60 minutes can save you big money on groceries

To some, 60 minutes may be a TV show, but to Kris at Cheap Healthy Good, it's the time she takes each week to implement her personal system for saving major money on groceries. With the rising price of food, this is something we all need to read about.

Before you try her system, she advocates three steps. First: Junk any food on hand "that A) you can't identify, B) is in an advanced state of decay or mummification, and/or C) is old enough to be carbon-dated."

• Bing: Find grocery coupons
  

Then identify two supermarkets close to you that have weekly online circulars, and also find a coupon source. She mentions the Sunday paper, Coupons.com and Smartsource.com. (Of course, not all supermarkets accept online coupons.)

Now the hour can officially begin.

In the first 15 minutes, scan the store circulars and write down the prices of stuff you actually eat. In the second 15 minutes, clip and organize coupons. "The trick is to A) pair them with sales, and B) only clip 'em for stuff you already use," Kris says.

It will take you another 15 minutes to prepare a menu list for the week, based on what you have on hand and what you can buy cheaply. For inspiration, she provides links to foodie sites like Food Network (we suspect that Alton Brown is her hero), Epicurious and All Recipes.

Finally, create the grocery list. "It should include the sale items, plus any other ingredients needed, but not much else," she says. Don't stray from the list, she advises. "It'll keep you from purchasing extraneous, overpriced, last-minute items that your roommate will eat anyway."

Published April 28, 2008