These tips can help cut yoru food costs.

1. Compare prices. Find the lowest prices stores – it can be an ongoing battle though. Many stores are reducing the number and quality of sales. I usually don’t go to a store just for a sale unless it’s a big one on expnsive items like meats, then I stock up. I also don’t pay an annual fee to shop at warehouses, there is a local warehouse store with no fee needed. Bottom line, look for the best overall price.

2. Don’t use coupons for items you would not normally buy. Coupons can lead us to buy things we normally wouldn’t – like buying two items to get the discount, when it takes forever to use up one! That’s cash out of your pocket today. Instead stick to coupons for items you need and use regularly. And of course always get double coupons! Find out more about using coupons here.

3. Buy less prepared and packaged food. The more cooking, plastic, cardboard and wrapping that goes into a product, the higher the price and the less nutrtition for the buck. Buy bulk meats, veggies and fruits, make your own and freeze the leftovers or package into bags. Just start to compare the price per pound or ounce for packaged foods with non-packaged, and you’ll get it fast enough.

4. Phase out using some things. Instead of paper towels, napkins, plastic ware, paper plates, replace with cloth. Instead of junk food with poor nutritional qualties and ever rising prices ($5.50 for a bag of tortiall chips???) start making your own or buying more healthy treats like baby carrots, basic crackers, and so on. Try cutting 2or replacing -3 items each shopping trip, it will add up!

5. Eat less meat. Make a few vegetarian meals. You can make a tofu lasagna that includes the protein of tofu and tastes no different. Or just a quick stir fry of veggies and tofu. You can also get compelte proteins from beans. Learn how to prepare lentil stews, black beans and rice, and other bean and grain dishes to save big.

Try these tips for saving on groceries, and cutting your food costs, and don’t forget to bank the savings each month !

The fact is, the ways to save money haven’t changed for hundreds or even thousands of years. Benjamin Franklin wrote “A penny saved is a penny earned”, and it’s still 100% true hundreds of years later. All you need to do is spend less than you earn, and put the difference into savings. It is actually easier than it sounds if you break it into specific steps.

Here are some tips on how to save money so that you see fast cash in the bank, right away. These are meant to be short – so you can start now and see quick cash results!

1. First on the list is BUY LESS. When you spend more than you earn, you can never – repeat, NEVER – get ahead financially! Start by cutting spending, and next we’ll figure out where to save it. you can cut spending by just not buying things you don’t really need: coffee, manicures (do it at home!), weekly hair cuts, junk food, vacation, car lease, knick knacks, excessive food, personal electronics, excessive cable television plans, expensive cell phone plans – you get the idea. We’ll print a l-o-o-o-n-g list of even more ways to save money in a future blog post.

2. Open A Savings Account for Your Savings. You can now open online savings accounts where you can transfer money with a click of a mouse; or, you can open an account in a local bank so that you can stop by every day and deposit the massive earnings (kidding!) from your cost cutting in Step 1. But here’s the deal – open the account TODAY, NOW. This account should be apart from your checking, and is ONLY for your saving strategies funds. Don’t wait! You can look for high interest rates, but realistically, until you have a thousand or more, you will not see much given current rates. This account is merely to have a place to stash your cash so you don’t spend it.

3. Pay Yourself First. Each and every payday, put something away in savings FIRST. You might think you dont’ have enough to cover your bills, but we’ll show you in the next step that’s not true. So, set up an automatic payment from your employer to your savings account, even if it’s $10, $25, or $50. Do This First Thing your next day back at work – ask your employer how to set up a direct deposit to your new savings account from #2 above.

4. Make Some Extra Money. You can easily and quickly make extra cash. Have a garage sale, sell things you don’t use any more on Ebay or Craig’s List or Kajiji, just clean out the closets. If you can write, are handy on the Web, or can perform administrative duties, find part time contract work at GetAFreelancer.com, or visit DoMyStuff. All of these can be done at home. Or, learn how to build an online blogging business – it takes a little longer to start making some cash, but can also be done at home.

5. Now – Put It All Together! Putting all these four together works out like this: You are able to put $25 per paycheck aside, for $50 per month or $600 a year. Set a goal to cut your household budget by 10%, which for households spending $35,000 per year for a family of four, that would equal $3,500. You are now over $4,000 in your new savings account. On top of that, if you earn an extra $200 per month doing extra work, bank all of that money into your savings – which at $200 a month, would be $2,400 per year. In this example, your savings would be nearly $6,500 – plus whatever interest you are able to make on your account.

Even if you were able to get half those numbers into a savings account, these tips on how to save money will get you into a new mindset of putting your own financial well being first, before bringing more junk you don’t need into your home and your life. To save money, you need to do something different. Take it one step at a time, and set goals, soon you’ll be on your way to wealth.

But of all the Rich Dad products, the one that turned my head the most was playing his game, Cash Flow 101. In this game, you attempt to gain eneough passive income to cover your expenses, all while bumping into those speed bumps of Life. You keep track on an actual financial balance sheet, and learn what it takes to get wealthy.

I learned something in playing that game, that I couldn’t have noticed in real life as it unfolds – how I approached risk, and money, and what would have to change if I wanted to make money and grow wealth. This game was a priceless lesson. It was a way to “model” behavior, just like “real” economists do, and see how different strategies and actions would pan out – without suffering the real financial losses that could occur, and building confidence in making seemingly risky decisions that actually are the path to great wealth.

If you’ve never played Cash Flow 101, it’s a real eye opener. There are also groups all around the country that get together to play periodically. Give it a shot – it’s a financial literacy education you can’t get anywhere else.

And at the very least – if you  haven’t read his books – get your hands on Rich Dad, Poor Dad, at the library even if you are short for bucks.  (I saw at Barnes & Noble a compilatoin of his first three books for under $15!)  If you read Rich Dad’s Prophecy – he called everything that is happening now, and is likely to happen, except it was years ago.  He recommends that you start a business (and a good way to get started today is with online business ideas), so that you control your future income and wealth. There are tons of great ideas to pursue in these books.

Another benefit of reading these books are to answer the difficult economic questions of today. People are asking: Should I be in stocks? Should I get out of the market? Should I buy bonds? Should I be investing in real estate? Have we hit a bottom?  Believe it or not, the Rich Dad series helps you figure out how to answer these questions – for yourself.  This is the kind of education people need to avoid being at the mercy of brokers, advisors, television “experts”, in a time of economic downturn, but also great opportunity.  Start – or enhance – your personal finance literacy with these books and games.