Editor's note: It's a new year and these are tough times, but not so tough that you can't find some cost-cutting detours when spending your money. Through Sunday in Living Here, we're offering a daily dose of 15 ways to save on food and wine, outdoor activities, entertainment, home and garden, and caring for yourself and your family. Keep the change.

• Monday: Spend less on books and media

• Tuesday: Families can save

• Today: Grocery-store savings

• Thursday: Outdoor fun for less

• Friday: Bargains around town

• Saturday: Saving around the house

• Sunday: Cutting medical and fitness costs

Share your great money-saving tips by clicking here.

There's not a millionaire or a minimum-wage worker who doesn't like a bargain.

It's fun to share the story of how you got a great deal – better than anyone else's – at the supermarket, drug or department store. We all relish the idea of getting more and paying less.

And since groceries are what gobble up the weekly paycheck, why not Shop Cheap?

Here's an example:

You know that you've scored at the store when the clerk comments on how much you saved. That's what happened during a New Year's Day Shop Cheap trip to Raley's, and that's what can happen to you, too.

Each week Shop Cheap features grocery bargains in the Food & Wine section, usually on Page D5. Check online at sacbee.com/ blogs for updates.

Now, follow along and read our 15 tips. Soon, the clerk might be congratulating you for savings approaching 35 percent.

• 1. Shop the ads and compare prices. Be disciplined.

Here's how we do it. First we set minimum prices for items. We vow not to pay more than $2 for a loaf of multigrain bread; not more than $2.50 for a box of cereal and not more than $3.99 for a case of drinking water. We watch price fluctuations – most recently milk and eggs – and, guess what, it works. When the newspaper ads come out each week, we scan them cover to cover and write about the best deals. We stay away from higher-end items (unless they are in season – like cracked crab) and comment on the essentials that make up a weekly menu: fruit, veggies, meat, poultry, canned goods, dairy and frozen foods.

And most important, we shop what we preach. That's how we are able to save 30 percent to 40 percent off our weekly grocery tab.

• 2. Clip coupons from The Bee, online sites and the Sunday coupon inserts.

Here's a news flash: The stores and the coupon companies are in cahoots. But that's OK, because we benefit. Here's a great example. In Sunday's paper there was a coupon for $1 off three boxes of General Mills cereal. Safeway had an ad for Cinnamon Toast Crunch (General Mills) for $2.50 a box. Buy three, use your coupon and it's $2.16 a box. The same is true for Yoplait yogurt and Aleve painkiller (see below).

• 3. Make a list, preferably on an envelope so that you can stuff your coupons inside.

You have got to make a list, and try not to stray from what you really need. If you can't help yourself, at least buy something that's on sale.

• 4. Learn the layout of the store and make a list with that in mind.

You are on a mission, not wandering the aisles hoping to bump into a neighbor so that you can have a nice little chat. Do a mental map of the store, then make your list. Produce first, then meat, canned goods, dairy, deli and bakery. Done.

• 5. Put an asterisk by each item that has a coupon so that you don't forget.

I got this tip from a colleague and it really does work. As we begin 2009, coupons are going to become a bigger part of saving money at the grocery store. In Sunday's Bee, for example, there was a $1-off coupon for Aleve and, wouldn't you know, both Longs and Walgreens had the pain reliever on sale, too.

Longs had BOGO (buy one, get one free) Progresso soup; Safeway had it two for $3 and there was a clip-worthy coupon for 50 cents off. But it's not just grocery coupons you will find in the glossy inserts – this week Baskin Robbins had two BOGO coupons, and JCPenney and Sears had savings in their optical departments.