Flagstaff Family Magazine — Cutting Corners

If you dread going to the store, but still want to save money, Annette and Steve Economides have some other advice. Although they do believe in pairing a coupon with a sale-priced item, they are not fanatic coupon clippers. Instead, they shop just once a month for their family of seven. Annette plans her menus around the weekly ads and then she and her husband spend several hours shopping. She'll take one day to cook 15 meals that she freezes. She believes menu planning and eating together as a family both help to save money.

"This is very important. It affects your food budget if you never sit down together and everyone cooks something separate," she says.

Since the Economides' have been doing this for more than 20 years, the have a recipe book filled with three or four months worth of menus. And they're not skimping on taste. Some dinners include steak or leg of lamb.

For more information, log on to www.AmericasCheapestFamily.com. There you can find a printable shopping list to help get you organized and other money-saving tips that go beyond the grocery store.

By Mary Parra