In my part of the country we have a few discount grocery stores

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2. One scheme I use is to consider what I have saved in ready cash...

...(measured in weeks of expenses) balanced against canned and shelf stable food in the pantry. I Used anything I could save out of 1 week's pay in 4 to buy stuff that saves long term. The other 3 weeks would be aimed at savings. For example if I'm fortunate enough to have expenses of $300/week, make $350/week and have 3 weeks ($900) saved, one week per month I'll spend $50 (above that week's regular groceries) on adding discounted items to my pantry until I have 3 weeks of food to match my 3 weeks of savings. The idea is to balance what I add to my pantry with my savings. If I have 2 years worth of pork and beans in my pantry but only 2 months worth of expense money saved, I'll have no heat or electricity and have an eviction notice but be able to eat cold beans that keep in the trunk of my car which has no gas.

One thing that makes me happy is to go through my shelves and inventory how many meals I can make and, as long as I'm working and saving, splitting my excess with my local food bank or shelter. There's a church near me that helped when I was out of work for 5 months and I'm trying to get a box of stuff together for them.

We freeze a chicken carcass after roasting in a freezer bag to make soup. We have a food processor that slices so I have bags of sliced carrots, celery and onions in the freeze.

The unit price is what counts. One place we save is on pet food in 18 - 25 pound bags. It can be as much as 40% cheaper.

Thanks