Savin' on groceries, big time.

When I was first married, I did not know how to grocery shop. At all. I never made a list, never checked prices, and I had no idea how much of anything to buy. So, like, I'd buy a bag of apples and half of them would be rotten before we'd ever get to them. Or, I'd buy a loaf of bread despite having four already in the freezer.

(Why am I even admitting this?)

I tried keeping up those seat-of-my-pants shopping habits and we pretty much wound up flat broke with a freezer full of bread. Ah, but we were young! And in love! So who cares! Plus, bread is good and very versatile when you're a poor student.

Well, we eventually had a baby and I had to start shopping a little smarter. Bubby was formula-fed, and in case you didn't know, that stuff is expeeeeeeensive. And some kind of switch turns on in your head the instant you have a kid -- you suddenly feel an intense need to be responsible. So I quit filling my cart with useless loaves of bread and started making a list before I embarked on my Monday night trip to Macey's. And the grocery bill came down a fair amount.

Then, we moved to Arizona and I discovered the joy of Super Wal-Mart, which they don't really have in Provo (they do in Orem, but it was kind of far from us so we rarely went). I have a love-hate relationship with Wal-Mart, as you all know. I love the prices, but I hate the rest of it. But since I'm a capitalist on a budget, that's where I get my groceries. Just by getting the generic brand of everything, I save a ton of money. After a while, I got into this groove of going to Wal-Mart and spending about the same thing every time I got groceries: $75. And $75 a week is pretty reasonable for a family of three, right? I figured it was.

Well, that perception changed one day a few months ago. I rolled out of bed early on Saturday, fed the baby and went to Wal-Mart for my weekly grocery trip (notice there is no mention of a shower, because I don't when I am going to Wal-Mart at 6:30 a.m.). I got to the store, filled my cart and headed to the one open check-out line. The shopper in front of me seemed to have a pretty full cart, too. I figured it'd be about five minutes. But it was taking longer than that. I had read every tabloid cover, gum package and candy bar, and she still wasn't done. I started paying attention and realized she was telling the cashier how much everything cost. SERIOUSLY? I got really ticked. Whatever the heck she was doing was taking up a lot of time. Was it even legal? Did she have a gun under her shirt? My ice cream is a puddle, THANKS.

When she finally finished and trolled away with her mile-long receipt, I walked up to the cashier, irked. The cashier began ringing up my items. I had a few cartons of strawberries on the belt. She picked one up and said, "That lady said these are 88 cents each at Basha's, so I'm going to give you the price match." I had no idea what that meant, but I was planning to pay $2 for those so I just smiled dumbly and thanked her. I bounced outta there with a little spring in my step. Eighty-eight cents for strawberries!

I went home and did a little research. Apparently, Wal-Mart matches competitors' prices. Did you know that? I didn't. They don't really advertise it. But it's pretty much awesome and I save a boatload by doing it.

This is my method:

On Wednesday, when I get my local grocery ads in the mail, I sit down and make a list of all the best deals from each store. Usually, a lot of them are produce, which is awesome -- you can never eat enough fruits and veggies. I always look for cereal and bread deals too, since those are pretty pricey.

(No, I don't still have bread in my freezer from my newlywed days, thankyouverymuch.)

I also clip coupons for things I need.

I make my grocery list and dinner menu based on all the deals.

I take my list to Wal-Mart and separate my cart into two halves: Price-matched and regularly-priced items.

When I get to the check-out lane, I put the price-matched items on the belt first and tell the cashier I want to price match. Then, I take out my list and start quoting the prices. Sometimes, they are a little strict and want to know what store the price is from. Since I've categorized them that way on my list, I can always tell them. They have their own ads at the cash register so they can check if they don't believe me.

Now, what do I pay for groceries? Well, last week, I paid $45.72.

Oh, yeeeeah.

And that's how Mom the Intern became a Super Shopper.