Five tips for lower grocery bills

Take advantage of grocery store promotions: On March 27, Shaw's Supermarkets launched a 4:15 Meal Deal promotion, offering dinner for four for less than $15. Meals, which rotate biweekly, include one main course and two sides and require about 15 minutes of reheating. The meals are displayed near the stores' meat section and are highlighted in weekly ads and at www.shaws.com.

The current featured dish - barbecued pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, and a salad blend - will run through May 21. Bill Nasshan, senior vice president of marketing and merchandising, called the meals "wholesome," saying they provide a complete meal while covering several food groups. The meals are available in all New England Shaw's Supermarkets and Star Markets in Massachusetts.

Meanwhile Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. is offering customers its Affordable Food Summit: monthly seminars on how to make the most of your dollar.

"Affordable Food Summits teach customers how to shop in our stores for less money by using coupons, reading product labels," said Faith Weiner, director of public affairs. "We create shopping baskets for how to feed a family of four for $10, $15."

Affordable Food Summits feature community leaders - last month's meeting, in Warwick, R.I., was chaired by Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Roberts - and are open to the public. The next will be in Connecticut in June. For more information, visit www.stopandshop.com.

Stop & Shop lists additional deals and promotions at www.stopandshop.com/savings.

Bring children along. No need to leave the kids behind, says Charles Mattocks, author of "Eat Cheap but Eat Well" and host of NBC's "The Poor Chef," who suggests embracing the family at shopping time.

"You can teach kids how to shop affordable and healthy and also green now, so that they can also teach their kids," he said. "I think when you take your kids there, you also tend to want to buy healthier things."

Buy in bulk and spice up your leftovers. Not only is buying in bulk usually cheaper, it also allows for culinary innovation down the road. Melissa Newby, Frugal Family Examiner for Examiner.com, suggests buying meat in bulk, but said it's always best to compare retail prices.

"I think you have to be careful because sometimes buying in bulk is not necessarily cheaper," she said.

Leftovers can be just as interesting as the first time around, said Mattocks, who brings new ingredients to the mix. "You could make spaghetti and meatballs and have it for dinner and also have it for lunch or dinner the next day," he said. "Just add new things to spice it up," like fresh vegetables or Italian sausage.

Clip coupons. It may seem like a relic of the past, but coupon clipping has gone high tech. Both Mattocks and Newby advocated for the online version of coupon clipping. Mattocks uses www.coupon.com, while Newby is a member of www.TheGroceryGame.com, a website that allows users to track down discounts and coupons.

"What TheGroceryGame does is it tracks when items are on sale and then it prompts you to use a coupon on top of the sale price," Newby said. "Essentially you're stacking your discounts, and you get a larger discount."

Be brave with substitutes. Shop for cheaper, more filling foods that you can substitute in recipes. Newby said she's not afraid to push dining boundaries with her children, ages 1 and 5, both of whom are big fans of fruits and vegetables, as well as inexpensive items like beans and tofu.

Newby also suggests using less meat to trim your grocery bill.

"I think you can really save yourself money by using fillers and a little bit less meat," she said. "Beans are a great filler. If you're making enchiladas, I put some chicken in my enchiladas, and I bulk them up with beans."