Shopping and Saving

Sometimes, as was the case today, we end a photo shoot for work with plenty of leftover food. Since we take photos of many different recipes, often only using a small portion of a package for each recipe, it's inevitable that there will be extras. Since I'm always interested in finding ways to cut back on our grocery spending from week-to-week, and because I hate seeing food go to waste, I take advantage of bringing home some of the healthy food that is up for grabs. This week's haul:
*Whole Wheat Fusilli Pasta
*1 (8-count) package whole wheat tortillas
*1/2 box Wheat Thins (one of Joe's favorite snacks)
*Bare Naked High Protein Granola
*Baby carrots
*Green grapes
*Fresh blueberries
*Partially-eaten bags of frozen blueberries, strawberries and peaches
*Bottle of Club Soda
*2 Boca Veggie Burgers
*Creamy peanut butter
*2 apples and 3 clementines
*2 Vanilla Greek Yogurts
*1 avocado
*Whole Wheat Bread
*Silk Vanilla Almond Milk and 1/2 gallon 2% milk

Of course, this is a great way to keep the grocery spending down for the week. But it's not often that I have a photo shoot, and even more rare for me to come home with this much food. So I've decided to give smart shopping tactics, like couponing and browsing the sales fliers at various grocery stores, a try.

Typically, Joey and I break up our shopping between three stores. It sounds a little excessive, especially since we both have jobs and busy schedules. But since we don't have a store that meets all our needs (ie: Trader Joes), we make it work. HyVee for produce, Fareway for canned/dry goods and meat for Joe, and WalMart for toiletries and cleaning supplies.


Since I'm a coupon novice, I would love for any of you with experience to share your strategies! Websites I need to check out? Blogs? Help!