Follow her at @oboyorganic (Twitter).