We spend hundreds of dollars on groceries every month. For many of us, the money spent on groceries is one of our largest bills. This is especially true for those who have large families to feed. With the cost of groceries on the rise, finding new ways to save money on groceries is extremely important.

Sign up for the rewards card offered by your grocery store. Walk up and down the aisles and you will see plenty of sales on the items you need but you have to be a rewards card holder in order to be eligible to receive these discounts. It only takes a minute to sign up for these rewards cards and it will be worth your time to do so.

Using coupons is one of the easiest ways to save money on groceries. Unlike a rewards card, customers can use their coupons at any grocery store that accepts them (unless they are store specific coupons). Coupons are readily available in newspapers and several online sites.

Check out coupons.com. They have an option available to customers that stores coupons on grocery store rewards cards. Not all grocery stores participate in this program but several larger chains do. If you have a store in your area that participates in the program, start shopping there to save money on your groceries. All you have to do is visit the website and select the coupons you wish to use. When you head to the store to make your purchases, your savings will be deducted when your rewards card is swiped!

The idea of living free of restraint and within your own control appeals to many and drives people to the woods to live self sufficient. No neighbors, no nine to five cube to work in, healthier food options and more exercise. There is a great deal to like when you live self sufficient. However, there are some drawbacks that many need to think about before they rush out to homesteading.

There are many things people living in a city take for granted and when they move out to the self sufficient lifestyle they get a sense of culture shock. Always keep in mind these three things when you are considering your move to a more self sufficient lifestyle.

You are an island: The things you hate about the neighborhood like loud neighbors, cars driving by and not having any space because everything is on top of you also provides a blanket of safety. When it snows your roads are cleared. When you lose power the electric company comes and fixes it. If you need help you only need to make a noise and neighbors would come running. When you move out to the middle of nowhere you need to not only create an environment that allows you to live self sufficient but understand the mentality that goes along with it. You are an island and need to be able to do everything on your own.

Power: Energy makes the world go round. When you live self sufficient you need to ensure your power is protected and you have backups if needed. You may use solar to heat your house but ensure you have a fireplace and a stack of wood available. You might use wind to power your household electrical items but ensure you have a few solar panels or a generator available in case something happens. If you are off the grid you want to ensure you have planned for backups and emergencies especially in areas which get heavy snow or harsh weather conditions.

Finances: Money in addition to power lets us get by each day. If you plan to go completely self sufficient you need to ensure you have a source of steady income which is reliable and avoids you going back to the daily grind. Learn to cut all excess from your budget and try to work all debts to nothing before making the leap. You don’t want to go through the motion of creating a dream and then run out of funding to live it.

I think it is a great goal living off the grid but I also recognize that it is a lot of work to get there. So many factors need to be taken into account and planned for in order to be successful in the move. Here are three tips to keep in mind if you are planning on living off the grid.

1. Start Small: Don’t try to unplug from the world overnight. Go slowly and work on one project at a time to move yourself to living off the grid. Pick one need at a time and work to provide it a different way. You will eventually get there, just be patient.

2. Make the most of your natural surroundings: Be sure to measure your house for sunshine before installing any solar panels or that the wind is sufficient to support the installation of wind turbine. Be sure you have woods nearby if you are installing a wood stove to heat your house. Again don’t just jump into the idea of living off the grid but attack each step with proper planning and careful steps to ensure you are successful with your move.

3. Financial responsibilities must be priority: Houses these days are built to live on the grid, not off the grid so trying to change costs money (unless your building a new home, and even then can cost more as they are seen as add-ons). Each project is not cheap even if you are doing most of the work on your own. Figure out a way to cover the expenses of the renovations so that you can pay for them without building up debt.

Do you have any tips of your own to help support a move to living off the grid?

So what does it take to really live the self sufficient life fully? It is something I wonder about a good myself as I work to get there on my own. Here is what I think it takes on how to live the self sufficient life.

Food: You need to provide completely for yourself. So this means having land to provide your own crops and livestock. This can take many acres as you would want a range of cattle, pigs, sheep and horses. You would also want to have room for a coup for your chickens. These I would believe are the core animals for living a self sufficient life.

Home: The home should be able to be fully powered on its own and heated. This requires solar panels or windmills to generate power to run the appliances in the house. You would also want a wood stove and solar heater to help in the winters.

Money: While you can cover what you eat and where you live at the end of the day you will need money for taxes, children and other expenses that come up like medical. You need a job that allows you to work from home and be your own boss. These are not easy to find and require a lot of work to get there. Most people who live a self sufficient life work as farmers.

For me when the question is asked how to live a self sufficient life it boils down to just those three categories. Food, Shelter and Finances. If you can figure out a way to be completely independent and manage those three things you have earned the right to call yourself 100% self sufficient.

More people are taking the idea of living self sufficiently seriously and trying to take a hard look at their own lifestyles and improve upon it. People who live self sufficient tend to follow a similar set of guidelines and discipline to their lives in order to balance the demands of living in a society against the desire to live on their own and without a dependency upon a neighbor.

Here are three common traits of people who live self sufficient:

Interested in gardening: The reason I need to put this on the list is that no matter where you live, you can grow something that will take you one step closer to living a self sufficient life. People who live self sufficient tend to grow their own crops and use them in their own cooking.

Never wastes anything: Everything can be used and those people who want to live self sufficiently know how to make the most of everything. Garbage goes to the compost, electrical items are turned off and unplugged if not used, anything that cannot be reused goes to the recycle bin so that someone else can reuse it.

Is not lazy: Living self sufficiently means instead of paying someone to do something for you, you are going to do it yourself. This means you cannot be lazy but very active. You could have animals that need to be attended, crops that need to be cared for and random chores around the house to take care of.

People who live self sufficiently have a desire to do things themselves. Self sufficiency is very much a mindset and a way of life. What common traits have you noticed in the people who live self sufficient that you know?

Pizza is one of the most popular meals in our households today. The general ingredients tend to make everyone happy and you can always keep adding in toppings to customize the flavor to your likings.Now, lets breakdown the popular food for a second to see why you should be a little more self sufficient and make your next pizza at home.

If you are order a pizza, here is what you can expect. Domino’s has about 2,300 calories in one cheese pizza; roughly each slice is around 275 calories. Papa John’s has about 2,500 calories per pizza and a little over 300 calories per slice. Pizza Hut is about 3,000 calories per pizza or around 270 per slice. The average pizza when ordered is around $15.00 plus tax and tip will run you $17.00 or $18.00.

If you made the same pizza at home you would need the following ingredients: dough, sauce and cheese which would cost about $7.00 or $8.00 if you buy the ingredients and even cheaper if you make them yourself. While you are not going to cut out a ton of calories, the average home made pizza slice will run between 200 and 250 as the slices are smaller, less dough and cheese is also generally used.

Save yourself some money and calories and go make the pizza yourself next time.

When I say bread I don’t mean money, I literally mean bread. Have you ever made your own home made bread? If you have made your own bread you would know that after two days maybe three, it goes stale. Have you ever bought bread from the store? Do you know how long store bought bread is good for? It can last for two weeks or longer. Isn’t that just a little disconcerting?

Same basic ingredients are used to make bread be it at home or by a large company accept when made for mass production and sold at your grocery store, it last two weeks thanks to the addition of preservatives and chemicals. These preservatives introduced to the bread do nothing good for you as far as nutrition or health but are applied help the bottom line of the company. Bread that lasts longer on the shelf of the store make more money for bakers as less waste and products going pass their must sell date.

This is why you should do it yourself, especially if you have a family who will go through a loaf of bread in a few days anyways. You won’t have to worry about the short time to go stale and in the end you will save money and be healthier for it. If you think it is a long time consuming process and do not want to get involved buy a bread machine. Bread machines will take you little time, just set it in motion and come back when it is done. Still better then the store bought bread.

When it comes to buying groceries there are two tests you should apply before going to the store and purchasing it. If you can follow these two simple but effective rules you will save yourself a lot of money in the long run.

First rule: Do you need it. Simple but most people get in the habit of just buying something because they usually buy it… even if they already have it at home and do not really use it that often. Even if you do not have any, is it something you need? Can you do without it?

Second rule: Can you do it yourself. Are you going to buy a cake? Why not buy the ingredients and make it yourself? (Most common answer is laziness but no one admits it). Most things people actually NEED (see rule 1) they can do themselves. Most things people WANT they need to buy from the store. Why? Because everything you need you can provide for yourself.

Always apply these two basics rules and you will have more money in your wallet and live a healthier life in the long run.

Listening to my family and friends talk about their plans for the upcoming new years I realized something. If all of them would just pick up some self sufficiency techniques all of their resolutions would be resolved. Why? Let me explain using the two most popular resolutions.

Resolution #1 Lose Weight: To do this requires two things. Exercise and eating properly. When you learn about self sufficiency you realize that you become more active by doing things instead of sitting back and paying someone to do them for you. Even little things burn calories. Working in the garden, cooking your own meals, etc burns calories and they add up. On the flipside is eating healthy. I think this is an obvious one. Cook your own foods. Better yet, use your own home made ingredients in your own home cooked meals and you will lose weight. It is that simple.

Resolution #2 Save Money: Here is a real break through for you. If you spend less, you can save more. I’m a genius, right? No. It is simple and obvious. Stop spending so much money by paying a middle man to do work for you. Learn how to repair your own car, fix something broken in your house, and provide your own food. Do it yourself and you will save money. Trying to earn more money is not easy but what is within your control is how you spend your own money. Be smart about it and learn self sufficiency. Learn to live a self sufficient life and keep your own money in the bank instead of someone else’s account.

So what is your new year’s resolution? Are there things you can do yourself with it?

I am not going to tell you a world shaking idea, nor tell you something you most likely don’t already know but for some reason people just chose to ignore the obvious. Want to save ten dollars this week? Do any one of the following:

Brew your own coffee at home: I know, right? Real break though, earth shattering stuff, but it is true and most people are too lazy to do it. Don’t have time in the morning? Buy a coffee maker that has a timer. Making your coffee at home will save you more then ten dollars, even with the purchase of a new machine, so stop buying at the store. Brew at home.

Walk or ride a bike: While gas is slowly returning to normal prices, you still have to pay for it when you use it. If you live in a city, walk or ride a bike. We ALL can use the exercise. Limit your need to drive if you have to. Plan your trip so you can combine errands instead of driving each day in various directions burning gas that you could have saved.

Bring your lunch or breakfast: Stop eating out, go make some bread, go make some jam and peanut butter. Bring that instead. I know, it’s bland not as sexy as Burger King… but trust me, you will save money in the long run and be healthier for it. Same goes for breakfast. Bring snacks from home, get up twenty minutes earlier and have a bowl of cereal, stop buying food that you already have at home.

Here are just a few ways to save ten dollars any week. There are many more ways you can save. Know of some and want to share? Please do!