Quick Tips for Saving Money on Groceries
by Nancy Twigg |
| Nancy Twigg is a speaker and author who loves inspiring others to live more
simply. Adapted from Nancy’s newly revised book, Celebrate Simply: Your
Guide to Simpler, More Meaningful Holidays and Special Occasions (www.celebratesimply.com).
Visit Nancy online at www.countingthecost.com
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Do you want to do all you can to cut
your grocery bill? Would you like to have a few more tricks up your
sleeve for saving on groceries? If so, here are five quick reminders
to help you get out of the grocery store with more food while
spending less money:
1. Go it Alone.
This one may be difficult to do, but if you can leave your kids
and spouse at home, you'll probably find grocery shopping easier and
less expensive. Each additional person on the shopping trip
increases the temptation to buy on impulse.
2. Love those Loss Leaders.
Loss leaders are those very good deals that grocery stores offer
in order to get you in the door. They are usually found on the front
and back pages of the sales circulars. Some of the biggest grocery
savings can be found by shopping for only the loss leaders at three
or four different stores in your neighborhood. Buy the best sale
items from each store and then buy the rest of what you need from
whichever store seems to have the best prices in general.
3. Plan Your Menu Around What's on
Sale.
 Speaking of loss leaders, another saving strategy is to plan
your menus around what's on sale. For example, if your local grocery
has chicken parts at 29 cents a pound, stock up. Plan to use the
chicken for a variety of meals such as chicken spaghetti, chicken on
the grill, fried chicken, chicken soup, etc. If the same store also
has potatoes at a good price, you can use them to go along with your
chicken by making mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, potatoes cooked
on the grill, and by adding them to your soup.
4. Be a Savvy Coupon User.
It's fun to get things for pennies on the dollar by using
coupons, but you have to be very careful to use coupons wisely. Most
coupons are for convenience foods that can be made cheaper from
scratch. Only use a coupon when the item is something you really
need and when using the coupon makes the national brand cheaper than
the generic equivalent. Also remember that there are costs involved
in couponing: the price of the Sunday paper, the time it takes to
clip and organize. Make sure that these costs don't exceed what you
really save by using coupons.
5. What's in a (Brand) Name?
If by some chance you haven't gotten into generics yet, what are
you waiting for? Rumor has it that most generics are actually made
at the same factories as name brand products. In the rare case that
you aren't satisfied with the generic equivalent after one
serving/use, you can most likely take it back to the store and ask
to exchange it. Many store brands actually have their satisfaction
guarantee printed right on the package.
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