In the prosperous United States the average family of four spends approximately $5,000 per year on food.  Here are some strategies that you can use to easily cut your food bill by $1,200 per year and still eat well with a healthy diet.

1. Use wholesale clubs such as Sams, BJ's, and Costco to buy the bulk of your basic necessities and select prepared foods.  Your savings should be in the 10 to 20% range over conventional food stores.  Also try other discount sores such as Aldi and Wal-Mart Supercenters.  These too can save you up to 20%.  This does mean buying in larger package sizes for many items so make sure you are going to use the food or freeze it before it spoils.
    

2. Shop conventional food stores for fresh foods and other specialty items you cannot find at the discount stores.  Pick those stores for selection, quality and price.  Use your coupons.
    

3. Consider a butcher shop outside the large chain food store.  Many of the few remaining "neighborhood butcher shops" can have better pricing and at the least may offer better quality and service.  Some will even deliver.
    

4. Avoid buying pre-made salads and other prepared foods that cost considerably more than the ingredients and do not necessarily save all that much time.  Use prepared foods sparingly - see the next suggestion.
    

5. Watch your menu.  With so many households having all the adults working it is very hard to resist the temptation for take-out food.  This can really run up the food bill.  Try to eat more meals at home with these two approaches.  First, try some of the old standby one-pot recipes.  A crock pot meal or a casserole can contain all the food groups short of a salad.  Not only that if you make more than you need, you can have the leftovers for lunch (brown bag) and or another dinner.  Second, try some of the semi-prepared or fully prepared foods from the warehouse clubs.  Do watch the cost and the nutrition however as high price, high fat and high sodium levels can often outweigh the benefits.  Save these for "emergencies."
    

6. Remember that staples such as beans, rice and macaroni tend to be relatively inexpensive.  They can be the backbone for delicious meals where meat plays a less dominate role.
    

7. Shop with a list and menus.  You'll save time shopping and reduce your stress if you invest the time at home planning some basic menus and using a shopping list to keep a basic food pantry stocked.  You'll never have to worry if you have the staples and some basics on hand.
    

8. Invest in 4 or 5 good basic cookbooks that fit your lifestyle.  They will give you several hundred meal ideas so you don't have to sweat the details.  Here are some suggestions that will save you both time and money:

You too can save money on food while eating well.

Here are 35 more great ways to save money.