Shop smarter and save on supermarket bills

According to an article on Kiplinger's.com, grocery prices will rise another 5% or so this year, as they did in 2007. There are myriad causes, including mounting corn, wheat and soybean prices, as well as the weakening dollar and inflated oil prices.

Some specifics: the price of milk is up 30%, bad news for those of us with children who are supposed to drink a couple glasses a day. Actually, most adults take in far too little calcium so I try to drink my fair share. Eggs are up 24% and margarine 20%--also staples in any household with kids, including mine.

I read another article in SmartMoney (the story is all over the news) called Eight Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill, which also cited the 5% hike in food prices in 2007, again blaming the rise in oil and grain prices. The bad news about grocery prices comes just as most of are trying to cut back on household expenses. The cost of feeding a family of four-including a 70 pound eight year old boy who eats more than I do-is staggering. I didn't comprehend this in full until last month, when my husband pointed out that we spend an embarrassing amount of money at the supermarket each month. We agreed to make a wholehearted effort to cut our grocery bill.