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Here’s how to get the most from your grill without your paycheque going up in smoke.

Get the most from your grill — without your grocery budget going up in smoke.

There’s a delicious aroma in the air, and it’s not coming from the nearest restaurant. Even before outdoor rooms became a hot trend, barbeques were the focus of many an outdoor feast.

However, a barbequing doesn’t have to overheat your grocery bill, and budget-friendly meals don’t have to focus on hotdogs and hamburgers. Here are some ways to enjoy the grill more often while staying on budget.

Shop the sales

Let’s start with the obvious: your grocery store or market flyer. Stores know weekly specials will bring people in to shop — especially near special events (For instance, prime rib or lobster tails may go on special around Father’s Day.)

You can also snag some deals if you pay attention to timing. After a major holiday, stores are often stuck with excess stock they need to clear out — like turkeys, which keep well in the freezer. If you’re looking for discounts for dinner that night, watch for meat that is reduced for quick sale.

Another item to comparison shop: your choice of fuel. Whether you use charcoal, pellets or propane, make sure you’re getting the best price and look for promotions when available.

If you’re looking for a new barbeque or accessories, wait for end-of-season sales. If you can hold out that long, you can snag a deal as retailers make room for winter and Christmas merchandise.

Read more: Barbeque on a budget

The release of the details of George Osborne’s first budget as Chancellor yesterday has seen a largely positive response, while acknowledging that tough times lie ahead.

“As expected, this budget has been tough, reflecting the current economic times. We welcome the Government’s commitment not to introduce VAT on food during its period in office,” said Jonathan Knight, Chief Executive of The Regional Food Group for Yorkshire and Humber. “Delaying the 2.5 percent VAT increase until January 2011 should encourage consumer sales momentum in the run up to Christmas, which will help the food and drink sector, especially independent retailers and producers.”

Read more here: Food Industry Responds to Osborne’s Emergency Budget

Looking for ways to save on groceries? There are plenty of tips in a new book written by a pair of California schoolteachers who detail their month-long experiment to live on just a dollar a day. For 30 days, Kerri Leonard and her boyfriend Christopher Greenslate lived on oatmeal porridge for six cents a serving and lunches of homemade bread filled with five cents’ worth of peanut butter, and a favourite dinner dish, chana masala, a kind of chickpea curry that came in at 25 cents a serving.

In their book, On a Dollar a Day: One Couple’s Unlikely Adventures in Eating in America, Leonard writes that “car payments, mortgage payments, and credit card payments” drove them to attempt the project. Her proposed solutions to economizing, she writes, “ran along the lines of more reasonable grocery lists and better planning. That was when Christopher volunteered the information that a portion of the world eats on a dollar a day or less. ‘Why don’t we try it?’ he asked.”

Read more: Feeding yourself on a dollar a day