by Marsha Welch

Created on: August 06, 2008   Last Updated: August 22, 2008

With grocery prices climbing and jobs disappearing, many people are looking for ways to cut costs. The methods vary depending upon a couple of factors: cash flow and store sale ebb and flow.

People with cash left after paying bills and buying groceries for the pay period have the best opportunity to take advantage of coupons and store sale cycles. If the customer has access to a computer, the details can be worked out at your desk.

First, choose the top grocery stores in your area and monitor their sale paper or jot down prices until you determine their bottom dollar price for the goods you wish to purchase. Any given store may have several different prices on the same item in a time period. A cycle can be any time frame the store determines, so you may want to monitor for an entire quarter before making your shopping schedule. Holiday schedules may be different, as well. Turkey seems to go on sale around Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Clip available coupons from the newspaper and file them by item type. When you are certain the items you wish to purchase are at bottom dollar, take your coupons and purchase as many of this item as possible with your extra cash. Bear in mind how much space you have for storage and the shelf life of the item. Continue purchasing items in this manner until you have a well stocked closet or pantry. It will seem as if you are spending unnecessarily, but you will be getting the items at the rock bottom price, plus the coupon discount. You may also see an extra savings by purchasing these items in bulk if possible.

It will not be long before you begin to notice that grocery bills are getting smaller as you will only need to purchase perishables. Everything else is in the pantry!

You might even consider getting together with friends who live in different areas and have access to other stores, newspapers and sale cycles. Everyone can pick up items convenient to their location and meet to swap items at a pre-determined time and place.

One other method for saving on groceries is to purchase little known brands. Many times these brands equal and even excel household name brands in quality, while offering a more modest price.

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