I'm a college-age gal without a whole heck of a lot of $$ to my name, and I find that groceries are often the biggest chunk of my budget - more than gas, electric, cable, phone  - and that goes unnoticed by a lot of people...we logically assume groceries to be essential to life, and thus go on paying whatever it costs. Time to stop the insanity!

Here's my 4 simple rules for grocery shopping without murdering my wallet:

1.) Plan! Most grocery stores, including Shoprite (my personal fave), Foodtown, A&P, Stop & Shop, etc have websites you can visit and get the latest sales flyer on. Look through the sales flyer online, see if anything leaps out at you; I plan most of my meals depending what's on sale that week.

2.) Pay Attention! The sales deals they are featuring the heck out of (barring things like produce or deli meat, cause you really don't see coupons for those) most likely have a corresponding coupon in the paper.

3.) Get a Subscription or a Gas Station Buddy! Yup, you read that right - a subscription to the paper can be really valuable to the designated family grocery shopper. (Opt for the weekend-only option; most papers have it and unless you like the daily paper, there's no need to shell out the extra $$, despite how they pressure you about it!) Papers will also (and this is the fun part) usually give all the coupons to their subscription customers SATURDAY - you get a whole day head start to plan what to buy! Leaf through the coupons, then the sales flyer for the supermarket you go to - this helps your brain link up any sales/coupon double opportunities a little better.

But maybe your local paper isn't very good or doesn't have coupons...find yourself a friend at a gas station and start showing up late in the evening on Sunday - newspaper vendors have to cut off the heading of the Newspaper to return for credit, but usually THROW OUT the rest - including the COUPONS!! Bribe them with cookies for the extra copies - works for me!

Here's another tip: Use a lot of something and see a GREAT deal coming up in the paper, but only have one coupon? Hop on...you guessed it...eBay! Lots of people sell lots of coupons, and buying a bunch couldn't be easier! Added bonus - no carpal tunnel syndrome from constant sissoring! :-D

4.) Get a Card! If you don't have a grocery savings card/keychain, you're being silly :) Most grocery stores have fantastic incentive programs that you can rack up points for just by buying the things you were going to anyway - what's there to lose? 

-    For instance, my Shoprite keychain is linked to a UPromise.com account; that gives me between 1-5% of the price of certain items, like specific brands of cola or toilet paper, and deposits it into a savings account towards my future child's (or neice, nephew, neighbor's kid, grandkid - you get the idea) college education.

-   My card is ALSO linked to a Skymiles Frequent Flyer program - for every two dollars I spend on my groceries, regardless of brand, I get a frequent flyer mile!

-   My card ALSO tracks my purchases about four times a year towards either something like a turkey, ham, or 10% certificate for every $300 I spend in a certain period..usually about two weeks to a month. I got my thanksgiving turkey and an easter ham for FREE!

Before you physically go to the store, do these three things:

A.) Appetite - Suppress it! Eat *before* you head to the market or you'll find a lot of "mystery" impulse items sneaking in your cart.

B.) Be Calm! Shopping stressed or angry is also proven to adversely affect the quantity and quality of what you buy. Take a few deep breaths before heading in, and remember - it's just food! Shopping early in the day or around 8 at night also ensures you won't have to use your cart as an impromtu cattle prod.

C.) Compile a list! Shopping with a list has been shown to rein in even the most impulsive of shoppers - this has become a lot easier lately with Grocery Stores' online websites (like Shoprite!!) now offering an 'interactive flyer', enabling you to simply click on the items on sale you're interested in and have them digitally added to a shopping list you can print out.

Good Luck everyone! May your carts steer correctly and your cans stay undented!

-Fox of Kitsune Kitsch Cosmetics