2) Avoid 'convenience' foods. A carton of chicken broth costs $2 on sale. Buy a whole chicken, boil it for 45 minutes to cook it, and you have both broth and chicken that way.
3) Figure out which store brands are good, and when they are on sale, stock up, those will be your best deal.
4) As someone else noted, pay attention to sales and coupons - buy your meats and plan you menu by what is the best sale that week.
5) Check out produce stores if you have a large family - some have dirt-cheap prices for large purchases, but shop carefully for quality.
6) Be wary of sales that are not really good sales - for example, Redner's runs a 5-for-$20 promotion - 5 packs of a range of meat products for $4 each. However, often times, for a given item, that is NOT the best sale price you will see over the course of two months - a whole chicken might be $4, but will be a cheaper price per pound when on sale separately.
7) Create dishes where meat is a seasoning, and not the main course, such as ham-and-bean soup or chili. Beans are an excellent food source for protein and nutrients. Beans and cheese and rice are a complete protein source without meat.
8) When shopping for bread, make sure you are not paying for air - compare weights and not just loaf price.
How do you keep your potatoes? I have the hardest time keeping them from going bad, I’m talking a few days max.
In Texas at HEB Hill Country is great tasting generic foods. I’ve also found the Target brand is pretty good, too.