10 Tips to Improve Grocery Shopping

1. Make a menu plan. Write out several days' worth of menus and consider how you could use leftovers to further stretch the budget.

2. Create a list. Write down the items that are essential to upcoming meals you have planned, and stick with it. Impulse buys are budget busters.

3. Organize coupons. Just inside most supermarkets you will find extra newspaper coupon inserts and a board with the sale items highlighted. Check these sale items against your shopping list to make sure you are getting the best price. Also, look on the shelves for items that have coupons on the packages.

4. Shop alone. Friends and family members can steer you off the shopping list.

5. Don't shop hungry. Your appetite can influence your spending.

6. Spend cash. Take time to get cash before going to the store. Nothing impacts our minds like taking cash from our wallet. Shoppers who use credit cards rarely know how much was actually spent -- until the statement comes.

7. Always shop by the unit price at the stores. Supermarkets post the unit cost on the shelves. These numbers can show you that larger packaging isn't always the best buy.

8. Don't let cleansers take you to the cleaners. There seems to be a cleaning aid for every type of household project. But the best kitchen products remain inexpensive abrasive powders and ammonia. No need to buy a brand name, ammonia is ammonia. If you want it soapy, add some detergent.

9. Avoid prepackaged convenience items. Cereals, desserts, juices and beverages mixed and prepared at home are always a better value than prepackaged items.

10. Be cautious about adding nonfood items to the grocery list. Health and beauty items, paper and plastics, utensils, brooms, brushes, film, etc. have the highest profit margin for most grocery stores. Usually you can purchase them at a lesser price at discount drug stores and warehouse clubs.

Tags: budget, shopping, tips

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Comment by NovavoN on September 17, 2009 at 9:56am: Solid list, I can tell you serious (non professional) athletes plan out and buy groceries exactly like that.

Comment by Alexis F on January 20, 2009 at 12:36am: This article highlights the relevance of improving grocery shopping, which is very applicable today that we're living in a troubled economy that is pushed to use third party resources such as a payday loan just to survive. This doesn't have to be the case however. I recently read an interesting article on the payday loan blog at personalmoneystore.com explaining how to save on your biggest monthly household expense, your food bill! The article covered a few interesting topics such as buying food in bulk, shopping off a planned list and then only once a month, comparison shopping, and weekly advertisements. Shopping this way takes a little foresight and financial planning but is a great way to save money. Some of the other things that were spoken of were planning meals around cheaper staples such as beans, rice, and pasta, which can be prepared in a variety of ways that make great tasting yet inexpensive dishes.

You can read the two part article yourself entitled "Grocery Shopping for Big Savings" on the payday loan money blog at personalmoneystore.com.

Comment by VOID Munashii on January 19, 2009 at 2:31pm: The only thing I take issue with is 4. Some people really need a chaperon to keep them on the list.

Personally I do most of my shopping at warehouse stores, less variety, but generally good value. Of course it screws me up for shopping in normal stores since a dozen tortillas at the grocery store is the same price as 50 at the warehouse club.

Comment by Susan Kirkpatrick on January 19, 2009 at 8:16am: I should put this into action... try out at least a few of these points and let you know if it makes things better for me. :)

Comment by Bobbi Jo Woods on January 19, 2009 at 12:23am: I agree with #1 about planning your menu. It takes just a few minutes per week or about 20-30 minutes per month to do this. But before you do, take advantage of tools like this online, to find recipes which include items you already have on hand. The Dollar Stretcher is a great web site to check for cooking on the cheap/within a budget.

11. If your community has a food co-op or community food share (like mine does), consider looking into that. For example, for $20, I receive a package of food that contains a few lbs of vegetables (usually potatoes and onions, carrots, celery) and fruits (depending on season) like apples, oranges, grapefruits, etc.), and then a few frozen staples like chicken, ground beef, orange juice, bacon. I've been pretty happy so far with what I've been able to get. A neighbor and I drive down to the church on Saturday a month in the morning and pick up our orders. Our group is called "Fare For All" but yours may be something different.

Find yours by Googling: "community food share + __" (your state).

12. If you hate crowded markets and need to get in and out faster, shop early in the morning (between 5:30-8 a.m.) or late at night (after 9 p.m.). Many large grocery chains these days have locations near you which are open 24 hours to allow this.

13. Check out places like ALDI and Trader Joes if you are on a budget but still want to eat well. I have found ALDI to have the same quality (or better) products than the large chain stores do (and in many cases, the product is the same but the brand is different). Trader Joe's is just fabulous for the friendly staff, smaller size store and overall quality/freshness, and yet a cheaper price for more gourmet-quality items. Super Targets are also great for bargains on staples like milk, eggs, cheese, meat, plus pantry items like pasta, rice, pickles, soup, beans, etc.

Comment by Dmitri on January 18, 2009 at 7:27pm: Thanks, I must admit I'm guilty of roaming myself. I like to use the "In case I remember something I need" excuse.

Comment by David on January 18, 2009 at 6:47pm: Very good advice. My wife is just like you, however, I love to roam around the store and see what's in every aisle.