A:  Most large stores do their stocking in the overnight hours, so early morning is your best bet.  If you have a smaller grocer that restocks during business hours, you are probably better off to go in the evening.

On the hunt for markdowns?  Ask at the meat and produce departments when markdowns are made so that you can plan your shopping accordingly.

If you are using an unconventional means of payment, such as coupons or WIC, please make all attempts avoid shopping during rush times, such as after school, 5:00-6:00 p.m., noon on Sundays, just before a blizzard.. hopefully you get the drift.  We’ve all been on both sides- the side where you don’t think you should have to shop at certain times just because you’re going to require more time at checkout, and the side I found myself on last week.  You know- the side where you stop in to grab a gallon of milk and wait for over 30 minutes in a non-moving line.  There were three checkouts open, in one was a wanna-be extreme couponer, who had absolutely NO idea what she was doing, in the lane with the cashier slower than my dead turtle was a family using WIC vouchers, and in the other lane was a man trying to buy a deer tag. 

Now there’s  nothing wrong with any of that, but a little bit of hustle on the cashier’s part and courtesy on the customer’s would have made the 40+ people in line that were just trying to grab basics and get home much happier. 

I’m sure that my readers and Ultimate Couponing alumni already knew this information, but there’s nothing like getting home with spoiled milk to make me reiterate something!