Cut your grocery bill in half!

With the average grocery bill now a whopping $625 a month, finding ways to save can make a big difference for your budget! We asked the grocery gurus for their best savings strategies to help you save money and time!

1 Score deals easily! Buy better generics!

Store brands are moving up in the world in terms of selection and quality, reveals consumer expert Lisa Lee Freeman. “A lot of stores are expanding their lines of store-brand products, particularly organic items, such as healthy cereals.” And don’t overlook supplements and overthe-counter medications. “Costco’s Kirkland Signature vitamins, for example, are less expensive than many brand names and are Usp-verified, which means they’re highquality and contain exactly what’s promised on the label and no extra ingredients— many pricier vitamins are not Usp-verified.”

Toast to $5 wines!

Do high wine prices make you wince? Just head to Target! The superstore recently rolled out its California Roots line of $5 wines, including a new summer-perfect rosé. And that’s not the only store with reasonably priced vinos: “The Dollar Store’s Spring Creek store-brand wines are getting great reviews,” notes Freeman. “Costco and Trader’s Joe’s are also known for high-quality wines at low prices.”

Score deals for a dollar!

There are plenty of amazing deals at dollar stores, notes Freeman, including full-size, brand-name toothpaste and toothbrushes for a dollar, as well as excellent canned vegetables. As for fresh foods, “product sizes at dollar stores are often bigger than at supermarkets, so, for example, instead of a dozen eggs in a container, there may be 18 eggs,” she says.

Tip: Download the store apps for Dollar Tree, Dollar General and Family Dollar to receive coupons and sales alerts.

2 Head online! Download the best apps!

“The Flipp app is the Swiss army knife of grocery apps,” declares Freeman. “With it, you can automatically load coupons onto your store’s loyalty card, get all the weekly fliers and plug in your shopping list to learn about all the specials on your items—it’s like magic!” Another superstar app: Stockup. “It lets you search for a specific item or scan the product’s bar code to compare local prices that have been submitted by shoppers like you,” says savings guru Phil Lempert. “For every valid price you submit, Stockup will reward you with points, which you later can convert to real money.” Also download your favorite store’s app. “Stores are now personalizing circulars, tailoring coupons to you on the items you buy most often,” notes savings expert Jeanette Pavini.

Save on pricey products!

“The best strategy for saving is still knowing when pricey items are going on sale,” says Pavini. “Follow your grocery store on social media and, if you can, get to know three people: the butcher, the head of the cheese department and the head of the wine department. Ask them when your favorite items will be on sale, then plan your shopping around those dates. And don’t forget to ask about promotions: For items like wine at my favorite store, I can get an additional 10% off if I buy six bottles.”