I hate grocery shopping.

I dread it, and I procrastinate. Except when I make the occasional outing to Whole Foods (appropriately nicknamed Whole Paycheck), which is fun while it lasts. But I always feel guilty when they total my bill, and can&39;t help but chide myself for buying too many expensive gourmet goodies that the rest of my family won&39;t touch.

I shop with lists...sometimes.

I clip coupons...sometimes.

I stock up when items I know I&39;ll use are on sale...most of the time. (I&39;ve got a bag of my favorite chocolate marked down 75% after Valentine&39;s Day, but I don&39;t know if that really counts.)

So any hints on how to get my grocery bill and my stress level down are more than welcome.

This past week I signed up for Ben&39;s Grocery Challenge where savvy shoppers get to enter their the best grocery tip, readers vote, and the winner gets $100. A new winner is chosen each week from February 19 to April 15, 2007.

The contest is called Ben&39;s Grocery Challenge in honor of Ben Franklin&39;s 300th birthday last month. He was into technology and frugal living, and I would guess, would have plenty of tips to share on the site if he were still around today.

Here&39;s how you can win:

   1. Visit mygrocerydeals.com or TheDollarStretcher.com and look for Ben&39;s picture.
   2. Click on it to enter your money-saving grocery tip or vote for your favorite one.
   3. The tip with the most votes that week wins $100! One lucky voter will also win $100!

I don&39;t expect to win $100 for entering a tip. But I am voting, and learning from other&39;s tips. Or at least being reminded of tips I know but forget as I get lost in the aisles trying to figure out what to make for dinner that week.

I also recently signed up for the MyGroceryDeals.com service and am starting to get familiar with the site. When you join (for free) it develops a profile for you, then you can either skim the fliers from your local stores and make a list of the best deals, or make your list and then find out where the bargains are. My favorite feature is the one-click access to the nutritional information for any item. (I do read labels!) I still don&39;t have my grocery shopping down to a science, but every bit helps.

If you&39;ve got a grocery shopping tip that you think would make Ben proud, share it with Ben&39;s Grocery Challenge, and feel free to add it here too. You might get my vote!