Shop Cheap

I don't know about you, but I was cookin' over the July 4th weekend. Now, I'm just plain HOT! It's hard to get into the mood for grocery shopping when the highlight of the trip is the AC inside the store. But there are bargains to be had and lots of sweet fruit in the produce department. So in addition to shopping cheap, we'll be shopping light this week.

Here's the scoop.

Peaches and nectarines are ripe for the picking. You won't pay more than $1 a pound for this delicious fruit.

Sweet Bing Cherries are $2.99 a pound at Raley's/BelAir and $2.98 at Food Co.

Seedless watermelon is still cheap and plentiful.

After that, the best deals are in the cereal aisle.

Here's the store-by-store breakdown:

Safeway is still celebrating a grand re-opening at the Howe Avenue and Sierra College Blvd. (Roseville) stores. If you live in the neighborhood, it's worth a trip because of the special coupons: A dozen AA large eggs 99-cents; Tostitos chips $1.77 a bag and Peter Pan peanut butter 2/$2. The other coupons - available at all stores - are pretty good, too. 6-packs of Coke in 16.9oz bottles $1.49; Kellogg's cereal or Pop-Tarts 4/$6 and bath tissue or paper towels 2/$11.Safeway has nectarines for $1 a pound and the first crop of Rainier cherries are here at $3.99 a pound. Safeway goes BOGO (remember, buy one, get one free) on Minute Maid orange juice; Breyers ice cream and Eating Right stringless sugar snap peas in produce.

SaveMart has a great cereal deal. You must buy 4 boxes, but if you do, select Kellogg's products are $1.50 each. Aquafina bottled water is $3.99 a case and Gatorade is 79 cents on 32oz. varities. After all that grilling last week, I can barely mention BallPark franks, but they are BOGO again at SaveMart. On the other hand, Sunnyside Farms cottage cheese is $1.99 for a 16oz. container; yogurt is 10/$5 and and 18 Large AA eggs are 2/$6. If you want to limit your servings of ice cream, try the 3.6oz of Ben&Jerry's at $1 each - and be sure to eat it with the little spoon inside. A tuna sandwich sounds good and cheap. Chicken of the Sea chunk White albacore is $1 a can and Bohemian Hearth bread is $1.99 a loaf. Over in produce, the nectarines and peaches are 99-cents a pound; mangoes are 3/$1 and whole pineapple is $2.99. Fresh Express salad blends are 2/$5 and you've got to try the Nature Sweet Cherub tomatoes in the plastic container 2/$5.

Raley's/BelAir also has the Kellog's cereal offer - 4 boxes for $1.50 each. You can top your cereal with fresh, yellow peaches at 97-cents a pound or fill a bowl with Bing Cherries for the sweet price of $2.99 a pound. Raley's has a carb-lovers special - their Nob Hill Trading Co. breads at $2.89 a loaf. In the beverage department, there's a 69-cent coupon for Gatorade and a buy two, get two free 7-UP offer. A case of Crystal Geyser bottled water is $3.99. In produce, Dole 100-calorie salads (a light lunch?) are 2/$3; limes are 6/96 cents and green bell peppers are $1.49 a pound. Raley's is also introducing a Rotisserie "Grand" chicken that's 50% larger than the regular-size, already cooked bird. The "Grand" weighs just over 3lbs. and costs $8.99. But you get a free bag of rolls, too.

Vic's Market in Folsom has a frothy headline this week: "Cheers to Beers!" At the other two Vic's - Land Park and Fulton Avenue - it's summer melons - go figure. They also have Crystal Geyser bottled water at $3.50 a case. Given the heat, you might want to grab some Sobe Life Water at $1 a bottle.

Foods Co. is the place to go for Tropicana Fruit punch $1 for a 64 ounces. They have General Mills cereals for $1.88 a box and  Sunnyside Farms yogurt for 50-cents a carton. Fresh cherries are $2.98lb; nectarines are 98-cents a pound and gourmet cookies from the bakery are 2/$5. The Foods Co. "Colossal" rotisserie cooked chicken is $6.98 and diced potato salad is $1.98 a pound. That's dinner at my house!

Rainbow Foods has fresh Mexican shrimp for $3.99 a pound and ears of corn at 4/$1. Cantaloupe is 99-cents each and limes are 10/$1. A 3-pound bag of Fuji apples is $2.99. Chicken of the Sea solid white tuna is $1 a can and sesame Hoagie rolls are $1.79 for six.

I've been watching the price of milk lately and it's going up, too. Raley's Bayview brand, which was $4.79 for two gallons of non-fat, is now in the $5.59 range. Lucerne milk at Safeway is 2 gallons for $6.19. A month ago, WinCo. Hy-Top was $4.90 for two gallons of non-fat. Do you all have any tips on where to get the best milk prices? It's critical at my house because we're talking nearly 4 gallons a week!