Grocery Day....Time to Save BIG!

First of all I would like to clarify I am NOT one of those extreme coupon shoppers.  I'm just a regular person who tries to be wise about my shopping and saving.  I live in a fairly small town and choices of where I shop are somewhat limited compared to the big cities.  I have not let this discourage me and am always on the lookout for ways to save or bargins.  The trip to town today main intention is to get my groceries.  One thing I have learned is if you look and shop mostly for sale items on a weekly basis there is really no need to buy items at full price.  This takes a little time to get your pantry filled up with items that will not only will be used immediately but things that you can use for weeks to come.  Buying muliple items when on sale will save you more in the long run compared to only buying one or two on sale then a week or two later buying it again at full price.  Ok so let's get started!  First thing I do is go thru the stores flyer with a fine tooth comb.  Keeping special attention on items with the largest discounts.  Now that I know the sale items it's time to gather my coupons.  There are many MANY websites out there that will do all the hard work for you as far as matching up coupons with the ads.  You just need to experiment with this and find out which site is best for you.  I have used some and they constantly lock my computer up and I get very frustrated on waiting for it to unlock therefore  I like to look at different sites every week to see what is new out there.  I keep a list of my "favorites" and surf them weekly.  Next using my ad I plan out my menus for the following week.  I never used to do this but have found it to be very useful in several ways.  It sure cuts out the coming home after a long days work and not having a clue to what to fix for supper.  No longer do I have the 15 min conversation with my hubby....."what do you want for dinner?"  his reply "I don't know what do you want?" and so on...you are all familar with that conversation I am sure.  Also I don't always stick to what I have planned for Mon I might have that on Wed but I definately have a gameplan of what I need to purchase to have all the larger meals planned out for the week.  I also like to take my time in the grocery making sure I look for "manager specials" or meat that is marked down and would be perfectly fine to freeze and use later.  My store has a location where they put all their marked down merchandise regardless of whether it's past its selling prime because it is a seasonal item or if it might be an overstock or coming close to the "use best by" date.  Here you can find real bargins and everyonce in a while I just might have a coupon that will match up with it.  I will make sure and update on how much I saved on this trip and any special values I received that was not in the original plan.  I also save money on gas when I grocery shop not only because my store has a fuel incentive program but also because I plan to run other errands on the same day, picking up prescriptions, going to post office, and of course stopping in my favorite stores to see new markdowns and specials.  I hope this has helped you and any comments or suggestions you may have are always welcomed.  Thanks and enjoy your day!