Spend Wisely
Being a good shopper and getting the same item for less is a worthwhile pursuit. While it does not make sense to collect all of the weekly shopping flyers and drive from store to store collecting apples here and parsley there since you will be burning up any cost savings in fuel (there is such a thing as being counterproductively, too frugal), it is important to shop around, comparison shop, find out and keep an eye out for when items are off-season and on sale.
Many items exhibit a seasonal pricing pattern, so if you are going to buy a snowblower, get it on sale in the summer.... The best time to buy Christmas decorations is the week after Christmas when it is all half off or better. This type of saving takes some planning, but can yield savings over the year on items you are going to purchase anyways.
Smart Shopping
Whether a little grocery comparison shopping, using both offline, in-store and online grocery coupons or comparison shopping for a new car, taking some time to understand your purchase and the range of pricing on the market for the same or similar products will go along way to saving money.
Some businesses are more apt to give an additional discount than others especially in these times. For example if shopping for a hot tub, simply dropping the name of one of their competitors down the street is enought to shave some more off of the price or perhaps get that extra little goody such as a spa step, cover lifter, chemical kit etc. thrown in the purchase price. "ask and you just might receive, if you don't ask you most likely will not" .
Comparison shopping on the internet can be useful to determine a product's value. We usually want to keep good quality but find it at an affordable price. Buying junk is buying bad because you have to rebuy the item again effectively costing you more than if you bought quality to begin with. That being said, there are alot of items on the market that are considered "upsells". These may masquerade as higher quality when in fact they are rebranded or otherwise gussied up offerings at higher margins to the retailer. So "caveat emptor" = let the buyer beware.
It is best to have a list when shopping. You can also group shopping tasks to reduce time spent in stores and only go to stores when they have what you need on your list.
A wise merchant in Venice once said, "Low prices may be an indication of low service, but high prices are not necessarily an indicator of high service...."
Further reading on how to Shop Wisely