Everyone grocery shops, a lot. If you have a family, you probably find yourself getting groceries or "picking up a few things" every week or two. Here's some tips and tricks to save money, and get you through the checkout as quick as possible (because no one likes a 4 hour grocery shop trip.).
- Plan your meals. Sit down, and do an actual meal plan. If it's for a month or two weeks, plan your meals out so you know EXACTLY what you need to buy for the meals.
- Make sure you take a list. Yes...I know, we have all forgotten our list at least once or twice (or every single time we go grocery shopping...), but try your very hardest to take your list!!
- Don't stray from the list. Your kids will understand if you say no to the candy bar they want, or that little novelty grocery store thing they always get. You might get a tantrum, but they can be easily distracted by other things. Instead, let them hold your coupon envelope, or let them give coupons to the cashier. If they are just starting to read let them help you read the grocery list.
- Use Coupons. Even if you aren't a big fan of coupons, try to use as many as you can tolerate. Saving 50 cents is better than nothing. It'll also easy you into couponing so hopefully, you'll start using them more and more. Once you see how much you can save using coupons, you'll use more next time.
- Buy cheap, price match. Scour through the flyers to find out what's on sale. Compare that to coupons, Cash-back sites/apps, and other stores to get THE best possible deal you can find.
- Grocery shop alone as much as possible. If your significant other likes to add things to your cart, leave him/her home with the kids so you can go out and do your grocery shopping. This will not only be easier for you to stick to a budget and a list, but you won't feel as pressured to hurry up and rush through so you can go home.
- Use all of your resources. The internet is an amazing black hole, but you can also find really good deals, coupons, new apps, etc. Find them, learn to use them, enjoy them.
- Plan your shopping trip the day before you go out. Always keep a list of things that you run out of, but plan your shopping trip the day before. The flyer's here in Saint John don't come out until Wednesday night, but I've seen them come in other places on Fridays. In the cases that you always get your flyer's late, use the store's online flyer. Yes, it'll take longer. Yes, you'll probably rip out a good clump of hair trying to price match and use coupons.
- Call ahead and see when X item is going to be on sale, or use the internet to find out. I know this sounds foolish, but most grocery stores put certain things on sale depending on the season. They'll also jack up the price of seasonable items. While buying shortening for 3.77 might seem like a good deal since we need it for Christmas baking, it's 2.12 the remainder of the year.
- Learn how to shop even with distractions. You know how you're in the gocery store, and you only need one thing, but you end up getting to the checkout with 51 items and none of them are the thing you needed to pick up in the first place? Well, that's because grocery stores are made, designed, and set up for that to happen. That's why the dairy and meats are all the way in the back, you have to go through aisles to get to them. You end up seeing something in one of the aisles and putting it into your cart...one thing leads to another, and you end up getting a 200$ grocery order.
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