Dead Battery!

If I have a dead battery how do I determine if the battery itself is bad or if its the alternator not charging it or some other problem? I am pretty sure its a charging problem. I have noticed lately that sometimes when I start it, that it barely has enough juice to start. Than the other day I started it up and all seemed to be fine so I decided to run over to Walmart in the next town over and put some miles on her to see what happens. When I came back out of Walmart it only had enough juice to turn it over once and luckily that was all it needed. I drove right home parked the car and tried to restart and the battery was completely dead. Than just to make sure it was a dead battery issue I jumpered it off my truck and it started just fine. Beside taking both the alternator out and battery and taking them in to be tested. Is there any thing I can do with a multimeter to help figure out the issue faster?