Talk and Act
In 2010, we must all become educated customers in order to trade out of the current financial hardships that a lot of us are facing. One of the key areas where we must become smarter is in the area of grocery shopping. Bottom line, we all have shopping lists we follow or try to follow whether it is a list on a piece of paper or we mentally remember what need. However, we always find ourselves taking those extra unplanned products on the way out of the supermarket. Did you know that according to marketing experts some 75% of our decisions are actually made in the store itself. Hence, the playing of soothing music by supermarket chains is working on us consumers. Further research indicates that you will usually buy 30% more than was planned.
Supermarkets are well aware of those numbers. In fact they pretty have done all the research in order for that to occur. The issue is then how do we place ourselves in a good place where we will not be tempted to blow the budget on groceries that are pointless? Hopefully the following hints will help you to develop good habits and ensure that you stay within your budget.
Your list should be as detailed as possible – When setting up the list, gather all the weekly catalogues together and circle all the products that you need that are on special. Write the product, the brand and price on your list. Be as detailed as possible to avoid confusion. This will also increase the speed in which you purchase products and decrease the time spent in the supermarket which means less temptation to purchase.
Be wary of freebies given away at the Supermarket – Often ‘free’ taste testing will lead to a purchase which will definitely blow your budget. Unless you are strong willed, avoid these kind of freebies, even though in the right context they are useful and actually do save you money.
Look for cheaper products, of the same quality on lower and upper shelves – Supermarkets are multi-million dollar businesses. Hence they will put brand name products or products that produce the greatest return on shelves that are at eye level. Home brands or supermarket branded products which often have no difference in their quality are located above or below these premium shelf spaces.
Shop without the kids – Following on from the above point, it’s best to shop unaccompanied so that you are not distracted from the task at hand. Having children nagging about something that they see on the lower shelves whether it be toys or sweet “health” food will lead to the inevitable purchase to avoid embarrassment or to keep them quiet. So where possible shop without the children.
Follow the above tips to help educate yourself to become the thrifty shopper and save yourself hundreds if not thousands over the year in grocery shopping where the money can be put towards your child’s education or paying off the mortgage.
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Posted in Tips · March 12th, 2010 · Comments (0)
Saving Money. Being thrifty. Being Tight. Whatever you want to call it, the everyday US consumer has to know it. The great financial boom in the early 2000s has given way to the worst economic crisis since the great depression. We Have seen the prices of houses drop drastically and the record number of people declaring bankruptcy and defaulting over their mortgages. My belief is that if we knew how to handle money when times were good, then many would have been saved from a lot of heartache. The principle is similar to Joseph in the bible where he predicted 7 years of good times followed by 7 years of drought. He had the insight and advice to the Egyptian Pharaoh to ask him save during the good times so that there was enough during the tough times. It would appear that principles from over 3000 years ago would still apply now.
Unfortunately it would appear that many squandered their wealth and good times without any forward planning. And this lack of planning has cost many people their livelihoods. However I believe there is a swing back towards a more moderate lifestyle, obviously because it has been forced upon them. But I would also like to suggest there are ways to save money that can also be fun!
The greatest expense that occur in households outside the mortgage and rents is the grocery bill. Below are some tips on how to save at the grocery store.
Use Coupons: I cannot stress this enough. There has been an explosion in the popularity of using coupons where companies that are doing it tough and some not doing it tough are using coupons to attract new customers and service current consumers. Use the Internet to do your search and come up with the best and use all available coupons. Sites like coupons.com or FreeStuff4Free.com will provide plenty of functional coupons that will save you lots of money. Many coupons are covered from a range of categories as well as a wide range of freebies.
Seek out supermarkets that will double or triple your coupons. In addition to the above point, this is where the power of couponing really shines. Combining a coupon with a sale when the store doubles or triples your coupon can bring you prices down to just pennies instead of dollars. In my area the stores that double, and sometimes triple coupons, are stores that I used to avoid because their overall prices seemed very high to me. I’m fortunate that they are close and compete with each other.
Avoid pre-packaged snacks. Individually-wrapped packages of biscuits, chips, cheese products looks great and maybe convenient but you are ultimately paying for it with your hard earned cash. When you do some basic estimates the per-unit prices for these items is astronomical than if you purchased the products on their own and put it together yourself. Unless you’re getting the items as freebies, stay well clear of these goods.
And so whilst the world may be slowly recovering from this economic mess, you yourself can contribute positively by pulling yourself out of the hole and learning some principles to help restore confidence.
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Posted in Tips · March 7th, 2010 · Comments (0)