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Saving Money On
Grocery Shopping
Grocery shopping
seems simple enough, so why are Americans wasting more money,
food, and time than ever before. The government says that the
average family spends approximately 10% of their income on
groceries and this is one area of most people’s budgets that
isn’t a fixed cost.
We spend more on
food each year (an average of $5,340) than on anything else
besides our house and car. We don’t just walk into the nearest
car dealership and pay full sticker price for a car, so why
should we do that when buying groceries? We exhaustively
research a house or car purchase, when spending just a little
time planning our grocery shopping would actually save us more
money.
“Americans have
forgotten how to food-shop,” says Phil Lempert of
SupermarketGuru.com, which tracks the industry. This generation
has become more concerned with saving time than saving money.
Today households
on average throw out 14% of the food they buy. Twenty years ago
that number was only 7%. Compare this with our parents’ and
grandparents’ generations, when time was spent each week
planning menus so that nothing was ever wasted.
Today’s meal
planning goes like this: It’s 4:00 p.m. and you haven’t thought
about what’s for dinner. You try to think of something easy to
make –- then stop by the grocery store on your way home for the
ingredients. The next day it’s the same routine again.
However, with a
little planning and understanding of how the grocery industry
works you could easily save 15% or more on your grocery budget.
Grocery
Industry
Most
supermarkets are divided into 15 sections (from frozen foods to
toiletries), and each week two of those sections are put on
sale. So if you just buy what you need every week then you are
overspending on 13 out of 15 categories. The smart shopper
stocks up only on those items that are on sale each week
(obviously there will always be some items that have to be
bought on a weekly basis).
Grocery-store
items typically follow a 12-week cycle — everything dips to its
lowest price at some point during that time. The trick is to
catch it at that low point, hopefully you can use a coupon to
drop the price even lower, and then stock up! By following the
trends, you can save hundreds of dollars each year.
Of course just
because an item is in the store’s weekly sales flyer doesn’t
mean it’s a good deal. In fact, about half the items in a
typical weekly flier are actually on “phantom” sale. Many times
the store doesn’t even drop the price of the advertised item,
but people think that because it’s in the sales flyer it must be
a good deal.
Planning
Manufacturers
know that most people use the coupons they find in their Sunday
paper right away. For that reason, you will rarely see a product
on sale the same week that a coupon for that particular product
is issued. By waiting a few weeks after the coupon has been
issued, the product will likely go on sale giving you a sale
discount in addition to a coupon discount. Getting a price
reduction of some type in addition to the regular coupon is
commonly referred to as “stacking” coupons.
To make the most
of your coupons you need to:
Here are a
couple of websites that can help you do this:
www.thegrocerygame.com
This
subscription site provides you with a weekly list of products on
sale at your local supermarket, cross-referenced with the
coupons in your Sunday circulars. It then identifies which items
are real deals and which are only phantom sales.
Cost: Four-week
trial for $1; then $10 every eight weeks. (You can view the
weekly Walgreen’s list for free)
www.couponmom.com
This free site
provides a list of the advertised items on sale at your local
grocery store. It then pairs them with any matching grocery
coupons from your city’s Sunday newspaper that haven’t expired
yet.
Cost: Free
Additional Tips
Here are some
additional tips to help you save on your grocery bill:
Skip the
Shortcuts – The premium on shortcut foods (marinated chicken
breasts, cut vegetables, washed lettuce) is enormous, so compare
prices of the prepared version and the normal version, and then
decide whether the premium is worth the time you’ll save.
Make lists
– Take the time to do a quick inventory of your kitchen to
determine what you need. Half of us don’t make shopping lists.
That’s why we buy bags of food, but have nothing for dinner.
Before you shop, plan your next three dinners. That way you
won’t buy something you’ll use half of and then shove to the
back of the fridge to compost.
Choosing the
Right Store – No single store has everything at the lowest
prices. So in order to save the most money you may have to visit
2-3 different stores.
Eat First
– Grocery stores know the power of the sweet smell of freshly
baked bread; that’s why they put the bakery close to the
entrance. Everything looks good when you’re hungry.
Coupons!
– You could save hundreds of dollars a year by taking advantage
of product incentives. Even the less enthusiastic coupon clipper
can shave an average of ten percent off their bottom-line by
cashing in a small handful of coupons each trip.
Store Brands
– Companies have worked hard to improve their private-label
brands and buying them can save you an average of 40 percent off
your annual grocery bill.
Avoid Impulse
Buying – Restricting spontaneous shopping trips is one of
the best deterrents to impulse buying. A well thought-out
shopping list that you stick to will help cut-down on grabbing
for things that you do not need. In addition, giving yourself
enough time to shop will help prevent dashing in and reaching
for the first item that you come to.
Comparison
Shopping – To determine the true value of a product, read
the unit price, not just the package price. The package price
only tells you the cost of the entire item. The unit price shows
the cost per pound, ounce, etc.
Beware of
Marketing Strategies – Avoid marketing ploys designed to
draw your attention to a particular product. Knowing some of the
tricks of the trade will ultimately save you money. For example,
higher priced and impulse products are generally placed on the
middle shelves, because that’s what people see most.
Watch the
Scanner – Keeping your eyes peeled to the scanner has dual
advantages. First, it will keep the cashier more alert.
Secondly, it will allow you to catch any incorrectly priced
items.
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