Gas prices have been changing people lives over the past couple of months. With the price now hitting close to $4 a gallon, family vacations are not the only thing getting changed. Another thing that people are starting to do to save money is buy fewer groceries.

Just because the gas prices are costing you more money doesn’t mean that you should cut back on your health by eating less or by adding junk food to your shopping list to help save money. A good way to get exactly what you need for your family while saving money for gas and living expenses is buy in bulk.

There are many stores that sell items in bulk to help with large families, and in times like these, they work out just as well for small families on a budget. Most of the time these stores will sell things like macaroni and cheese and packages of noodles and rice in bundles instead of individuals making it easier to buy enough to store for your family.

Buying canned and dried goods is another way to save money. If you know you are not going to be able to use fresh fruits and vegetables within a certain amount of time, then don’t spend the money buying extra because they are good for you. Buying fresh produce for health is one place that people have always thrown away money. If the fruit and vegetables cannot be used within three days, then you are going to throw your money away, because the food is going to rot. Then you are left with having to chunk the old fruits and veggies to buy more.

Don’t find a recipe and carry it to the store to buy your ingredients. If you have to buy more than three special ingredients for a meal, then you will be wasting your money because these individual ingredients are not things normally used in your household, which means they will more than likely not be used again leaving you with extra that expires or goes bad before you cook that dish again.

If you have to buy something special, make sure that you get only what you need without buying extra that you will never use.

Shopping for non perishable items in bulk and buying perishable items as needed can really help during these hard times.