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10.0 SAVVY-DISCOUNTS COLUMNS BY SHARON MILLS, DEBI DRECKSLER, KATHY GILLIKIN

10.0.1 PLAY THE FIELD WHEN YOU GROCERY SHOP, DON'T "MARRY" ONE STORE - BY SHARON MILLS

While I'm not recommending you run around to every store in town, be familiar with and let a couple "court" you. I alternate between two supermarkets and find that one has better deals on meat, and the other is more likely to mark down produce or discontinue items. I keep the weekly newspaper flyers in my car, and since I rarely run out of a staple, I can wait till I see what I need on sale before I buy it. Even if I didn't have staples on hand, I could still plan menus around the sale items. The important thing to remember is DON'T BUY IT IF IT'S NOT ON SALE.

Then, I try to STRETCH what I've bought, just a little bit.

For example, I often buy cheaper cuts of meat and then marinade them. I noticed that when I made the marinade from a packaged mix, I always had a lot left over, a lot that had to be thrown out. Now, to a dollar mix I increase the water added to one cup but only use half of it. The other half cup, plenty for another steak dinner, will keep for a week or so in a jar in the refrigerator.

In Toll House cookies, the most expensive ingredient, even buying store-brand, is the chocolate. I double the recipe for everything but the chips, and the cookies are very chocolatey.

We've all been warned that often buying the giant economy size isn't really cheaper, but sometimes there are other advantages. For example, I buy 15 pounds of Electrasol dishwasher detergent for $7.97. Although this works out to only about half a cent cheaper per ounce than buying it by the box, the last container I bought lasted nine months of running the dishwasher three or four times a week. I never "ran out," so I didn't have to buy it when it wasn't on sale or shop when I might be tempted to buy something on impulse. Also, it comes in a great plastic bucket (with a lid) that I can use to wash the car or store bird seed, potting soil, etc.

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