Grocery shopping

The credit crunch, the woes of the housing market, the crash of the stock market.... These are certainly exciting, yet hard times we're living in.

As families work harder to make ends meet and as others face the possibility of losing their jobs because of this economic downturn, it doesn't help things to know that food prices are rising.

Amy Hendel, featured on "The Today Show" and on behalf of the Florida Department of Citrus, has some pointers for us on how to save money on food costs during this economic roller coaster ride we're all on but none of us stood in line for.

Food prices have soared recently, with increases as high as 20% on bread, 60% on rice and 81% on pasta. (UK statistics - see Families struggling as bills beginning to bite.) Perhaps your healthy shopping list is starting to seem expensive - especially when you see big tins of cookies, bags of chips and super-sized candy bars on offer. But with a few tweaks to your usual purchasing habits, you could save money and eat well.

Supermarkets can be very manipulative: the candies at the checkout counter (at the perfect height for a 4 year old); the more expensive items are at eye level - budget options often sit nearer the ground; the colors, the smells, the ambience.

It's all there to make you buy more. On-line grocery shopping is a good alternative - and the University of Connecticut has given us another good reason:

We tend to choose healthier foods on-line compared with a "real" store.

The largest supermarket firm in Britain, Tesco's, has introduced a new "Trim Trolley" to help shoppers burn up extra calories whilst buying groceries. It has attachments usually seen on gym equipment - a large resistance wheel between the two rear wheels of the trolley, and a heart rate monitor.

I can remember my first experience with technology and shopping carts while trying to go beyond the parking boundaries of the local Safeway grocery store. I was shocked and amazed when my cart just stopped suddenly.... not that I was trying to steal it or anything... really, I wasn't. Anyway, this new brainchild of Microsoft does much more than that! The "MediaCart" boasts the following features:

For some people it's a once a week dash through the supermarket. For others it's a trip to the farmers market, or frequent trips to a small grocery store.

What advice would you give to someone who had limited time - but still wanted to eat healthy? What foods do you buy in bulk? What food do you make special trips for?