Getting the Best Price on Groceries

• Grocery stores know that many shoppers are lazy and don't want to reach high or bend low. Because of this they put the higher priced groceries between knee and shoulder level (with the highest prices chest-high. Bend down or reach up and you can probably find a better deal
  
  
• Avoid buying non-grocery items at the grocery store. Things like toothpaste, mouthwash, batteries, etc. are much cheaper at a drug store than at a grocery store.
  
  
• Always take your store card to the grocery store. Stores like Safeway and CVS offer discount cards for free. Get one and use it every time. You will save from 10% to 30% with the card.
  
  
• Coupons work use them.
  
  
• Buy the store brand (ex. "Safeway Select" in Safeway). The days of the generic brand in the black and white can and tastes like dirt are long gone. Nowadays the packaging as well as the food quality is just as good in the store brand as the national brand.
  
  
• Instead of buying 10 for $10 dollars buy how many you want. Many times the store will say you have to buy all 10 items but will still charge you $1 for each item. They are just trying to trick you into buying all 10. This is hit or miss, as each store is different, but generally this works.
  
  
• Avoid the big grocery store and go for the discount grocer. Stores like Costco and Trader Joe's generally tend to have lower prices than stores like Safeway and Albertsons. In the case of Trader Joe's you get the added benefit of having fresher fruits and vegetables and many more organic and healthy choices (plus they use paper instead of plastic!).
  
  
• Buy the Sunday paper. The paper costs $1.50 but may have $100 worth of coupons in it. Maybe you're not a coupon clipper, but once a week is not bad if it can save you 30% on your groceries.
  
  
• Use online coupons. There are several websites ( www.smartsource.com , www.coolsavings.com ) that have online coupons that you print out (without having to join a club or pay a membership fee). Using these sites is great because you can do web searches for what you are looking for instead of having to go through each page of a coupon section in the newspaper .