Tip #5

Not fit for human consumption; or is it?

Today's post is a continuation of my series on saving money on food. While my previous entry was about which grocery store to shop at, this one is about where to go first in the store. So when you first enter the store do not even think about putting anything in your cart u til you have checked out the reduced table. This is where the grocery store put the vegetables, bread, etc. that are well.... not the most fresh ones in the store. Usually you can find some veggies that are just a bit wilted, or in some stores ones that don't seem to be showing any abnormalities at all. These are your first choice and as long as they are eaten within a day or so of being bought they are perfectly good. If you are really frugal, or say you aren't sure if you are going to get the student loan you need for the year buy the veggies that have a bad spot. Often a spot can easily be cut off at home and voila! a perfectly edible nutritious vegetable. Now in the case of veggies that are fairly wilted or have/had bad spots you probably want to cook them, but that is totally to your discretion. Now the next stop on you're tour should be the section with all the meat. Now pretty much anyone who has entered a grocery store knows that meat is not the cheapest ingredient, but if you know where to look its not bad. Usually off to one side of the meat section there is a spot where they keep the meat that is about to expire. This meat is still totally good but depending on how many days are left until it can no longer legally be sold, it will be marked down anywhere between 10%-75% (or even better). The only thing to keep in mind when buyioing this meat is that it must either be prepared and eaten right away or be frozen until future use so that it does not spoil before you eat it (also if you buy a steak on the expiry date maybe don't eat it blue rare). After this check out the sales, buy anything else you need and go to the checkout. Now you may get some weird looks when you are digging through the bags of chicken to find the one that is reduced the most but its well worth the money you save. Your wallet will thank you.