7 Easy Summer Money Saving Tips

*This post is sponsored by the Glass Barn presented by Indiana Soybean Farmers but all thoughts and tips are all my own.

Do you need to get more bang for your buck this summer? I have a treat for you! You don’t want to miss these 7 Easy Summer Money Saving Tips.

While I know that the U.S. has one of the safest and most inexpensive food supplies in the world, there are always ways to make sure you are getting the best deal. 

7 Easy Summer Money Saving Tips

Buy Produce In Season 

Around here, the price of produce can vary greatly. By buying what is in season, you will be getting wonderfully fresh produce and at the best price. Nothing makes me happier than seeing strawberries for 99 cents! Want to know what is in season this summer, you can find out over on My Fearless Kitchen. 

I won't leave you high and dry! Here are some of my favorite recipes to use with fresh fruits and veggies! Over on Goodeness Gracious we have Strawberry Banana Salad, Summer Corn Salad and Cilantro Corn Salad.

Shop Local

Talk about fresh! It doesn't get much better than at a roadside farm stand. In my neck of the woods, they provide you with amazing produce for an incredible price. Our local grocery store also has wonderful local produce at wonderful prices. 

We love using the fresh corn on the cob with this recipe over on Recipes That Crock.

Watch Your Local Sales

We just stocked up on hot dogs for the summer. Our local Jay-C had one of our favorite name brand hot dogs that are normally $5 a pack for a little less than half price! If you are scared you will buy more than you will use, see the freezing tip below!

If it is raining outside, never fear! Making hot dogs in a crock pot is SO simple!

Find a Discount Grocery Store

I know, I know...some of you might not like this suggestion...at. all. Hear me out though. I am a name brand cereal girl and used to be a name brand chip girl. However, we started shopping at our local Ruler Foods store (it is the discount store owned by Kroger). I will take the Kroger brand BBQ chips over name brand chips any day of the week. We have also found many other store brand products that we love as much, if not more, than name brand. What about cereal? I'm still a name brand cereal girl. However, refer to the "watch your local sales" tip. I only pay less than $2.00 for any box of cereal I buy...even the ones that are normally $4-5 a piece.

Consider Buying Freezer Beef

This one is an investment up front, but pays off big time! We bought a cow from a local farmer, and he took it to the local processor for us. We were able to choose what we wanted to do with our quarter of the beef. We have steaks, roasts, stew meat, hamburger, brisket, you name it! And all of it came out to $2.98 a pound! Can you imagine walking into a store and seeing T-bone steaks for $2.98 a pound?! People would be fighting over them! If you are worried about knowing what kind of cuts to get, Sarah has a great post over on The Farmwife Crafts about all the different kinds of cuts of beef.

Buy In Bulk

So you aren't quite ready to buy in a whole or even a quarter beef. Or maybe you are, but are looking for a way to get looking for a way to get pork and chicken at cheaper prices. Did you know that you can have the butcher at your local store cut up your meat before you purchase it? Say you want some chops, buy a tenderloin or pork loin and have the meat department cut it for you, or take it home and cut it up yourself. Easy peasy! Also, it is a lot cheaper to buy a whole chicken than buy the separate cuts. Over on Recipes That Crock, we have a ton of whole chicken recipes (one of my favorites is the BBQ Beer Chicken pictured below!). Or my friend Marybeth can show you how to cut up a whole chicken if you are more in the mood for fried chicken or something else that requires your chicken to be cut up. 

Utilize Your Freezer

Your freezer can be your best friend. Marybeth comes to the rescue again to help you out with how long you can keep different foods in the freezer and how to deal with and prevent freezer burn. 

Now that we are armed with that knowledge, we can stock up when a great sale hits and make life a lot easier (and less messy in the kitchen) with things that are prepared ahead of time and frozen!

Just what can be frozen ahead of time? How about chopping up a bunch of different veggie medleys to throw in the freezer for a hectic day. They could be used for a yummy veggie soup, roast, or chicken. You can also freeze broth (wouldn't that be yummy with some fresh herbs thrown in!), milk, make-ahead ground beef, garlic, onion, corn...you get the idea!