Specials
Look at the weekly flyers and do your shopping list according to the specials. Build your menu for the week around your list. When you go grocery shopping, eat before leaving, bring your list, and stick to it.
Liquidations
If you go grocery shopping early in the morning or later in the evening, there are often items on liquidation, sometimes down to half price. Keep an eye out for these. It’s a great time to stock up on meat. Freeze what you do not use immediately.
Cut on Meat
Unless there are really good specials, meat is the most expensive thing on the menu. Replace it with eggs, beans or chickpeas. It diversifies your meals, and you cut on the grocery bill.
Make a Garden
If you have a house, make a garden. If you live in an apartment, put some pots on your patio and grow herbs and tomato plants in them. You save on what you grow yourself. If you have any extra, make preserves or freeze them.
Use Vegetables
You can enhance any boring dish with vegetables and a homemade dressing. Take ramen, for example. It is probably the most bland, boring dish you can find. Add some vegetables in it, maybe a few spices for taste, and you have a good, healthy dish.
Do Not Eat Out
If you have a short supply of money, now is not the time to eat out. Fast food joints and restaurants literally eat the money out of your hand. Even your morning stop at the coffee house needs to end. A home-cooked meal costs five times less than if you order it at a restaurant and it is healthier.
Resist Temptation
Some might be tempted to turn to payday loans to get to their next paycheck. Don’t. Use your credit card instead or, worst-case scenario, get an online loan. At least you have three to four months to repay the loan.
Use loans as a last resort solution. If you don’t have enough money left between paychecks to eat, there is a problem. Either you need to earn more, or there is money spent on non-essential things. Make a budget and analyze it. Can you cut some expenses?
If your situation is temporary because you have unexpected expenses like a broken car, then a loan will help you out. Once that is paid, save up for an emergency fund so that next time something comes up, you will have the money to help you manage it without resorting to loans.