This guide is intended for use in a consumer education course designed to teach consumers to get the most out of their dollar when shopping for and preparing food. The kit is divided into a series of sections containing activities and fact sheets that are designed to guide the consumer through a successful shopping trip. The following topics are covered: the business of food (procedures for completing a one-day food record; Canada's Food Guide; and penny pincher ideas for use in purchasing and preparing bread and cereal products, meat and fish products, meat alternatives, fruits and vegetables, milk and milk products, and convenience foods); things to consider before going to the store (shopping lists, some food for thought, ways of stretching one's meat dollar, and alternatives to meat); the grocery store game (label talk, the food label game, prices, examples of grading, grades for canned fruits and vegetables, brand names and labeling games, no-name brands versus brand names, and a case for comparison); techniques for analyzing purchases (becoming a market master and buying food); and more ingredients (too much sugar, information on additives, common food additives and their use, salt and health, breakfast cereals, ways to use leftovers, fast foods, and food advertisements). (MN)