Oh man, I have a hard time shopping for groceries based on my budget. A lot of times I'll only spend about 200-300 US dollars a month on my groceries. But none of those tips were helpful in my scenario since I've been on my own for about 5+ years and know already how to grocery shop for what I need.

I have to agree not taking a child with you saves a lot of money. They put all the expensive brands on the eye level of kids. Like when you are getting cereal all the expensive brands on tv are on the bottom shelves. All the sugary foods are on the bottom like in the snack bar isle. All the fruit chewy snacks and poptarts are on the bottom while all the healthy granola bars are on top.

I know a few stores have toys hanging right in front of the kids. Then they have the candy and soda right when your almost done shopping... Haha those get right in your cart or on the belt right before the shopping is done. Some times you won't even see it happen!

Also note make a list before you go. Do not get distracted by what you bump into.

Every weekend buy the paper and clip cupons and look at store sales papers. The $2 you pay for the paper will save you loads of money in the end.

Look UP! Yes above the isles are signs telling you where things are. Do not do the "Walk in every isle" navigation of the store. If you do that you will get pulled into their scheme of "Oooh that is on sale I'll get that... and that.... and that!"

Buy store brand! Some times they are better than the other brands. I shop at hanaford and I get a big box of granola cereal that costs as much as other store brand cereals. So instead of paying $5 for special granola that only last two bowls I pay for granola that cost $2.50 and lasts for 5 bowls or more. Another example Crystal Light $3.99, store brand $1.99.

One time I did all of this and had a grocery bill go from $200 to $60~ I knew one lady that only had to pay $5 for a $100 grocery shopping.

Do these things and you will save BIG TIME!

I'm usually cautious about the whole spoiling food thing. More specifically, milk. As soon as the date on the carton hits I start smelling it every time I open it. I know in my mind that I easily have a few days left before it actually starts going bad, but I can't help but to check it anyway.

I agree with getting smart with math, but I know a friend that just has a small pocket calculator for that reason. I personally can just get by with intellect, but I guess it is always good to check to make sure that my math is correct.

I wouldn't much know what to look for since i am a kid, but when we go to the grocery store my mom look for meats with low prices and things with like 25%off.

I found the "go left" idea pretty interesting. Unfortunately at the store I normally shop in, going left just means hitting the checkouts :p I go straight in that store and THEN right. Directly right is the produce section and you never want to buy produce first. Get stuff like that (as well as milk and frozen stuff) on the way out.

In my backup store, I do go left because that's the exact opposite of the main one. Right is towards the checkouts (though in this case, there's actually more store over there too). It just feels awkward to go right in that store because of its layout, so I'm kinda forced to the left.

I always try to shop at Grocery Outlet or WalMart. It all depends on how much I have for the month. Coupons help a lot too. It may be a pain to cut out the coupons, but you'd be surprised how much money you actually save.

I also store my vegetables in those, I think they're called green storage bags, and the fruit and vegetables last alot longer than they would without them. They're not expensive and actually do a good job in storing my produce.

I also put my meat in the freezer, and I only thaw it out when I know I will be cooking it that night, then I take it out in the morning so it will have all day to thaw. We never have to throw food out.

Leftovers help for those nights when you may not know what to cook. And you save a lot of food that way. I think it's pretty much, where you buy your food, how you store it and how to conserve it. It's really easy for me to conserve on food because we literally have to do that.

The 'shop to the left' thing was really interesting to me, as I've never heard of that or even thought of it.  As I was reading your post though, I was thinking about Wal-Mart and sure enough, that's how it's set up!  Then I started thinking about who in the world gets paid to design buildings based off that kind of psychology! I mean, can you imagine sitting around the office with your co-workers, talking about little inclinations and habits, and how to fool people into giving a store more profit?

"Yeah Johnny.  If you read the research, yellow fonts make people want to buy more.  So we're going to start writing all price tags in yellow font! But we're only going to make price tags in yellow font if they're larger tags because then the yellow can be read and..."

Yeah okay  Wow.  

LOL

Anyways, I'm surprise this one hasn't been mentioned (unless I missed it), but never shop hungry.  Make sure you have a nice full meal before you go shopping.  This way, you're less likely to buy food you don't need.

Something that isn't for everybody but that I do find useful:

Shop in the quiet hours. This allows you to get in and out quicker so you aren't so likely to notice/buy stuff that you didn't want until you saw it - while you were waiting.