2022 Fall Home and Garden

Page 8 2022 Fall Home & Garden LINCOLN DAILY NEWS Sept. 23, 2022 G o out in public where you see friends and have a chance to say hello. During the course of the conversation, bring up grocery shopping. You will hear the same response over and over again. “Every time I go to the store, the prices are higher!” Consumers are seeing a lot of that right now, and if every time we picked up our paycheck it was also a little higher we might not be so concerned. But the world doesn’t work that way. We live generally a year at a time on the same salary or hourly wage but we are continually spending more in order to survive. So, what can we do? We can figure out the best ways to make our dollars go further and/ or spend less without starving. To that end, let us suggest a few DON’Ts, a few DO’s and DO-but-DON’T tips. DON’T go shopping every day Many people now a days leave work in the evening and run to the grocery store and pick up whatever they need to prepare dinner for the family. To save money, it would be helpful if that were not a common practice. Going daily opens us up to buying without a list and purchasing ingredients you already have at home, because you didn’t have that opportunity to check the pantry and freezer and make a list. You want to make spaghetti quick and simple. You need pasta, spaghetti sauce, meat, parmesan, a loaf of crusty bread, butter, fresh garlic or garlic powder, salad fixings, and dressing. You get to the store, you know what you need for one meal, but do you remember what you already have at home? Do you end up buying a new container of parmesan because you aren’t sure if you have any in the fridge? Then you get home and find you almost a full jar. Maybe you’ll use it all eventually, but for this moment in time, you spent money unnecessarily. So, how do you remedy this? How To Save Money at the Grocery Store CONTINUED u