| Shopping smart, doesn't have to be hard work, take up a lot of your time or become a stressful experience. Like everything in life, it just means that we may need to change some of our habits and learn a smarter way of shopping.
Why don't we start with some of the major 'don'ts' of shopping?
Do Not Do This:
- Go to the store hungry
- Be 'taken in ' when something is 'on sale', know your prices
- Go to the store without a list of essential things that you need
- Buy instinctively, plan for it on your 'next' grocery list
- Do not take family along when grocery shopping. You have a plan to stick to and don't want 'unknown' things in the cart.
- Go out of your way to buy something on sale. If you have a route and an objective for more than one thing, it is a savings otherwise; you are spending extra money on gas and wear and tear on your vehicle.
- Buying 'convenience foods', you can probably make double the amount for half the price if you make something from scratch
- Buy the small box of an item. The savings is in purchasing the large size.
- Don't purchase brand name, when the store brand is usually a lot cheaper. The same canning factory makes a variety of store brand labeled foods as well as the name brand. Just make sure that your food is made in the USA for quality.
- Forget to cut coupons- you can use your store card (the one they give you for discounts) as well as coupons for more savings. If you get really good at it, you can trim tons of money off your grocery bill.
Now that we have that out of the way, what are some of the priceless gems that we 'can do' to save money at the grocery store!
1. Buy in bulk if we use a lot of a particular item
2. Buy the largest size box of cereal and keep the contents in a zip lock bag for freshness. But only do this, if the calculations as far as weight is beneficial, a big box doesn't always mean that you are getting more for your money.
3. Purchase items that are in season. You do not want to buy a large amount of onions in the winter, buy them when they are less expensive in the summer and then chop them up and freeze them to use for cooking in the winter.
4. Bring a calculator with you or at the very least and notebook and pencil to do your calculating. If something is $3 for 4 rolls (75 cents) and another store special is 6 rolls for $10.00 (60 cents each), which the best deal?
5. Make sure that you always check your pantry before you leave the house. You may already have an item
6. Make a grocery list that matches the items that you are planning to prepare between now and the next trip to the grocery store. Purchase what is on your list. The only 'extras' that there might be is if something is a great sale price and then you will purchase two of those items.
7. Cut back on meat, fruits and veggies are better for you and you can save a lot.
8. Use leftover meat in casseroles and as an added item on pizzas. Cheese pizza is less expensive than the one with 'everything' on it.
9. Cook a lot at one time and then freeze the food according to the meals that you will make that are on your menu.
10. Check your receipts to make sure that you have been charged the correct price.
The BEST SAVER OF THEM ALL: Take the money that you have 'saved' from your smart shopping trip and put it away and use it for the, major sales, to fill your pantry and freezer. Turkeys are on sale about a month before Thanksgiving, buy two of three and have one handy for company at Christmas. The beginning of summer is a great time to fill the freezer with Brats and hamburgers too!
Smart shopping can save you time, money and stress and you get such gratification when the pantry and freezer is full and you still have money in your 'sale' envelope. Have a great time shopping and saving!
Jan is a Professional Organizer that offers ways of saving money, relieving stress and simplifying life. Get her new book '101' Hints for Around the Home' filled with organizing and cleaning tips and shortcuts.
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