Saving Money on Groceries and Toiletries

I've seen several articles recently that comment on the rising costs of groceries. With groceries being a necessary expenditure, what are some ways to save?

I'm sure nearly everyone who reads this already does some things to save money. I'm going to share my list with you, and if there are things you do that aren't on this list, please feel free to share!

If you have one nearby, try an Aldi store. I shop here mainly when I'm nostalgic for Germany, because the US stores are virtually identical, with deposits for carts, paying for bags, and very simple layouts. Aldi uses its own brand - very few national brands are here - so coupon shopping can't happen, but they keep prices low by charging for bags, requiring a deposit for carts (cutting down on labor costs), accepting debit card and cash only, and using only their store brand. You can do just as well shopping if you only stick to sale/coupon combos, but it's a place worth checking out to fill in the rest if the right things aren't on sale at other stores. They have good sales, as well - this week, Minnesota stores feature produce. They also have a meal planning site that corresponds to their ads.

Our local paper has done comparison shopping of Cub, Rainbow, SuperTarget, and Wal-Mart SuperCenter. For non-sale items, Wal-Mart wins out, just barely edging out SuperTarget. So if you have a SuperTarget nearby, it's also worth checking for things that aren't on sale at the grocery stores. Plus, if you use a Target Card, you earn the points towards a 10% off your trip faster at Target than anywhere else.

I recently tried out The Grocery Game. This is a subscription-based site - $10 every 8 weeks for one list, and $5 every 8 weeks for additional lists. I get the Walgreens and Cub lists. I had never tried Walgreens before, and didn't realize how much you could get for virtually nothing, using the EasySaver rebates. There is a $1 trial for 4 weeks, and I encourage you to try it. At less than $2 per week, I know I'm saving enough to make it worth the cost - and it saves me the time of trying to match coupons to sales, and the frustration when things go on sale for even more a few weeks later. If you check it out, please use cobberreb@yahoo.com as your referral.

Another option is CouponMom.com. This site is not nearly as comprehensive as The Grocery Game, but it is free. Because it's free, it's much more ad-heavy, but it does have worthwhile deals, especially if you decide not to use The Grocery Game. I also like that CouponMom includes Target deals, which aren't available at TGG. If you decide to register, please use this registration link so I get referral credit.

What other tips do you have for saving money on necessities?