Hello, I'm the Frugal Frau. Actually, I'm just an ordinary housewife who knows how to make do on a limited budget. During these tough economic times, I thought I'd share some of my "knowledge". Ha Ha. But I do hope you find this interesting.

One of the things I've always done is to cook from scratch. Growing up, that is the way my mother always cooked, so that is how I learned. It's much cheaper to cook from scratch, plus it tastes so much better. I like it also because then I get to control the amount of salt and sugar my family ingests.

So, you want to stay away from your prepackaged meals, and those frozen, almost ready meals. Since you are reading this, I'm assuming you have the Internet. You now have access to literally millions of different recipes through the world wide web.

I'm not the grocery shopper in our family, my husband is. But he pretty much stays out of the center aisles, shopping mainly on the outer perimeter of the store. Unless of course if there is something in an aisle we need, such as baking supplies.

That's where they get you, in the aisles, and at the end of them. Impulse buying, big no no. He also is able to keep a running list in his head of what we need, but if you aren't able to do it, (I know I'm not) make a shopping list, and stick to it.

Bulk shopping is also a great way to save money. Most times any way. You really need to pay attention to the cost per unit to confirm if you are saving money or not. But, we do have one store in my town where they have a large selection of bulk items. Things such as all your flours, baking essentials, nuts, chocolates, cereals, spices, and mixes. I like to go there and stock up. I store my things in glass jars usually.

Don't be too afraid of buying off brands either. Not all are cracked up to snuff though. For instance, I will only use Crisco shortening. I prefer the butter flavored, but that's me. I think the off brand shortening have too much of a lard flavor. But I don't mind using off brand frozen vegetables. Not the cheapest though. That's where you have to be careful. Sometimes when you buy cheap, you get cheap.

Years ago, my husband took a leave of absence from his work to be with his mother who was dying of cancer at the time. I had a very limited income to work with, and I had also not grocery shopped in many years alone. It was a very scary thing for me. But that is when I discovered Wal-Mart shopping.
At the time, we didn't have a Super Center, just a regular Wal-Mart. I went there initially to buy our soaps, personal hygiene and paper products. What I discovered was that I could also buy my juices, cereals, coffee, and snack items there very inexpensively. So, I would go to Wal-Mart first, buy there what they had that I needed, then continue on to the grocery store, always sticking to my list. I found that I was able to not only stick to my budget, but I had money left over!
So, sometimes it's not a bad idea to shop at more than one store. High end grocery stores should be off the list for awhile, unless they carry a specific item that you have to have. And then, only if you know you can save money, and not spend that saved money on gas getting around.
Another thing that I do when we are looking for some of those large ticket items, or electronics at Christmas and birthdays is to comparison shop online. Some stores, if you bring in a hard copy showing a lower price, they will match it. Use that printer to your advantage at this point. Best Buy is one store that I know does this, up to 30 days after the date of sale. You just have to show proof.