Grocery Shopping Online

We’ve all heard about certain ways to cut your grocery bill like avoiding the grocery store when you’re hungry, using coupons on double coupons day, and buying only the items on your list. These are all good tips and we should keep using them. However, I’ve found a few pointers that might help you save even more on your grocery bill.

The first thing you need to do after you’ve made your grocery list is to try to figure the total cost of your grocery bill. Make sure you’ve got everything on the list that you’ll need because after you’ve made an educated guess you’re going to go to your purse (or wallet), take out the cash and leave the rest behind. Believe me, this will definitely cut back on the unnecessary extras because you won’t have the credit cards to fall back on. And if you’re like me, you’d rather be hung upside down by your toe nails than be found short at the check out.

Don’t be afraid to look on the day-old bread rack or in the “about to expire” section of the meat department. You have to be careful, but you’ll probably be able to tell whether the item is good. Just make sure to use it right away, don’t let it sit in your refrigerator for a week. Who knows, it just might “meat” your expectations and save you money in the process!

Another thing to think about is the time of day, time of week and even time of month that you are shopping. I’ve found that early in the morning and in the middle of the week is when the grocery stores are less busy and you’ll be able to get more efficient shopping done. Be careful not to go on the first day or two of the month. Some stores have been known to raise prices because that is the time that social security and welfare checks go out.

Buy in bulk when it makes sense. If you’re shopping at Costco or Sam’s Club you still need to comparison shop. I’ve found that some of the items are just as inexpensive at our local grocery store and there have been times when Costco’s or Sam’s Club prices where higher. So most of the time it makes sense for me to get most of our groceries at my local store because we live two hours away from Sam’s Club

Look high and low for savings, literally. The grocery stores purposely place the higher-priced name brand items at eye level. The lower priced generic and store brands are usually higher and lower than the brand name items. Remember that the generic brand or store brand isn’t always the less expensive. Some stores I’ve been to list the cost per ounce, or per item (trash bags) so be sure to compare these prices when shopping.

Last but not least, if you’ve got kids at home try to find another mom to trade shopping times with. It’s a lot easier to shop without kids, you won’t be tempted to buy extras just to keep them quiet and you’ll have more time to comparison shop. Your chances of having an enjoyable shopping experience will go up as well as their chances for survival!

About The Author

Shannon Jarvies is a work at home mom with five beautiful children and a wonderful husband. Visit her Debt Management Website for debt consolidation, budgeting help and money saving tips and ideas. And join her Money Management Discussion Group

http://consolidationdebtfree.com

shannon@consolidationdebtfree.com

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Unlike a fixed monthly cost such as your mortgage or car payment, the amount you spend on groceries each month is somewhat flexible. While the common advice of clipping coupons and buying generic brands to save money while shopping is sound, by far the best way to truly keep your grocery shopping expenses under control is by understanding how grocery stores entice you to spend more than you really want. By fully understanding the ways grocery stores encourage you to spend, many of which you probably never even noticed before, you can combat their strategies and spend money only on the merchandise you really need.

Although a grocery store may appear to be simply a place to purchase food and other household necessities, in reality it’s a cutting edge example of “how to sell more than consumers really need.” Since you are the consumer, it’s important that you realize these sales tactics so that you walk into a grocery store to get only what you need while avoiding everything else that the grocery store wants to sell you. Here are some ways that grocery stores manipulate you into spending more than you had planned and some simple steps you can take to counter them:

Smell: One of the first things you’ll notice when you enter a grocery store is the mouth-watering smell. There is a specific reason why grocery stores smell of freshly baked goods, and also why the bakery is almost always found near the store entrance. The reason is that a bakery making bread and desserts gives off an enticing smell, and that smell is likely to make you hungry. The grocery store also knows that if you feel hungry while you shop, you are likely to spend more money - a lot more - than if you are not hungry.

A simple way that you can combat this is by going grocery shopping only after you have had a meal and are full. If timing doesn’t allow for you to do this, at least drink a couple of glasses of water before leaving to make you feel full before shopping. Shopping while you’re full makes it much easier to resist the great smelling temptations that the grocery store will flaunt in front of you.

Overall Store Layout: Did you ever notice that when you only need to buy a few staple items, you have to travel the entire grocery store floor in order to get them? While one might assume that the convenience of putting basic staple items in the same general area would make happier customers, grocery stores know that the longer that they can keep you in the store, the more money you are likely to spend. They also know that making you walk as far as they can inside the store will make it more likely that you’ll pick up impulse items. Stores are specifically designed in such a way as to make you spend as much time as possible inside them and walk the entire store floor to get the basic staples that everyone needs.

Although there is no way around going to the far corners of the store to get the groceries you need, you can avoid the trap of impulse purchases on the store floor by taking the time to make a list of the items you need and sticking to it when shopping. Getting into the habit of making a single trip once a week to take care of all your grocery shopping needs instead of several smaller trips throughout the week will also greatly reduce your time in the store and the chances that you’ll buy items you don’t really need.

Item Display Layout: Manufactures of brand named products pay hefty stocking fees to stores to have their merchandise placed on the shelves at adult eye level (and child eye level in the case of products aimed at children such as cereal). Manufactures are willing to pay these prices because they know that you are much more likely to purchase something that you can easily see as you are walking down the aisle than something you have to stop and search for. The result is that the products placed at eye level are usually the most expensive.

Before grabbing the first item you see, take a few seconds to look at the upper and lower shelves. Similar products are placed together and simply looking will often reveal the same product at a much better price.

“Sale” Merchandise: Grocery stores will advertise a certain number of items at rock bottom prices (called “loss leaders”) to get you to come to the store. While these can be genuine bargains, don’t get fooled into thinking that everything that has the words “sale” or “bargain” above it is really that. While aisle ends are reserved for these “bargains,” they aren’t always the deals they seem to be and the discounted products are often displayed along side higher price products. You can sometimes even find similar products in the regular aisle section that are less than the end of aisle “sale” merchandise.

The important thing to remember when grocery shopping is to focus on the price of the product and not all the fancy advertising and slogans promoting the product. Take the time to check the other brands and see if there is a better deal. Also, remember that if you weren’t planning to buy the item and you don’t really need it, then it really isn’t a bargain for you no matter what the price. Only consider those items that you regularly use and you have a need for.

Product Appearance: Product packaging at grocery stores is bright, usually in red and yellows since these colors attract the eye. Just because something grabs your attention, however, doesn’t mean that you have to buy it. Keep focused on your shopping list and don’t get distracted by products you don’t really need.

Packaging will also be much larger than the actual product for many food items. Manufacturers know that shoppers assume that larger sized packaging equals a better deal. It would make sense since bulking items together saves the manufacturer on packaging, shipping and stocking which they can pass along to you. With a mantra “buy in bulk” now firmly grounded in most people’s minds as a way to save money, manufacturers are taking advantage of this. While still not the norm, more and more larger sized packages are less of a deal than their smaller sized counterparts since manufacturers know you will make the above assumptions and probably not compare the per unit cost.

Before grabbing the largest box of a product, take the time to calculate the per unit or per weight cost. More often than you would expect, smaller packages of an item are actually a better deal than buying the same item in a larger package.

Check-Out Layout: The check out aisle of a store is like a mini mart in itself. This is because grocery stores know that they have a captive audience while you wait in line to pay for your groceries. They squeeze in every little thing that might remotely peak your interest to rack up a large amount on impulse sales.

The best way to avoid these temptations to is plan your shopping during off peak hours. Avoid the weekend if at all possible since this is when grocery stores are most crowded, as well as the evening when everyone has just gotten off work. With many grocery stores now staying open 24 hours a day, late night and early morning trips when the aisle and check out lanes are practically bare are the perfect time to get in and out of the grocery store as quickly as possible.

By taking the time to understand how the grocery stores try to influence your shopping and spending habits, you have now put yourself in control. Utilize the suggestions about how to counter the grocery store’s selling techniques and you will be able to control your grocery spending to a much greater extent and should have a much easier time keeping to your monthly food budget.

Copyright (c) 2004, by Jeffrey Strain

This article may be freely distributed so long as the copyright, author’s information and an active link (where possible) are included. A complimentary copy of any newsletter or a link to the site where the article is posted would be greatly appreciated.

About The Author

Jeffrey Strain has published hundreds of money saving articles and the creator of the Daily Money Saving Challenge Program. He is the co-owner of http://www.savingadvice.com — a website dedicated to saving you money.

savingadvice@gmail.com

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The amount you spend on groceries can vary from month to month, unlike a mortgage or car payment. When a budget fails one can often accuse the grocery bill. Clipping coupons and buying generic brands is thought to be good advice, but it is important to know how stores entice you to spend more than what you originally earmarked for the grocery store. Some of these strategies are so subtle that you may have never even considered them before. Look at the following information an see if you can learn to combat the store’s selling strategies and win back control of your grocery budget.

Smells and Samples: Grocery Stores usually smell delicious. The Bakery, Deli, or Fruit section are often strategically placed near the door. For the grocery store, it is important for consumers to be hungry when they shop. Smells from these sections get the consumers thinking about food and consumers always spend more when they are hungry. Free Samples in the grocery store? Delicious. If it is not a product you would normally purchase, the store just increased the amount of money you were going to spend in the store.

An easy way to solve the hunger problem is don’t shop when you are hungry. Don’t shop right before an upcoming meals, shop after lunch, instead of before dinner. Eat first, or go shopping when are not hungry. Shopping when you are full makes it much easier to resist temptation.

Overall Store Layout: Staple food items are located in the rear of almost every store. Consumers have to wander the aisles to locate items like bread and milk. Stores understand that putting staple items together would make shopping easier, but they also know that the longer they can keep you in the store, the more items you will buy. Stores also understand impulse buying, or the purchasing of items that you don’t really need on impulse alone. Stores are specifically designed to encourage impulse buying. Sale products are always featured on aisle end caps that even the most frugal customer will have to walk by.

There is obviously no way around the fact that you will have to traverse the entire store to get to your staple food items, but you can avoid impulse items by making a list of the grocery items you really need, and committing to sticking to the list before you enter the store. Get in a habit of making one trip to the store per week, instead of several smaller trips. This cuts down the time you are in the store, thus saving money for the bottom line of your grocery budget. The less time in the store, the less money you will spend.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as buying groceries online at http://www.buygroceriesdirect.com

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