Though everyone as to eat, it’s easier to cut grocery spending than it is to trim a light or cable bill. As an added benefit, saving on food provides almost instant gratification. Families will be able to count their savings after their first trip to the grocery store.
Save with a Grocery List
Grocery ads that come in the mailbox or with the newspaper can help shoppers get the most from their food dollars. The front page of these ads usually feature meat, produce and other items on sale. These items are called 'loss leaders' because the store usually sells them at a loss - below the store's cost - in order to entice shoppers into the store. Shopping loss leaders is one easy way to save money.
The week's sales can form the basis for a shopping list.. Sticking to a list is a good way to ward off often expensive impulse purchases. Also, a list helps shoppers get everything they need and avoid making return trips to the store. Planning menus based on items on sale at the grocery store can help a family eat well for less.
Every time a shoppers enter the store, they're likely to spend more money. For that reason, shopping twice a month instead of once a week is another good way to save money, and time. The less time a person spends in the store, the more money they'll save and the more time they'll have for other things.
Practice Good Shopping Habits
The person responsible for the family's grocery shopping should shop by herself, if possible. The more people along, the more likely they'll entice the shopper into impulse purchases. In addition:
- A calculator helps in figuring cost per ounce of items. This way the shopper can determine if a larger size or different brand of an item is a better deal.
- Shoppers should focus on shopping the perimeters of the store - meat, produce and dairy. When shopping the interior of the store for packaged and canned goods, the best bargains will probably be found high and low. Supermarkets generally place more expensive items at eye-level. Sale items can often be found in displays at the ends of aisles, but be careful. Sometimes end displays are a strategy to get rid of overstocked, higher priced items.
- Store brand and generic products are often good buys. These products can cost much less than name brands and are often made by the same manufacturers.
- Some shoppers save money with grocery coupons, but they should only be used for items te shopper normally buy, and items that are cheaper with the coupon.Stores that offer to double coupon saving can make coupons an even better deal, as can combining coupons with a sale price for a 'double-play' .
Shop Different Stores to Save Money on Groceries
Shoppers can often save money by buying grocery items at stores whose main business isn't groceries. Produce stands and farmer's markets often have the best prices on fresh produce. Drugstores sometimes have aisles of special-purchase items, from snack foods and sodas to breakfast cereal and canned vegetables. Convenience stores may have good prices on milk, bread, and sodas.
Make a Price Book and Bulk Buy
One way to know if a price on a particular item is a good deal is to make a price book. In a notebook, list all the items a family typically bus. Anyone can mark off columns in a notebooks and use store ads and saved receipts from previous shopping trips to record the lowest price they've found for that item and the date. Most items go on sale in a regular cycle: tuna every six weeks, chicken every two months, etc. With a price book, a shopper will be able to predict sales and know when an advertised price is really a good deal.
A price book helps shoppers know when the item is likely to go on sale again, so they can buy enough at the sale price to last until the next sale. Stocking up this way insures the shopper never pays full price for the items they use most and can save a family hundreds of dollars each year.
Cynthia Myers - Cynthia Myers is the author of more than three dozen novels and hundreds of short stories and articles for publications ranging from ...
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