Saving Money at the Grocery Store
By Heather Hales, associate editor

Here are some tried and true techniques for saving money at the grocery store:

Meal Planning
Read the grocery store weekly ads (from the newspaper or online) to find out what is on sale. Then begin planning your weekly menu based on the items one sale at the store. I like to list everyday of the week, and then plan a dinner according to what our activities are that night. Fast dinners for busy nights and slow dinners for the nights we are at home. If ground beef is at a good price one week then you could plan on making Meatloaf on Tuesday and Hamburgers on Friday, this way you can buy ground beef in bulk and on sale.

Crisis Cooking
Crisis cooking, is when you head to the grocery store at 4:00 pm after a long day, for that nights dinner with no plan - just looking for what ever looks good. Shopping under those conditions gets expensive - you purchase quick convenient meals that are pricey and aren't always very healthy.

Coupons
If you clip coupons, using them when an item is already on sale is a great way to save even more. Check your local grocery stores and find out which ones double or triple coupons and when. If you really are a diligent coupon clipper, try to only use your coupons when they can be doubled or tripled.

Becareful though, even if you use a coupon when the item is on sale, it may still not be the cheapest option. Comparison shop and make the smartest choice.

Shop with a List
When ever you go grocery shopping, make a grocery list. Take account of what you already have in the cupboards, and what you have planned for your upcoming family meals. Base your list on what you need to restock your pantry and what ingredients you'll need for your upcoming meals. When you are at the store: STICK TO YOUR LIST; IF ITS NOT ON THE LIST DON’T BUY IT!!!

Cook from scratch
Buying pre-packaged dinners is easy, but it costs more. A Pre-packaged pasta dinner is approximately $1.50, and is enough for one-meal. A bag of spaghetti is approx. $1.19, two cans of tomato sauce @ $.59 each, 1/2lb fresh tomatoes @ $.99 a pound. Your from scratch meal costs $2.87, but you can make two dinners and one lunch from it (depending on the size of your family), which breaks down to $.95 a meal. Cooking from scratch makes your shopping trip cheaper, because you can make more meals from one scratch product.

Buy in Bulk
Buying items in bulk can cut down on costs. I recently bought a Costco Membership. I can buy two boxes of cereal at Costco for the same price as one box in the regular grocery store.

Carry a Calculator
Carrying a calculator with you when you shop allows you to calculate which item is really the best price. You can quickly decided if it's better to purchase the 24 oz. jar of peanut butter or the 16 oz.?

Stock Up
I like to bake a lot, so I tend to keep lots of butter on hand. When I notice that butter is on sale, I buy 2 or 3 packs to put in my freezer. Buying more than one of an item that you commonly use when its on sale can save you a lot of money in the long run.

Log online
If you haven't already check online for coupons. Some charge nominal subscription fees, but over lots of great money saving coupons for nation-brand products.

Also see if your local grocery store has a website chance are they may offer coupons you can print to save you additional money.

Paying complements
Call the toll-free numbers on your favorite product labels and tell the customer service representative how much you enjoy their product. Some reps will offer cents-off (or even free) coupons for the product itself; if they don't ask. Also ask to be placed on their email or direct mail list for free coupons and recipes.

Who'd have thought
Shop early in the day. You get through the store faster with your list and spend less

Try to shop when you're alone. Those little helpers can quickly boost your bill.

Avoid shopping for food when you're hungry; you'll buy more.

Don't grocery shop when you're tired, you'll by more sweets, more high-carbohydrates. When you're angry, you go for crunch food, the junk food.

Food Items Only
Avoid purchasing non-grocery items, such as dishwashing liquid, shampoo, toilet paper, pet food, etc. at the grocery store. You usually pay more for these items that at a discount department store.

Double Take
As you're walking out of the store, double check your receipts. Not matter how careful you or the store staff might be, mistakes happen. Catch them early so you can take care of them. Once you get home, you'll have a hard time remembering to have that $.50 error corrected.

A Week Of
Dinner Ideas

Chili

Pasta with Tomato Basil Sauce

Lemon BBQ Chicken

Baked Potato Soup

Chicken Bean Soup

Chicken Enchiladas

Fruit n' Cottage Cheese

1 can fruit cocktail (or 2 cups cut up fresh fruit)
1 container of Cottage Cheese

Serve with Hawaiian bread on the side. Makes a great healthy and light dinner.

Reader Tips:

*Do you have some great tips for saving money when you shop? Share them with us HERE

"I belong to the website adsandbargains.com. It is a site that you can subscribe to and if it is in your area, will show you the ads and coupons that match. I save anywhere from 50-70% off and even more with using coupons. I got several items for free last week."

-- Jennifer Atwood

"Check out thegrocerygame.com.

What this website does is it tracks sales vs. phantom sales and tells you what is worth using your coupons on and stocking up. At first I wasn't sure b/c you do have to subscribe. After four weeks I am a complete believer - last time between coupons and sales I saved $56 on my bill and got 7 free toothbrushes. $1.25 a week doesn't sound like much any more."

-- April Foreman