If you spend hours every week worrying about your grocery bill and you aren't quite sure what to do about it, listen up! Here are some tried and true ideas on how to shop and save a good deal of money each month. These aren't "new" concepts. These are things your mom probably did way back when but after decades of a booming economy, these lessons in frugality were all but forgotten.

These are quick, easy steps to figuring out how to save money without making too many sacrifices. Your mom would be proud!

Buy when something is on sale.
You may not need it right away, but it's better to buy it cheaper now, than to wait a few weeks and pay full price. Remember when Mom used to keep what looked like a lifetime supply of toilet paper in the basement? Of course you do! Saving money on toilet paper (and everything else) was probably the only reason you got your new bike for Christmas!

Whatever you're buying, check for coupons.
Your goal is to increase your savings each and every time you head to the store, no matter what you're buying. Frequently the coupons in Sunday's paper match what the local stores have on sale for the upcoming week.

Don't wait till you're out of something before heading to the store.
Chances are that you'll end up paying a premium. If you buy on sale, and learn to stock up, you won't need to be running out of anything.

Don't ignore circulars from stores you don't normally patronize. They might accept competitors' coupons! Even if you only buy a few things with these coupons while that store has them on sale, you could be saving a good amount of money!
Pay close attention to the "Buy One / Get One" sales.
These aren't always a bargain. Let's say your regular grocery store has a special on their brand of tissue where you "buy one get one free" and the price is $2.29. That's not a deal! Most stores sell a box of store brand tissues at $1.09 or less. Spending $2.29 for two boxes is more than buying tissue for the regular price, e.g., at $2.29/2, each box is really $1.14.

Your best buys are usually with meats on sale.
If you do see a "Buy One/Get One" sale, stock up! Make sure you know your before sales prices, though. Some stores hike up the "regular" price on the label during these sales. You need to know if it is indeed the savings they want you to believe. If it is, load up the freezer!

Never be afraid to try a coupon even if it doesn't seem to be for the exact same product.
Stores haven't the time or the resources to do the level of programming it takes to decipher each individual product bar code at checkout. For instance, a particular $3.00 Loreal hair color coupon that came out recently showed a picture of a specific line of their hair color; however, when a different Loreal coloring product was purchased, the coupon was successfully scanned and worked just fine.

The same goes for coupons that specify "save xxx for 2". Frequently these coupons will scan just fine even if you only buy one instead of two of whatever the coupon was for.

Plan your menus around what's on sale that week.
This is especially important if you haven't been able to stock up on enough in order to have virtually everything you use on hand at all times.

Some of the cheapest foods have the most nutrition!
Beans (almost any kind) are loaded with B vitamins and fiber. Mix them with some meat and veggies and light seasoning, and you have a great tasting, low cost, nutrient rich meal…probably with leftovers! Dark green vegetables like collard and mustard greens are full of antioxidants! Reduce their inherent bitterness with a little lemon juice and you would be able to get most of your daily vitamins just from these two vegetables. A pound of collard greens vs. a pound of broccoli is a no brainer when it comes to cost and nutrition.

If you've been used to buying prime meats but find it much more difficult nowadays, don't worry. There are many lower cost cuts of meat that still provide the same level of nutrients, at a fraction of the cost you might be used to. Instead of sirloin strips at $9.99 a pound, try a chuck roast at $3.59 a pound or less on sale. Turn it into a pot roast with your crock pot and you will still be able to enjoy a memorable meal at about one third of the cost.

Don't be afraid to try store brands if you haven't done so as yet.
Even if you have tried your regular store's brand and didn't like what you've tried, try another store! Even large "dollar stores" have some outstanding quality in their own store brands – saving you plenty! Canned goods, cookies and crackers, bottled juices, packaged products, cleaning products, and even pet food can be had for a fraction of what you pay at your regular grocery store…and you won't be sacrificing quality.

Cheap and Healthy:

Brown Rice
Great for: Side dishes, rice salads, fried rice, casseroles, soups, and stews.

Whole-Wheat or
Multigrain Pasta
Great for: Hot and cold pasta dishes.

100% Whole-Wheat Bread
Great for: Hot and cold sandwiches, bread stuffing, bread pudding, and breakfast.

Whole-Wheat Flour
(stone-ground)
Great for: Breakfast recipes like pancakes and waffles, plusall baking recipes (use half whole wheat flour and half white flour), including breads, muffins, cakes, and cookies.

Oats (Old-Fashioned or Quick)
Great for: Hot or cold cereal, granola, crumb toppings for desserts, and muffins.

Frozen Vegetables
Great for: Side dishes, casseroles, and stews.

Potato (Russet)
Great for: Baked potatoes, breakfast potatoes, salads, casseroles, and stews.

Fresh Bagged Spinach
Great for: Quick salads,egg dishes, casseroles, soups, and stews.

 

Canned Refried Beans
Great for: Burritos, nachos, dips, enchiladas, or a quick side dish.

Canned Tuna (solid white albacore or chunk light in water)
Great for: Sandwiches, casseroles, several types of salads, and to serve with crackers.

Canned or Jarred Marinara Sauce
Great for: Pasta dishes, pizza, casseroles, appetizers, Italian sandwiches, and stews.

Whole Wheat Pita Bread
Great for: Making pizzas, flatbread appetizers, and hot or cold sandwiches.

Nulaid Reddi Eggs
(egg substitute)
Great for: Making quick omelets, or as an ingredient in fried rice. You can also blend halfegg substitute and half eggs to make quiches, frittatas, and egg casseroles.

Frozen Edamame (Soybeans)
Great for: Snacks and appetizers or as a side dish with your meal. If the edamame are shelled (without pods), you can easily add them to fried rice, stews, casseroles, and more.

Canned Crabmeat
(with 15% leg meat)
Great for: Casseroles, sandwiches, salads and as filling for omelets, quiche, enchiladas, and more.

Over a cup of coffee, a friend and I started talking about how expensive groceries had become. With the New Year upon on us, I told her our family just had to resolve to save money on groceries in 2010. With four growing kids, our monthly grocery bill had grown to rival our mortgage payment. In addition to the regular meals, the kids dart around the kitchen after school like little land sharks whipping themselves into a feeding frenzy between our pantry and refrigerator. It seemed I could never keep up with their consumption. With a knowing gleam in her eye, my friend told me she had found the answer. When my friend told me she had learned of a way to save over 60% off her weekly grocery bill, I became very intrigued. When she told me she paid less than 40¢ for yogurt and 25¢ for tub of margarine, she became my hero. When she told me she would even get products for FREE at the store, she became my Sensei. I was the student. I sat motionless, jaw dropped, as she extolled the virtues of the “Grocery Game”. A savings Mecca where as the checkout clerks scans coupons, grocery bills get lower and lower and lower. I listened, I learned, I clipped, I printed... I saved $138.00 in the first week! I high-fived the clerk and exclaimed, “You go girl. Now, that’s what I’m talking about!” Well maybe not, but I was really excited. The Grocery Game is a wonderful web site (www.thegrocerygame.com) that
I too am now addicted, and I save over $100 every week!

An ingenious woman named Teri Gault is the founder of The Grocery Game. It started in 2000. Basically, it is a web site that provides you with a weekly list of products on sale at your local supermarket like Kroger or Publix, and is matched with the coupons from your Sunday circulars, manufacture’s coupons, and specials — advertised and unadvertised. The site does the hard work and research, and tells you what to stock up on and when. Teri found that usually supermarkets are divided into sections, and each week a few sections are put on sale.

"We teach people to stockpile when things are on sale," says founder Teri Gault.

A subscription is $10 for eight weeks, but you can get a four-week trial for free at www.thegrocerygame.com. Learning to shop from computer-generated list with coupons can take some time at first, but once you get your system in place, and your grocery bill down…you’re addicted!

Here are some hints to help you get started.

Get organized -
Buy 2 coupon organizers.
Label the primary one by grocery section and the other by alphabet. Use the one by alphabet for those items you may not absolutely need. This way, you will think twice before buying something you may not use. Put coupons for items that you use regularly in your primary coupon organizer. Save one space in your primary coupon organizer for the current week’s coupons.

Purchase the double Sunday AJC, so you will have twice the coupons.
To avoid cutting bunches of coupons, simply put the date on the inserts and store in a folder. The Grocery Game list will list the date and which insert to clip the coupon. Then, you go back to that insert and clip. As you run across other great coupons, clip and store in the organizers. However; if you try to clip all the coupons you run across, you certainly will be dazed, confused, and buried in a pile of coupons.

Find a place to stockpile.
The Grocery Game will get you stockpiling, buying items at rock-bottom prices with a good coupon. You’ll have a well-rounded stockpile after about 12 weeks. Your need shopping diminishes as you pull items from your store at home. Don’t worry: you shouldn’t be spending more money as you build your stockpile. If you follow The List, you will probably find that you are coming home with more groceries for less money!

Sign up for email coupons.
Check out these sights. Some you can even have the coupon go straight to your grocery card! Then, there’s no need to clip a coupon. Here’s some sites to check out:
www.cellfire.com,
www.pgeverydaysolutions.com,
www.coupons.com,
www.completesavings.com,
www.shortcuts.com

Review The List and select only the items your family will eventually use, and print.
Then, clip the coupon from the source indicated on the list.

Finally, you can get to the store and score big with real savings up to 100% OFF. It’s not the money tree that we all have been looking for, but it’s pretty close. This New Year, saving money at the grocery is one resolution you can easily keep.