In today's economy, food prices are hitting an all-time high and families are forced to stretch their grocery dollar any way they can. Using her shopping creativity, Christiane Jory is getting what she wants for less and sharing her secret. "About 70 percent of my groceries come from the 99¢ store," she proudly exclaims. "I make every penny count, and I do mean pennies!" After seeing a woman buy wine from her local 99¢ Only Store, Christiane did some investigating and discovered that not only did the wine taste good, but that there was a whole wealth of great food to be found. Using the inexpensive ingredients, Christiane says, "I dabbled with a few recipes, one recipe lead to another, and all of a sudden I had enough for a book." The result was @[*The 99*¢ *Only Stores Cookbook:* *Gourmet Recipes at Discount Prices*](http://the99centonlystorecookbook.com/)! Christiane explains that just because the items she buys are only 99-cents, it doesn't mean that they're made with 99 cent ingredients. She shares what she's learned from her discount shopping: • "A lot of times it's the packaging," she says, referring to possible printing errors that preclude items from being sold in regular supermarkets. "It won't be *the* shade of green that's supposed to be on the label, or the logo will be a little off." • "I asked a friend who knew about wine why it's only 99 cents. She looked at the wine and said, 'Oh, it's a sauvignon blanc, it's a good brand, but it's probably not going to be good in another year or 6 months.'" Christiane adds that she's seen the same bottle of wine for $40 other places, and ultimately, "I don't question [the low price], I just buy it!" • "The spices are huge," she says, "when you only need a teaspoon of something and you don't want to spend ten dollars on a jar of a spice."