So here are some of my tips on how to save some money when doing your grocery shopping:
1. Never, and I mean NEVER, ever go grocery shopping on an empty stomach. If you do, you tend to buy MORE than what you intended to buy. When you're hungry and you're doing your grocery, everything seems to be so appetizing that you feel like you just got to have it. But when you do your grocery shopping right after a meal, you can (& you will) just follow your grocery list - which leads us to our next tip...
2. Bring a grocery list and stick to it! Before heading for the grocery store, check your pantry and your supply cabinets. List down all that is needed to be bought right away and those that can wait or that can be bought if you have extra cash. Also, note down the quantity that you would need to buy. This way, you won't go over board with your grocery items.
3. Bring just enough money and don't bring your credit card. If you still don't know how much to bring, check on your previous grocery receipts and you'll be able to estimate how much do you really need to bring on your grocery shopping excursion. By doing this, you will not be capable of impulse-buying since you are on, technically, a budget during your shopping.
4. Stock up on non-perishables. This is effective when your favorite grocery store has announced a sale on their items (usually 1-2 weeks before the exact date). Great things to stock up on are pasta, cereal and canned goods. Just remember to check on the expiration dates of the items before placing them in your cart.
5. Check for special promos. Some items are sold on special promos for a limited time offer. Almost all of the grocery stores have a special section for these items. For example, a soy sauce bottle may come with a free smaller sized vinegar bottle. Others come with a gift. In other words, they are freebies. And who wouldn't want a gift, right? Just be careful with these offers: check on the expiration dates, check on the free item (if it's broken), and think if you would need the free item or would it just add up to your junk. If you don't have any good use for the free item, it would be better to just grab the regular item instead of the one with a promo.
6. Don't be afraid to try the in-house brands. Almost all of us are used to buying certain brands when grocery shopping. But it would not hurt to try the in-house brands. In SM, they call it Bonus. Why? First, they give the same results (if not better) and second, they cost less than the commercial brands. This might take a trial and error method for some, especially if you feel like this brand does not give the same result as your previous brand. What you can do is buy the smallest size and give it a test run. If it turns out to be fine with you, then you can buy the bigger size the next time you go grocery shopping.
7. Compare, compare, compare. This is related to tip # 6. If your grocery store does not have an in-house brand, compare your usual brand with the other brands available. Chances are you will be able to get a lot more on a lower cost with some other brands. My favorite brand of detergent soap was so expensive, so I checked on the other brands with the same ingredient, bought a couple and tried it at home. Turns out that you cannot tell the difference at all! So from then on I kept on buying the less expensive brand. It adds up if you think about how much you can save in a month then for a year.
8. Buy food that are in-season. Check the newspaper or the internet to learn which produce is in-season. When a product is in-season, it is priced to sell (since they have a lot of it). Great examples are fruits. With vegetables, always remember that during the rainy days, their prices go sky-high!
9. Buy refills. May it be cooking oil, ketchup, shampoo or soy sauce. You already have a container at home (from your previous buy), so why would you need another one right? A refill costs much more less than the ones in containers. All you have to do is transfer the foil or plastic refill to your hard plastic container.
10. Make a grocery shopping schedule. My family goes on a grocery shopping excursion every 2 weeks. We buy all that we will need for 2 weeks, rough it out and come back after 2 weeks. It saves money on transportation and helps us stick to our meal plans & grocery budget.
11. Subscribe to your grocery store's membership or frequency club. It gives you different perks every quarter or so. Some times it may offer an exclusive discount for certain items or it may give out free items. Some stores convert your total bill into points which you can use at a later time. Signing up for these membership makes grocery shopping a lot more fun and a lot more cost-effective.
These tips can save you very little cash on your first few tries, but if you add them up, you'll realize that it does help a lot.
Remeber, practice makes perfect!
My family and I have been doing these methods for the past 3 years. And in total, we were able to save Php 3000 a month on groceries. That means Php 36000 a year!
If we can do it, why can't you?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment