2 families put grocery bills on a diet

— -- Americans are facing supermarket sticker shock. At a time when salaries are stagnating, families are seeing household food budgets rising. And it's not expected to get better any time soon. Next year, food prices are expected to increase 7% to 9%, says Bill Lapp, principal at Advanced Economic Solutions in Omaha.

As part of our Frugal Family Challenge series, USA TODAY and ABC's Good Morning America Weekend challenged two families to cut their grocery bills by 15% over one month — and eat healthier. With the help of Maile Carpenter, editor-in-chief of Food Network Magazine, both families exceeded the goal. The Jones family slashed their food bills by 28%; the Ramsays cut theirs by 19%. Here's how:

The Ramsay family

Before the Frugal Family Challenge began, Tania Ramsay of Miami knew that she was spending too much at the grocery store. With two teenage daughters, Stephanie and Jesse, she wanted to tighten her food budget and save more money for their college education.

She knew that too often she bought name-brand products, especially bread and cereal. They relied on canned pasta.

"They would buy 10 cans of Chef Boyardee because it was on sale," says Maile Carpenter, editor-in-chief of Food Network Magazine. "It seems cheaper."

But Carpenter showed how the family can buy a box of pasta and other ingredients to make a homemade dinner that will taste better and be less expensive. "We're eating a lot more pasta," Tania says. "And now we're doing it from scratch, and that is better than getting processed food."

The family continues to find ways to cut costs and eat healthier. They are reading the labels more closely. They buy generic brands of bread and cereal. And they no longer buy soft drinks for the girls.

Instead, they are buying orange juice and milk. "When we see cookies, we just pass them by," Tania says. Instead, they will buy granola bars so the girls can have a healthier snack.

Tania has joined a membership warehouse store, where she can find many bargains. Now the family can plan ahead, buy products in bulk and spend less. Recently, for example, they bought four gallons of orange juice for $9.99, or about $2.50 each. That compares with the $3.99 that they formerly paid for one gallon of juice at their local supermarket.

They also have bought bulk amounts of beef and chicken, which they divide up and put into the freezer. Tania lives with her mother, Detha, who does much of the cooking for the girls.

"She likes to make meatballs and things like that, so we bought a 15-pound pack of ground beef."

Stephanie, 17, and Jesse, 13, both like to cook, and they are now also very involved in the shopping experience. "They are seeing how to stretch their dollar," Tania says.

"They will carry that forward with them, and, to me, that's the greatest part of this experience."

The Jones family

To slash their family food budget, Susan Sterman-Jones and Scott Jones of Hoboken, N.J., cut back on eating at restaurants after their twins, Jackson and Ruby, were born. Instead, they began shopping at a gourmet grocery for high-quality, organic food.

"Before, our shopping routine was a big family event," Susan says. "It was time-consuming and expensive."

It took about 15 minutes to drive to the gourmet grocery. They often arrived on Saturday morning and had breakfast at the in-store cafe.

The family doesn't want to put organic food on the back burner. But they say that they want to shop more wisely and reduce their spending.

Scott says that he realizes that they also had been careless about their food menus. The couple both work, and so they often purchased frozen organic meals for their babysitter.

"It's expensive. But my thinking was always that if I'm going to buy frozen food, I'm going to buy the best kind that won't have any preservatives," Scott says.

Carpenter of Food Network Magazine told them that even if frozen meals are purchased at an organic store, they still aren't healthy. "She said that processed food in general isn't great," Scott says. "They're also expensive."

She suggested the couple get out their slow cooker and make some meals that can be heated up by their babysitter. To start, she recommended a pork roast recipe. Among other things, they can add seasonings to pulled pork and make tacos.

"It's easy and unbelievably delicious," Susan says.

The family has started stopping at a supermarket that is much closer to their home than the gourmet grocery. They discovered that it has a lot of organic brands, and the products cost less.

But they aren't willing to buy everything there. "I am still too picky about our chicken and beef to buy it at the local supermarket," Susan says. So they plan to occasionally shop at the gourmet store.

Carpenter also told them it isn't always necessary to pay more for organic fruit and vegetables. Produce that's usually peeled, such as avocados and bananas, doesn't have to be organic, she said.

The family hopes to keep moving forward and improving their food shopping. But they realized that it's not easy.

Even though they want to break their habit of buying frozen food, it boils down to having enough time to make meals in their slow cooker.

"It's like joining a gym," Scott says. "You are great the first three or four months, and you think, 'This is wonderful,' but can you keep it up?"