7. Use up all the food in your pantry, freezer, and fridge.

This one doesn't need a lot of explaining.  The title says it all.  Take an inventory of the food that you currently have in your house and make a concerted effort to use it all up.  Start with the items that are going to expire the soonest (and throw away the ones that are already expired!).  Make it a goal to try to not buy groceries for one month (this excludes perishables such as milk since they will not last that long).  The average American family of 4 spends around $600 a month on groceries.  If you could cut this out for just one month, you could use all that extra money to pay off bills or to put into savings.  If you are stuck and can't figure out what to make, you can use websites like www.recipepuppy.com to help with your meal planning.  You just type in the ingredients you have and it will give you recipes that include those ingredients.  Also, make sure to use up the meat in your freezer.  After awhile, it does get freezer burn and then it does not taste very good.  Use it up.  You can always buy more when you find a good sale.  As you start using items up, you may be surprised at what you find pushed to the back of the freezer, fridge, or panty!  When the month is over and it is time to replenish your supply, remember the food you had to throw away because it expired before you got to it. Hopefully, that will prevent you from overbuying in the future.