Don't like to clip coupons? There's another way to save hundreds — even thousands — of dollars each year on groceries and other items.

These policies are called price matching or price adjustment. And in today's highly competitive retail industry, more stores than ever have begun offering them as a way to attract shoppers. Walmart, Target and Home Depot even make their policies available online for anyone to review.

Guidelines vary among stores. But most retailers agree to match the price of an identical item sold by a competitor. Home Depot and Lowe's even offer to beat a competitor's price by a certain amount, such as 10 percent, for example.

Price-adjustment policies are a bit different. If an item goes on sale for a lower price after you purchased it, a store may elect to refund the difference. Most stores' policies cover items that go on sale at their own stores, or at a competitor within a specific amount of time. Some last only a week after an item is purchased, while others give you up to a month to find a lower price.

The one major drawback to either price matching or price adjustment is their relative complexity: Each store has a slightly different — and sometimes extensive — policy and exclusions.

Some retailers won't price match their own stores. If a Walmart in Salt Lake City has a television priced at $200 and another location along the Wasatch Front has the same TV for $160, the former will go with the higher price, and the customer will have to drive to obtain the bargain.

Most retailers also don't match the clearance prices of their competitors. And many stores won't match prices found online, even if they are on the companies' own websites.

But price matching can still be a huge money saver, especially for groceries. Instead of driving around to buy each store's weekly loss leaders — items sold at, or below, cost — shoppers can simply take all their ads to Walmart or Target and get the best deals in one place. Even if you don't want to do all your grocery shopping at either of those stores, stocking up on highly discounted items that your family needs can help you save a lot of money.

Another tactic is to watch ads after you make a major purchase. If an item you bought goes on sale, you might be able to ask for an adjustment. I did this several times around the holidays, when prices changed frequently.

If you're new to price matching, read the policies of your favorite stores (see the accompanying box).

When price matching, bring the entire advertisement — make sure it hasn't expired —into the store. Don't just cut out the item you want to buy.

As with using coupons, price matching takes a bit of time. But the savings can be well worth it.

lesley@sltrib.comTwitter: @cheapchick

Lesley Mitchell writes One Cheap Chick in daily blog form at blogs.sltrib.com/cheap. —

Price-matching policies

Walmart • bit.ly/iaMxba

Target • bit.ly/4sxW5n

Home Depot • bit.ly/dhiv10

Lowe's • bit.ly/eFmC1c

Sears • bit.ly/4zLSSi

Staples • bit.ly/b56bL8

Best Buy • bit.ly/atdQRU