"I needed to save a lot of money very quickly for my son's college education," Mannino explains. "I began shopping strategically, which is a fancy name for comparison shopping."
Now she shares her shopping strategies with some 400 subscribers to her website, TheGroceryWizard.com.
Each week, the site compares prices on 100 commonly purchased items at six major supermarkets in the Philadelphia suburbs.
"Choose the stores you're willing to shop, and select the products you want to buy," Mannino explains.
"At the bottom, it will tell you how much you can save. You can choose your overall cheapest store or you can split your order into two stores to save a lot more money."
Mannino also lists "Hot Deals" that work even if you're not a big coupon-clipper.
Her best advice is to stock up when items are on sale.
At the store, she grabs a circular and uses a coupon in it to to stock up on Ore-Ida potatoes for $.49 a package. That's three dollars off the regular price.
A quick look at her pantry shows her stock of Quaker granola bars that she bought for $1.39 a box and bottled water she got for free.
"If you split your grocery list into two stores, you will save about 35% with no coupons. If you use the stock-up strategy while you're doing that, after about three months, your bill is cut in half," Mannino says of her subscribers.
Subscribing to the site costs $8.50 month, but you can try the first week for just one cent. Click here to check it out.
