It seems like the cost of everything just keeps going up and up. The projected cost of fuel increases for the summer means that more items are going to go up in price and this usually means food costs will increase. For a lot of families an increase in food is not acceptable. However, there are ways to combat the food price increase by following a couple simple tips and tricks that I’ve learned from years of experience.

1. Do not go to the store hungry. Always make sure you fuel up your body before heading off to the grocery store. If you go hungry everything will look good and you’ll end up purcahsing more than you need to.

2. Clip coupons. I know, I know. It’s been said before and it will be said again, but clipping coupons does save money. However, make sure you are using them on products that you will use. If you save a $1 on a frozen product that you will never eat than you just wasted money. Pick up the Sunday paper for your area and clip those coupons. Ask friends and co workers to save their coupons for you as well.

3. Stockpile. Do you have multiple coupons that allows you to purchase a regularly used item cheaply? If so, buy multiples of them and store them in a closet, basement, under a bed, or wherever you have extra room. Next time you run out you just need to pull it from storage and not spend full price on the item.

4. Match coupons to store ads. Kroger has lots of great sales. Before you go shopping look at their ad and match coupons with the items that are on sale. This can really save a lot of money.

5. Shop at a Kroger that doubles coupons. Hopefully there is a Kroger store near you that doubles up to $1 coupons. If there is you are in luck. Every $1 coupon just became $2 off the item. That is some serious savings!

6. Sign up for Kroger’s store card and for the emails. Take advantage of the additional savings that having a Kroger card will provide you.

Do you use any of the above tips to save money on groceries? Do you clip coupons?? (If not, feel free to forward them to me—lol) Please add your favorite money saving tips in the comments. I look forward to reading them.

Disclaimer: “I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms Kroger CartBuster blogging program, for a gift card worth $50. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”