Supermarket Savings: Tip for Spending Less At the Grocery Store

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By Rachel Derry
Staff Writer LIFamilies

Every little bit counts when it comes to saving your money. One of the biggest ways to save on daily spending is to cook at home and not go out to eat. Although this saves in the long run, you may find yourself spending way more than you intended on groceries every week. Here are a couple grocery store tips to help you save a little at a time.

Make sure to bring a calculator with you to the grocery store (or make sure to bust out your Smartphone with a calculator app while you’re shopping). If you use this to add up exact numbers as you go there won’t be any surprises when the cashier gives you your total. Having the exact amount that you’re going to spend in your hand also cuts down on the last minute impulse buys. It may only seem like $3 here and $5 there, but the numbers don’t lie and you’ll see how quickly they add up.

Make sure to always check the shelves, from top to bottom, for the best prices. Often the big name brands are going to be on the top shelves, closest to eye-level, and they will actually pay more to be there. For smaller name companies, often with the best deals, make sure to check all of the shelves, even if it means crouching down to take a good look.

Always check the numbers as they’re being rung up and always check your receipt. In some stores all of the discounts come off at the end; sometimes the wrong PLU number is used or the cashier didn’t know about a store sale; double check your final numbers to make sure that all prices and discounts check out. Also, do this while you’re still in the store: you’ll be a lot more likely to head over to customer services for a refund now than you will be tomorrow when you’d need to make a special trip!

Make one big buying trip to the store instead of stopping multiple times during the week. If you can purchase groceries for the week and then some, you’ll find that putting out a larger amount now will save you in the long run. You will have to do some prior planning and make a list of your exact needs before you go, but research shows that you save a lot of money going once by simply cutting out 90% of the impulse buys. When you go shopping multiple times during the week, there are usually 3 to 4 additional items added to the cart that were not anticipated in the first place. By running to the store once, not 3 or 4 times, you end up saving considerable on groceries, not to mention on gas in your car.

Long Island Money & Careers Articles > Supermarket Savings: Tip for Spending Less At the Grocery Store