Stores with 'Super' in name a good bet for low prices

As I've mentioned in recent weeks, grocery prices are rising. To stay ahead of the savings game, smart shoppers may want to consider some nontraditional grocery-shopping options.

I have always been a traditional supermarket shopper, primarily because I am a coupon user and supermarkets tend to have the most generous coupon policies. Supermarkets also have a "high-low" pricing strategy, meaning they feature deeply discounted sale items each week (known as "loss leaders"). Combining a loss-leader with a double coupon generally results in the lowest possible price on a item.

However, there are other smart savings strategies available at nontraditional grocery alternatives, such as discount stores. Both Wal-Mart and Target sell some grocery items. Both chains have opened "super" versions of their stores in some cities that feature an expanded selection of grocery items including meats, produce and frozen items.

In recent weeks, I have been researching specific grocery prices at both of these stores and added weekly deals lists (matching prices with coupons available) to the Coupon Mom Web site. In many cases, I have seen that the discount store's grocery deals have been lower than my grocery stores' deals.

I recently took a TV reporter shopping at our local Super Target. Remember, the key to saving on groceries is to know how to save the most by researching the store's savings programs and combining them when possible. Super Target has a number of attractive savings programs. First, they have a pricing strategy that is not limited to weekly loss leaders. They do have a few sale items featured in their weekly ad, but they do not have an abundance of "buy one, get one free" deals or half-off prices for dozens of items as supermarkets do. They do not double coupons but they do accept grocery coupons at face value.

I began by comparing the regular prices for a list of 20 common grocery items to the regular prices for the same items at my grocery store (which was five minutes from this particular Super Target). In every case, the regular price was lower at Target, and on average the prices were 28 percent less than the grocery store prices. I plan to do a more detailed price comparison with 100 items to further test this theory.

In addition to everyday low prices, shoppers can save more by printing store coupons directly from the Web site Target.com. Shoppers do not have to register for the coupons. If the Target store coupon is for a brand name item that also has a manufacturers' coupon available from the newspaper (or other source), shoppers can combine the two coupons to save the most on a single item.

I was able to do this with a few items, paying only 34 cents for Pillsbury Toaster Strudel and $1.34 for Nature Valley granola bars. Target also had printable store coupons for some of their own store brands, so I paid only 74 cents for Target's Market Pantry brand of granola bars and 59 cents for their hamburger buns. I paid only $1.99 per pound for extra lean ground beef using a $1.50 off coupon from Target's Web site.

Even if your city does not have a Super Target, you can print Target's coupons and use them at your standard Target store that probably has a small grocery section with some of these items.

• Stephanie Nelson shares her savings tips as a regular contributor on ABC News' "Good Morning America." Find more tips in her book "The Greatest Secrets of the Coupon Mom" and at www.couponmom.com.