Ok, so I was at the local supermarket buying some much needed groceries for myself and my 3.5 year old beagle, Ralph. Ralph can almost sense when I am going to buy food. He starts howling as if he wants to go with me. Anyway, as i was going through the supermarket aisles, I was amazed at how much food has gone up since this time last Christmas! You practically need to get a bank loan for a loaf of bread and orange juice. So, after paying an inordinate amount of money for groceries, I decided to search the 'Net for ways to save money on groceries. I picked out seven I liked. You most likely have heard most, if not all, of these seven tips. These are the seven I liked best.

1. Never go grocery shopping when you are hungry. That is probably the oldest and perhaps, best advice you can get on saving money. I can't tell you the number of times I have bought stuff I really didn't want. But, it looked so good (baked goods is an example), I couldn't resist.
2. Coupons, coupons, coupons. Ok, I use to ignore coupons. Most were five cents off, fifty cents off and so on. But, I have discovered that really adds up. My next door neighbor talked me into the value of coupons to save money on groceries. I'm sold now.
3. Store brands (cheaper) instead of name brands. People automatically think name brands are going to be better than non-brand goods. I suspect, in most cases, people can't tell the difference between the two. Sure, that is not true in all cases. Just to prove my point, I bought some Nabisco gingerbread cookies and store brand. Absolutely no difference except one thing; the price.
4. Stock up on deals of the day. Now, you may have all the toothpaste, shampoo and washing determent you need. But, if they are having special sales of the day, take advantage of this time and stock up!
5. Don't shop in a rush. I probably have more trouble with this one than any other tip. I am always in a hurry to get through shopping. I hate to shop for groceries or anything else. But, I have discovered if you are in a hurry, you don't really take time to comparison shop in order to save money on different items.
6. Markdowns. This is something I use to ignore also even though you can save so much money. I was always afraid that markdowns meant "expiration date" problems. Not so. But, you really have to watch markdowns on such items as meat, poultry and fish. I still stay away from markdowns on that. I had food poisoning once in my life. Once is enough.
7. Check your store receipts. I can't tell you the number of times I have come home only to discover I had been charged twice for an item. I want to believe it is inadvertent. But, I really wonder about that. This is something you should really check before you leave the store parking lot. I've come back to the store to get reinbursed and had to go through the third degree with a cashier.

We all need ways to save money in this economy. I just decided to try all the above and they do work for me. Money is tight. Saving a few pennies here and there helps.

 Subscribe in a reader