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My methods for saving money when grocery shopping may seem unconventional. They are grounded in real world experiment and observation, so please take heed.

We spend $350 a month on all grocery-related items (including toiletries, etc) for a family of 4. We used to spend between $500-$600 for just myself and my wife. Of course that's an estimate, because we had no idea where our money was going back then.

FORGET THE COUPONS?

Absolutely. Unless they drop in your lap and you can say with 100% honesty that you would have bought that product anyway. These companies are not stupid. They make coupons so you will spend money you wouldn't have otherwise. Sure there's a competition component, but in the the average consumer spends more money when they use coupons, period.

THE LIST

Create a full shopping list first, WITH prices. The first time we got systematic about grocery shopping, we made a list of items, and I went into the stores (we shop at two that are right next to each other) just to price items with list in hand. I also marked the aisle numbers where the products were located, and drew a small sketch of the store. Plug these into a spreadsheet, get the prices in there, and have a column for aisle number. You can sort the list by location so that you have a mapped path through the store. Grocery shopping takes me 45 minutes for 2 stores. You can total up the prices and calculate tax in there. You can even keep those spreadsheets and when you do the new list, find the prices you paid last time.

We've found in practice that leaving a small buffer is helpful because it gives us a little freedom to buy something that is at a great price that we will eat. There are always a few things that we forget too, but those decrease as you do the list and get into that habit.

We do our shopping list for a full month at a time, and I have a column on the spreadsheet for Week 1, Week 2, etc. We have a 20-minute "family financial planning meeting" at the same time where we agree on the grocery list and all other planned expenses for the month. You could do yours more often, but we've found this works best for us.

STOP IMPULSING

The list will help tremendously with stopping impulse buys. As everyone always says, don't go to the grocery store on an empty stomach. Go into the store with a sense of discipline. My wife and I make the list together and agree on what we will get. Sometimes she comes across coupons for items that we would be buying anyway. As Dave Ramsey says, she scouts out the prey and it's my job to kill it and drag it home. We devise a plan together, and I execute on it.

BUY GENERIC FOR THE PRODUCTS WHERE IT DOESN'T MATTER

We are picky about brand names for some items. Where there is a clear difference in quality that matters to us we'll go with the name brand. Otherwise, we go with the generics.

DON'T BUY MORE THAN YOU NEED

We used to throw away a lot of food. It didn't seem like it at the time, but we did. Now we hardly ever throw away food. It's because we're intentional about what we are buying, and we are actually thinking about how we consume. The more you write it out on a list the better you get at this. You also get really good at timing purchases so that you don't buy too much and end up with a glut of one thing that you'll end up having to throw out. Most of the extra $200 - $250 we were spending just ended up in the trash.

Try this plan for 90 days. If it doesn't work, you can always go back to your old ways. For my family, these tips have resulted in a financial boon to our welbeing.

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