With the seemingly never end to the steady rise in gas prices, there are many families around the nation who are looking for ways to save more money. My family and I have been cutting corners where we can, too.

Thankfully, I’m a stay at home mom so I don’t have to travel every day. My husband works in law enforcement, so he doesn’t do much traveling in his personal vehicle either. My little sister though, drives a H3 and told me the other day that she is spending almost $200 in gas every week.

With this kind of gas expense, it’s no wonder why I heard on the news that some parents are having to tell their children that there’s no extra money for breakfast because that money has to go towards buying gas. With all this in mind, we of course want to look for ways to save money elsewhere, rather than taking whole meals away from children. One such way you can learn to save is at the grocery store.

Clip coupons. Remember those little shiny booklets that come in the Sunday newspaper? Most people toss the coupon booklets to the trash pile before they even read the Sunday paper. However, you will find a ton of savings in there, especially if you buy a lot of name brand items. Start clipping and saving!

Buy store brands. Speaking of name brand items, try some store brand items the next time you get groceries. Most of the time, there is not that much of a difference in taste or value. There are very few items I purchase any more that aren’t store brand. The few items I buy from the name brand section include things like mayonnaise (I’ve tried the store brand and it’s nasty) and cereal.

Ad match. Wal-Mart is big on ad-matching with their competitors. When I worked at Wal-Mart as a cashier, we were always up-to-date on every week’s sales papers. I checked out tons of customers who saved a bundle of money by ad-matching. If you catch a good week of sales on name brand items and have the coupons too you will be able to save a lot of money.

Stock up during meat sales. Where we live here, the local country grocery store has really good meat sales every now and then. In fact, I’ve stopped buying my meat at Wal-Mart. Their ground beef especially is full of fat. But locally I can get the good stuff with hardly any fat for about the same price. Watch local grocers for the best meat sales, then stock up your freezer.

Plan your menu in advance. Busy families tend to eat on the go and order take-out food. Just cutting out this one habit can really save you a lot of money. In fact, you’d probably be shocked if you knew just how much you spend on fast food. Start planning your dinners with a weekly menu. Get your family involved in the process and share cooking responsibilities if you have to. Once your menu is planned, create your shopping list accordingly. This way, you won’t buy a lot of extra stuff you don’t need.