The price of groceries keeps going up, but that doesn't mean that you have to skimp on your meals. There are several ways to save money on food so that you don't feel pinched when it's time to eat. Here are some of our top tips for keeping your grocery bill under control:

Reduce Food Waste

One of the easiest ways to keep food costs down is to reduce waste. The best way to do this depends on the food. Many vegetables and fruits are best kept in the refrigerator, but there are a few exceptions. Onions and potatoes, for example, can lose their flavor or texture if kept too cold. Look up the best storage methods for each type of produce you normally eat, and then follow the recommendations.

Meats, on the other hand, keep best in the freezer. Most can be frozen for three months or longer, while they only last a few days in the fridge. Bread also freezes up great.

Get a Standalone Freezer

There are all sorts of options for standalone freezers. The chest freezer is the most well-known of these. Chest freezers come in sizes ranging from small to huge, so it's easy to get one that meets your and your family's needs.

The biggest reason you should invest in a chest freezer is so you can take full advantage of any meat sales at the time they happen. Often, people miss out on such sales because they have no room to store the meat for the long term. With a chest freezer, you can stock up far more than you can with just the freezer compartment of your regular refrigerator. You could, for example, buy 40 lbs. of raw chicken or beef on a half-off sale instead of just one pack. It's easy to save hundreds of dollars over the course of a few months this way.

Only Buy Foods that You Actually Like

Food deals only save you money if you'll actually eat the food. If you stock up on something just because it's cheap, and not because you really like it, there's a good chance that it'll go to waste before you eat your entire stock of it. A good rule of thumb is that if you wouldn't buy it if you were a millionaire, don't buy it now either.

Switch to Batch Cooking

If you have ever had food go stale because you didn't get around to cooking it in time, this strategy is for you. Simply pick a day when you're feeling energetic. Then cook up a whole week's worth of meals, or make a huge amount of one thing. Once it is done, refrigerate or freeze the extra food in single-portion packages. Any time you don't feel like cooking, take out a pack of the pre-cooked food and heat it up.

This technique has many benefits. Unlike the heat-and-eat meals that come in boxes, the meals you make from scratch only contain foods that you like. This reduces food waste. Since you're not paying for a factory to make and package your food, the cost is significantly lower. Finally, you know exactly what's in your home-cooked meals. It's easy to get all-natural food when you make it yourself out of raw, unprocessed base ingredients!

Use Grocery Savings Apps

There are several savings and rebate apps for Android and iPhone that work for groceries. The best ones give you a discount much like coupons would, though they work a bit differently. Typically, you will accumulate "points" and either get a gift card or a PayPal payment when you reach the app's threshold for payout. Here are a few of our top picks:

For Android

• Fetch: Accumulate points by uploading receipts and by buying specific products. Some of the products give thousands of points. This app pays in gift certificates to a wide variety of stores.
• Ibotta: This app gives cash back on select products. When you hit the threshold, it pays out in cash. You can also choose to get gift cards. For this one, you must select offers to redeem before you actually shop.

For iPhone

• Coupons.com: Get digital coupons and cash-back deals. This one can be linked to store loyalty accounts.
• Fetch: The iOS version brings this app's benefits to your iPhone. As with the Android version, you can upload receipts to get points on select items, and then cash those points in for gift certificates.

By following these tips, you can reduce food waste and lower your grocery bills without any hassle. Give them a try and see how easy it is to make them part of your daily life.