You gotta eat, right? But WHAT do you gotta eat? A lot of people spend more money than they can afford by eating in restaurants, scarfing down take out at lunch, and buying pricey packaged foods at the grocery store.  Here are some tips to help you slim down your food spending.

1.    Identify the culprit: Instead of trying to tackle everything, figure out what type of behavior is most costly for you when it comes to food. Pull out three months of credit card and bank statements and eyeball some grocery bills. Don't just cut out lattes because you think you should. Instead, look at where cutting back would make the biggest difference for you, with the least impact. Restaurants, take-out or groceries? 

2.    Brainstorm ways to change: Think about different ways to change your spending habits around food. Start a meal swap coop. Make a number of dishes on the weekend that you can eat for lunch during the week. Change to a less expensive grocery store and shop the flyers on big-ticket items.

3.    Commit to some limits: Once you know what your weaknesses are, commit to making a change and set some limits to keep the behavior under control. You might choose to limit your eating out frequency to just once per week instead of 2-3 times. Or you might choose to limit the dollar amount you spend per week on food outside the home. As with changing any habit, it will take time for your new way of living to sink in. So be patient.