1.  If you don’t want to stop going out to eat, check your local newspaper,
the back of grocery receipts and junk mail flyers for restaurant coupons.  A
lot of restaurants offer a buy 1 meal get 1 free on certain days of the week. 
If you want to cut back even more, cut back on the number of times you go out
in a month or week. 

2.  Shop grocery outlets.  Every major city has them.  Ours is called *The
Canned Food Warehouse*.  Not every item in the store is a deal; you have to know
normal food prices to compare, but when you do find a deal, it is usually a
great one.  You will find enough of these deals to make your trip worth it. 

3.  Be sure to comparison shop.  Look at the sale tag on the items shelf and
see how much per pound, ounce or whatever the item is sold as.  Compare that
to the other products to determine which is the best deal. 

4.  Always check the weekly grocery ads for the good sales.  If there is a
really good deal on something, be sure to buy it in multiples.  This will save
you from paying full price later. 

5.  Use coupons for food products.  I have found the best way to use them is
combined with a sale.  Most of the time, if you use a coupon without combining
it with a sale, you will still be paying more than other brands, so be sure
to watch for this.

8.  Stop buying junk food, sodas and prepared food.  These are not only
expensive, but unhealthy, therefore a waste of your hard-earned dollars.

9.  Always shop with a grocery list and stick to it so you don’t buy
unnecessary or expensive items.

10.  Never shop hungry!  Have you ever gone grocery shopping hungry?  I have
and I wanted to buy everything in sight because everything looked delicious! 
I didn’t buy everything in sight, but, I did increase our grocery bill that
day!  Also, because I was hungry, I didn’t feel like shopping or making
decisions so this added to the problem.

11.  About Kids.  It is good training for kids, if they are old enough, to
comparison shop; I usually ask mine to go get the cheapest ketchup, or whatever
is nearby so I can still see them, so they get hands-on experience (you’ll
need to supervise this in the beginning, then later you’ll be able to trust they
are making the right decisions).  Kids have a tendency to ask for things in
the store; the best way to handle this is to let them get something within a set
price limit and keep this limit each time you go shopping.  If your kids are
younger, you may want to consider leaving them at home with a friend or
relative; younger kids can tire and get difficult in the store spoiling your frugal
efforts.

12.  Shop at the store’s off-peak hours when you will be less rushed and can
make better decisions.