Rossen Reports is saving you money on groceries by tackling three issues when planning meals: cost, waste, and knowing what to cook.CostWith food costs surging in the last few years, you can save by knowing the best days to shop for groceries. We found out when weekly ads and deals go out from major grocery stores.Target: Target releases weekly ads every Sunday, and offers personalized rewards through its Target Circle program. Aldi: Aldi releases weekly ads every Wednesday, which you can find online or sign up for their newsletter to receive.Kroger: Kroger releases weekly ads every Wednesday.Walmart: Walmart partners with the coupon app Flipp, which curates deals from Walmart’s website and distributes them every Wednesday. You can also search Walmart's rollback deals, which last 90 days.Costco: Costs shares members-only savings monthly. Flipp also curates weekly deals from Costo and shares them every Friday.WasteThe average American family of four throws out $1,600 worth of produce each year. Make sure you’re storing your groceries correctly so you aren’t wasting your money.You can download the USDA’s free FoodKeeper app to see how long you can safely keep food and your fridge and freezer. To better understand food "sell by" dates, you can see our previous report here.What to cookSave money by making sure you're using everything in your fridge and freezer.If you have food that’s about to go bad, and you have no idea what to make, the free SuperCook app can help. The app creates a virtual pantry for you based on the items in your fridge and shows you recipes you can make using the ingredients you already have.Have a question for Jeff Rossen? He's answering your consumer questions every Friday in the new segment "Rossen Responds." Email your questions to him at RossenResponds@hearst.com.