I don’t know about you but I used to get on these kicks when I would commit to eating healthy and just go to the grocery store and buy every fruit and vegetable they had and spend WAY too much money. I wasn’t planning my meals so I wasn’t thinking how I was going to eat it all before it went bad. So here are some of my grocery shopping tips for you that I learned the hard way:

• Clean out your fridge and pantry before you go. It will be motivation to stick to your list because you just wasted more food and help you know what inventory you already have.

• Base your meals off of what you already have so you can use that up too.

• Plan your meals out for the week with your spouse or kids. The more people involved in your household the better chance of success.

• Budget yourself and have a limit to the amount you want to spend before you go.

• Make a list and stick to it. You made it for a reason so you don’t need anything other than those things you wrote down.

• Utilize the freezer. The fresh fruits and veggies that I bought that are about to go bad I would cut them up for smoothies or to bake another time by sealing them up and putting them in the freezer. I’ve saved so much money doing this. I actually started purchasing more fruits and vegetables in the freezer section to save time and they still make delicious sides or snacks.

• Buy in bulk. This ties into the previous tip. If you buy in bulk you can separate it and package it yourself for future use especially if you know you’re not going to eat it all right away. The freezer is your friend.

• Buy things you actually enjoy. If you buy a bunch of new foods you want to experiment with, you may not like all of them, and then you’re stuck with them. It’s good to try new things but not all at once maybe try one or two new items in a week. Otherwise you’ll be tempted to eat out since you already have it in your head that the food you have at home isn’t satisfying.