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Feel clobbered by rising food costs? Need tips for saving money at the grocery store, without going to the trouble of clipping coupons? Here are three strategies to ease the impact at the checkout:

* SHOP AT THE RIGHT STORE *

Do you ever pick up a few food items at the corner gas station or drugstore, or at a discount store that mainly sells clothing (such as Kmart)? Comparing prices will tell you the truth: Big supermarkets are the cheapest place to buy groceries.

To test this theory, pick one item that is on the shelf everywhere. Because I started cooking spaghetti one night without the right ingredients, and my son is a bit picky about food, I chose to comparison-price a large can of name-brand tomato sauce.

At the corner drugstore, I found what I wanted priced at $1.46. At Kmart, the same thing was $1.25. At a large grocery store where I usually shop, the name brand was priced at $1.15, with the store brand even cheaper.

Although it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to burn gas driving around the city to save 31 cents (the difference between the highest and the lowest priced cans of tomato sauce), that's a whopping difference of 27%.

What if the markup were the same on everything, and you bought ALL of your groceries at the higher priced location? For every $100 you'd spend at the supermarket, you'd spend $27 extra by purchasing the same food at the wrong store.

* DON'T SHOP WHILE HUNGRY *

Another secret to saving money on groceries is to shop with a full stomach. Self-restraint is more difficult when you're hungry. The food gurus who place attractive photos on prepackaged foods are aware of this weakness, and will happily profit from it. In your right mind, when your stomach's not growling (and the kids aren't fussy because their dinner is overdue), you'll realize that the food inside a package never tastes as delicious as its picture looks.

That said, utter frugality and severe penny-pinching can be hard to keep up forever. So it's better for everybody's peace of mind to purchase one or two "treats" during every shopping trip. They must be reasonable treats, not too unhealthy, and not too far out of the budget. A half gallon of ice cream, for instance, or a bag of oranges or a box of "gummies" for the kids.

Some stores give away a free breadstick or cookie to the little ones, and other stores offer so many free samples, you can munch your way around the aisles. Accept the offer - your shopping will go more smoothly if you are not hungry, and you will be able to

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