I tell you, the high cost of food these days is enough to take your appetite away. To beat the high cost, you need to adopt and then perfect a specific shopping method that fits your temperament and lifestyle -- and then stick to it tenaciously. It takes dogged determination, but your reward will be good food, cheap.

THE COUPONER. The method is pretty simple, and those who adhere to this style of grocery shopping are just one clip short of being fanatics.

The rule is simple: Shop at the best supermarket in town, but buy only items that are on sale AND for which you have a coupon. Now you get that sale price plus the coupon value, and that makes for very cheap shopping.

Once you get the hang of it, it's not difficult at all, especially if you "hire" a helper. You can use the free site www.CouponMom.com to help you discover what's on sale in a store near you. You also can do the sure thing and join TheGroceryGame.com, which is the primo site for serious couponers. You're going to save so much money that the fee of $1.25 per week will be chump change. NOTE: You can get a four-week trial membership for just a buck, which I highly recommend.

THE CHERRY PICKER. There are some people who simply cannot abide the idea of clipping, filing and remembering to use grocery coupons. That's OK. You may find "cherry picking" to be your method of choice.

Cherry pickers know that nearly every food store has weekly specials. And the sale items that are dirt-cheap are priced so low they are actually less than the stores' costs. Stores do this to lure customers through the door in hopes that person will buy more than the "loss leaders" and pay full price for the additional items. But cherry pickers are shrewd. They buy only the loss leaders from several stores.

It's easy to find the loss leaders if you watch the sale fliers carefully. Or go to a site such as www.MyGroceryDeals.com to track all the sales of all the stores in your area. Make your lists ahead of time, and then stop off when you are in the vicinity.

THE REBEL. Most of us are conditioned to assume a grocery or supermarket is the place to purchase food. But these days, lots of retailers are getting into the food business and offering amazing deals.

Most dollar stores now are offering canned goods and other nonperishables; some even have refrigerator and freezer cases. Drug stores, such as Walgreens, now are competing with supermarkets on milk (much cheaper where I live) and nonperishables.

Have you checked the food aisles at Target? Rebels know that cereal, snacks, cake mixes and a plethora of other items at discount stores are much cheaper than elsewhere. And many take coupons, too. Rebel shoppers take advantage of local farmers markets because the prices, while already low, are often negotiable.

No matter your food-shopping style, now's the time to hone your skills and sharpen your method. And if you never really have thought about it before? For you, my friend, it's time to get stylin'!

Mary Hunt is the founder of DebtProofLiving.com and author of 17 books, including "Debt-Proof Living." You can e-mail her at mary@everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135, Paramount, CA 90723. To find out more about Mary Hunt and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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