Make a commitment to cooking from scratch. 

Really, it's not as hard as it seems.  You can pre-prepare many different things to have at a moments notice AND you can save alot of money on homemade convienience food.

Prepared foods are where we all get stuck spending more money.  These are some of the things that I used to buy.  And it's out of these things that we make so many different dishes and casseroles!  I now make these myself:

(I would make bread, but I haven't bought the right pan yet.)

Tomato soup

Chicken noodle soup

Any "cream of" soups

Enchilada sauce

Broth

Waffles

Pancake mix

Taco seasoning

Biscuits

Flour and corn tortillas

Yogurt

Cottage cheese

Ricotta cheese

Baked beans

Rice a roni mix

Pizza dough

Oatmeal

Goodness Gracious!  I don't make these things all the time.  I don't need ricotta cheese every week and  we only have baked bean every couple weeks.  But really, the idea is that you CAN make so many things from scratch----saving you money.  In the next couple days I will post some ideas on how to do this.  Just some tips on making the prep and change-over easier.  Come back in a day or two.  For now here is a website that has helped me SO MUCH in changing my budget ways.

Hillbilly Housewife