Photo: Think Stock

I have a little game I like to play at the grocery store. As the cashier tallies up the milk and eggs and cereal and more cereal (i have 2 boys), I bet her how much the final total will be. I either pick $175 or $136 or $111, depending on the way I think I shopped that particular Sunday. She picks what her experience tells her.  When we arrive at the real number and I'm closer,  I try not to rub it in and run around the aisles doing victory laps and stopping to moon various onlookers—but it's hard. First off, I rarely win anything so when I do I'm impossible. And second off, if I named the right number, I paid attention and shopped intelligently and the bill did not reach $375 as it did once dark, horrible night at the Stop N Shop off Route 210.

The joy of being frugal is a lot like the joy of eating one illicit grape while wandering the produce section—everybody experiences it, but nobody wants to talk about it. Two days ago, however, ABC news did a story about the cheapest family in America, who buy almost expired meat, freeze on-sale milk and hit the grocery store with walkie-talkies so they can talk to each other about deals while in different aisles. It had me laughing my head off and taking notes as to how they do it (hint: they prep for 4 hours before going to the store), because, let's face it, their total for 4 kids and 2 parents was $120 dollars—and that was for food for the WHOLE month!

Read More:
Watch the ABC video clip
Saving ideas from the Coupon Mom
Suze Orman: the emergency stash.