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I recently read a news article<\/a> about the rising cost of food. The price increase you might already be seeing in the grocery store is due to rising commodity prices especially on items like corn, coffee, sugar and grain. It is interesting to see how so many things can affect the family budget, but since groceries are a necessity and one of the easier expenses to reduce, I wonder how the rising cost of food will affect families?<\/p>\n According to the USDA, a family of four who is thrifty will spend $587 a month on food (including snacks). This does not include toiletries, diapers, cleaning products, etc. The “liberal” plan family of four spends $1163 a month on food! That is a lot of money. I think people can spend significantly less and still eat healthy meals without spending hours in the kitchen.<\/p>\n I have noticed a few things go up in price over the past few weeks, especially butter and dairy, but I haven’t seen a huge jump in our grocery budget over the past few months.<\/p>\n There are a many things you can do to trim the grocery budget and still eat healthy meals. Cheap doesn’t have to mean unhealthy or processed<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n I have heard the argument that you can’t get “real” food coupons. I don’t believe it. I have used coupons for fresh fruit, milk, healthy snacks, whole grain crackers and more. It might take a bit more work like visiting the manufacturer’s website or emailing the company but these coupons do exist.<\/p>\n1. Use Coupons<\/h3>\n