Find out when your stores do markdowns

Last week I just happened to do some grocery early Saturday morning on my way home from picking up our co-op produce. In the past, I have tried to avoid the grocery stores on the weekends. They are always so crowded and usually understocked. I was pleasantly surprised to find that no one shops at 7am on a Saturday morning. I also found tons of markdowns on dairy, bakery, and meat items. I stocked up on organic milk for $1 for 1/2 gallon, lunch rolls for $1 doz., and various meat items for well below sale prices. These items were expiring within the next 1 or 2 days and the store cannot sell them after that date. I've found that if you use them up quickly or freeze the items, the expiration dates are fairly arbitrary. This is where our freezer comes in handy. I repacked the meat and bread into freezer bags and appropriate portions for our family and froze most of it, along with most of the milk. Milk freezes great, and thaws pretty quickly in a sink full of cold water.
I went again this Saturday morning, and found some similar deals, just not as much as last week. I will definitely be making a point of doing some early Saturday morning runs to the grocery stores to check the markdowns.
I encourage you to find out when your stores do their markdowns and shop them to get some great deals and stock up your freezer.

Good Luck!