We should create a grocery list and stick to it and not venture towards the eye-catching advertisements.

Don’t buy things just because they’re cheap. Buy only what you actually need.

Stick to your budget. This will force you be more creative with your recipes and pay more attention to your nutritional needs.

Compare prices. Most grocery stores post the “price per ounce” along with the cost of a product.

Shop for grocery store baked goods early in the day. That is when bakeries mark down their day-old items.

Shop for grocery store meat later in the day. That is when the meat department marks down the items about to go past the “sell by” date. This meat is perfectly safe and can be frozen for later use.

Consider buying private-label or store brands. In many cases, these rival the quality of the well known brands, but at a significantly lower cost.

Avoid processed foods. They may be convenient, but they’re usually expensive and less nutritious. Buy cheap, healthy foods that are easy to fix, such as whole grain pasta, legumes and lentils.

Select plant proteins. Include grains, legumes and nuts. Animal products can be very expensive. Meatless Monday is a public health campaign associated with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. It encourages people to give up meat once a week to cut the intake of saturated fat. Check out the site for meatless recipes!

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