By CARLA MORRICAL-FREDERKING

Special to The Hays Daily News

How about trying these money-saving tips?

* Plan out one week's worth of meals and go shopping one time. Make sure to check store ads to see what is on sale that week. Perhaps plan some meals around the sales.

* Always buy the fruits and vegetables that are in season as they're usually cheaper.

* Prepackaged items are almost always more expensive than non-packaged items. For example, a head of lettuce is cheaper than a package of cut-up lettuce. Cut carrots are more expensive than those you have to clean yourself. Cooking from scratch almost always saves money because of the increase in price for prepackaged items.

* Cook more food at home and make enough to freeze some for later. That way when you don't have time to cook, you won't be tempted to buy more expensive prepared food.

* Eat breakfast at home every morning. Not only is it much less expensive to do so, you won't be tempted to drive through somewhere on your way to work -- a likely meal full of fat.

* Brown-bag it for lunch at work, and bring your own snacks too. Vending machine goodies can be costly over time.

* If you eat our, ask for a take-away container when your food is delivered and immediately save half to eat for another meal.

Carla Morrical-Frederking is the Ellis County Research and Extension agent for family and consumer science.