I love this topic! I retired as a community educator with Cooperative Extension and this was part of my job working with families in the community! Menu planning and cooking ahead offer huge savings to us all. For example, buying bulk ground beef or chuck (the chuck is actually cheaper as you are not "throwing away" a half of can of fat), turn your oven on, cook a meatloaf, meatballs and hamburger patties within the same hour. When its done, throw the meatballs and the burgers in the freezer for another meal. Ice cube trays for leftover veggies, freeze and then put in a ziplock. Combination meals 2x per week, meatless meals 1-2 x per week. This is a huge savings, we all know next to taxables, the meat is a huge expense. When shopping for laundry soap, don't always buy into the cheapest bottle, look at the cap for quanity recommended per load. If you live in an area that has day and night rates for your electric (I do), do your wash, vac, etc in the evening or early early in the am. Unplug anything not in use. Even turned off, if its plugged in, it is costing you. I'll hush now, this is fun!