We’re all feeling the squeeze from rising gas prices, and there is no relief in sight. Economists are predicting that if oil reaches $200 per barrel, gas will reach $6.64 per gallon in the United States. Rising gas prices affect so many other industries. Airlines will be scraping to make ends meet, independent truckers will go out of business, and grocery stores will be forced to increase their prices on food.

When the cost to produce and ship food goes up, that extra cost gets passed on to consumers. It’s easy to say that we can start consuming less gasoline, but it's much harder to say that we’ll start consuming less food. The only defense we have is to find ways to save at the grocery store. Here are five tips for saving money on your grocery bill.

1. Take full advantage of store and manufacturer coupons. This seems like a no-brainer, but it turns out that most people who are using coupons are stay-at-home moms. Studies show that they are more likely to clip coupons, but now it’s time for everyone to start clipping coupons. Whether you’re a single mom, single person, or married couple with no children, you need to take advantage of coupon savings. Here are some great websites for printing out manufacturer coupons:

• Coupons.com
• Coupon Mom
• Money Stretcher
• Money Clipper

2. Make sure that you don’t fall into the coupon trap. There are two scenarios with the coupon trap. The first one is when you use a coupon on a certain brand name that you normally don’t buy because it’s more expensive than other brands. Let’s say you have a 50 cent coupon for Hefty trash bags and they retail for $3.99. But, the store brand trash bags are $3.19 and the quality, size, and style is no different from the Hefty bags. It wouldn’t be cost effective to use that coupon, because you can buy a cheaper brand that doesn’t sacrifice quality. The other scenario is when you buy a product that you normally wouldn’t buy just because you have a coupon. This is exactly why manufacturer’s send out coupons, because they want to encourage consumers to buy that product.

3. Plan out meals before you go to the store. Grocery stores want you to buy stuff that you normally wouldn’t buy at the store. They put items on sale just to get the product out the door. Grocery stores are also great at product placement. The end-caps and the islands in the middle of the aisle are usually stocked with items that are called “impulse buys”. Planning out your meals for the week will reduce impulse buys.

E-Mealz.com is a great website that provides an entire grocery lists of meals to make for a $5.00 per month subscription. For $60 a year, you can save hundreds on your grocery bill.

4. Buy produce at the local produce stand. I’ve found that produce can be very pricey at the grocery store. Typically, the local produce stand will have better deals on vegetables and fruits. Plus, it’s fresher than the produce at the grocery store.

5. Make meals from scratch. Pre-made foods come at a premium price, and they are loaded with a great deal of sodium and saturated fat. Buying the ingredients separately means you can make the meal more than once and make it cheaper. Plus, you’ll eat healthier and it will taste better.

Bonus Tip. Don’t go to the grocery store hungry. You’ll fall into the trap of buying food that you normally wouldn’t buy. This might not be the case as much for females, but speaking as a guy, I can’t go to the grocery store if I’m hungry. I have a hard enough time resisting impulse buys even when I’m not hungry.

I like to put a positive spin on everything, because being negative all the time will never get you anywhere in life. Think of this economic slump as an opportunity to develop frugal habits for many aspects in your life. Saving money on groceries is a habit you can develop that will stick with you whether you make $2,000 a month or $5,000 a month. Developing money saving habits is the start to walking down the path of wealth building.