13 Smart Ways to Save at the Supermarket
By Rosemary Black

photo: Getty Images

Are you a savvy supermarket shopper? If you follow some of the traditional tips for saving money, the answer is probably no. The truth is, the tactics that worked for your mother are, today, merely myths that can actually make you spend more money—not less—on groceries. Luckily for you, we're here to separate fact from fiction. Our guide to the top supermarket myths is chock-full of new dollar-saving strategies guaranteed to help you feed your family nutritious meals without breaking the bank.

Myth: Make a list and stick to it.
Truth: The thinking behind this myth is that if your eyes stray from that piece of paper, you'll end up tossing impulse items into your cart and racking up a huge bill. But following this advice can cause you to lose out on potentially big savings. Consider this: While at the supermarket, you come across an unadvertised special on baked beans. Passing them up now means you'll pay more later, when the beans go back to their regular price.

That said, it still pays to consult a master list. On your computer, develop a master list of the items you purchase on a regular basis, post it on the refrigerator and have everyone in the family check off each item as it needs to be replaced. You can save an average of $7 to $10 per week because you're not always running out of items and making extra trips to the store.

Myth: Cut costs by preparing a few meatless meals each week.
Truth: Whether or not you save money by forgoing meat depends on what you make in its place. If you're buying three different kinds of cheeses for lasagna, you may not see a significant savings. On the other hand, if you prepare beans and rice, you can serve a family of four for around $2.

Myth: To save money, buy whole chickens and cut them up yourself.
Truth: Whole chickens can be a good deal, but keep in mind that they also yield a lot of waste. So unless you plan on making soup with the giblets, back and wings, cutting up whole chickens might not be such a great idea. Buy boneless chicken breasts when they go on sale for around $1.99 a pound, and feed your family for around 50 cents per serving.

Myth: End-of-the-aisle displays are always the best places to look for sale items.
Truth: Actually, these displays are precisely where stores position costly impulse items they hope you'll buy. This is called end-of-aisle merchandising. So it's no accident that you have to push your cart around and past eye-catching displays of fresh strawberries (with stacks of dessert bowls right next to them).

Myth: Don't take your kids to the store with you.
Truth: If you follow this advice, you're likely to buy foods and snacks that you think your kids will eat, then end up tossing most of it—and losing, by conservative estimates, about $10 per week. So take your kids with you when you shop and let them each pick out one treat—a special cookie or their favorite cereal.

Myth: Buying bagged rather than individual fruit will save you money.
Truth: Bagged fruit typically costs less per pound than individual pieces. You can purchase a three-pound bag of oranges for around $1.99 (that's roughly nine oranges at 22 cents apiece). If individual oranges sell for three for $1 (or 33 cents apiece), it would seem as if bagged is the better deal. But when you get home and discover that the oranges are under- or overripe... well, there goes that great buy! The same holds true for other fruits.

Myth: Shopping with coupons guarantees you'll spend less on food.
Truth: If you'd buy the item anyway, using a coupon can certainly shave money off your grocery tab. But if you purchase something simply to take advantage of a coupon, it may not be a smart move. Keep in mind that many coupons are for convenience foods, which are often high-priced anyway.

Myth: Frozen fruits and veggies cost more than fresh.
Truth: Fresh costs less than frozen when you buy in season. But otherwise, frozen produce is the better buy and is every bit as nutritious. Spinach is a good example: A 16-ounce bag of fresh spinach costs about $3 and yields about three servings. A 10-ounce box of frozen spinach, at about $1, also yields three servings, but at 33 cents per serving.

Myth: To find out if something is a good buy, look at the ads in newspaper circulars.
Truth: You'll often find "loss leaders" (the items a store sells for very little in order to attract customers) advertised in weekly circulars, but some of the "sale" items may not really be a bargain, and may even cost more than they would at another supermarket. The best way to determine if an item is a good buy is to keep track yourself. Use a small notebook to record the prices of items you buy on a regular basis. Take the notebook with you to the store and compare your prices to those that are advertised as being a sale price. You may be surprised to find that what you thought was on sale really isn't.

Myth: Shopping in health food stores is expensive.
Truth: Health food stores often sell items in bulk for less money than they would cost at the supermarket. Example: You can get a large package of cinnamon sticks for about $3 in a health food store. A jar that's one quarter the size costs around $6 at the supermarket.

Myth: Buy the larger size of any item and save.
Truth: Check the unit pricing on the store shelf to see which product is the best buy. Even if the larger size of a product is cheaper, you're not saving money if you don't use all of it before it spoils, or you have no place to store it.

Myth: Don't shop at a convenience store.
Truth: Convenience stores like 7-11, for example, are actually very good places to shop for staples such as milk and bread. And because these stores are rather small, you're in and out quickly, so you tend to spend less money.

Myth: Fish is too expensive to serve to your family.
Truth: If you shop with an eye toward sales and are willing to try new varieties of seafood, you can definitely find economically priced fish at the supermarket. Three to look for? Orange roughy, catfish and farm-raised salmon. When buying fish, don't assume you'll need a large quantity to serve a family of four. Serve kabobs, in which chunks of fish are threaded on skewers along with crunchy vegetables, then broiled.