It turns out there’s whole a lot people are doing to keep their pockets lined and their receipts short.

Michelle Mulanax of Sagamore Hills has a whole list of things she recommends others try to lower their grocery bills, from scouting out sales to double-checking receipts. Here are her tips:

• “Use loyalty programs: Sign up for loyalty programs at every store where you might shop, and use your loyalty number at every checkout. Use your perks or points — don’t let them expire.
• “Shop with a list: Keep a list of what you need. Buy only what you need, plus anything on sale which you know you’ll be needing soon. Don’t wander around a store hungry. Better yet, don’t wander around a store at all.
• “Shop online and compare prices: I open a browser tab for each store I use regularly and compare prices for each item on my list. Where the price is cheapest, I add the item to my cart. I usually end up with two carts, one at Walmart and one at Meijer, and use free curbside pickup to avoid in-store temptations. This tip only works if you turn off the ability for the store to make substitutions, because when they do, they aren’t choosing based on price. And it does take longer to do this than to run into a store and buy without regard to price, so you’re trading time for money. Don’t forget to clip any digital coupons before you checkout.
• “Shop for ingredients, not products: For example, rather than buying diced onions, buy whole and dice yourself. Rather than buying a pizza, buy ingredients to make your own. This tip only works if you have time to cook.
• “Shop for nutritional value: No junk food, and that means no soda, cookies, bakery of any kind except whole grain bread, candy, ice cream, or anything with a high added sugar content. I do buy these things occasionally as a treat but only if they’re on sale. This tip also means pay as little as possible for protein. Ground beef is cheaper per gram of protein than steak even when both are on sale, so I stick with the ground beef.
• “Shop sale items: Look at the store sales flyer to see what’s on sale and stock up on especially good deals. Butter freezes well and doesn’t take much room in the freezer. But don’t buy so much you can’t store it.
• “Check your receipts: A few times I’ve accidentally double-scanned an item at self-checkout. Other times I didn’t get an advertised price. Customer service always makes it right. Thanks customer service!
• “Don’t waste food: Don’t buy more fresh produce than you’ll eat before it spoils. Eat leftovers. Freeze any excess milk or meat.”