How to save money grocery shopping

I don't know about you, but over the holidays, I got really lax and didn't cook all that much. But, we ate though. How on Earth did we manage that one? Well, between all the holiday parties and eating out, I probably only averaged cooking about 1 or 2 nights a week for a couple weeks straight. Did I mention it was heavenly? Ah, the memories.

But, alas, we all know that it's way too expensive to eat out all the time. Heck, it's almost getting too expensive to eat all together! So, I've been researching online and trying to find some ideas on how to save on groceries and get better at meal planning. Here is a bit of a summary of my findings:

1. Don't go shopping hungry. (We all know that, right?)
2. Go alone. (Taking kids and husbands only adds to the grocery bill. Trust me, it's true.)
3. Make lists and stick to them.
4. Plan out your meals for the week before you go. This way, you will avoid any unnecessary trips to the store, thus costing you more money in the long run.
5. Try to avoid buying processed foods. (We all know they're not good for us, but the more processing a food goes through, the more expensive it will end up being.)
6. Only buy food at the grocery store. Save paper products, cleaning supplies, toiletry items, and medicines for stores like Wal-Mart.
7. Try sticking to the outside perimeter of the store where most of the essentials are located: dairy, bread, milk, meat, produce, etc.
8. Buy store brands whenever possible.
9. Stock up on price loss leaders. (These are the items that the stores put WAY on sale to bring you in.)

So, these are a few of the things I came across while researching. If you have any other tips, ideas, or advice, please feel free to share with the rest of us.