You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.

Hey, it's Mariel.

For a lot of us, this time of year can trigger a bit of a financial reckoning.

Like, all right, I spent a lot of money last year.

I have a big old credit card bill coming due soon.

Maybe it's time to cut back.

Easier said than done, especially if you're living paycheck to

paycheck, but we do have some ideas for you. On this episode of Life Kit, we bring you tips on how to

save money. This is not an exhaustive list, of course, but it is a start, because most of us don't have

unlimited funds. And when we find ways to save money, we're giving ourselves the freedom to spend intentionally on the things we really want.

All right. One of the biggest expenses in any household is food.

That's why I'm going to start here.

Takeaway one,

look for ways to cut costs at the grocery store. One tip is to buy filling and flexible foods.

Beth Moncel is the founder of Budget Bites, a cooking blog, and she likes to use inexpensive filling ingredients to bulk up her recipes. One of those is cabbage. Cabbage is so versatile because

it can go with so many different flavors and there's a lot of different ways you can prepare it and it's so

filling. Don't forget about potatoes, onions, carrots, even broccoli sometimes can be pretty inexpensive.

So take a look in your produce aisle for the ingredients that are a little bit lower price,

and just try adding those into your recipes, and it will really increase the number of

servings without increasing the cost. Lentals and other beans and legumes are another option.

You can add them to chili and soup, and you can pair these cheaper items with the more expensive

ingredients like meat. So, like if I make a pot of chili, normally a recipe for chili will

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