Taming the Grocery Store Monster
May 26th, 2009 Budgeting
One of the easiest ways to cut spending is to change food shopping habits. Here are some ways to do that.
When you enter a grocery store, you are beginning a game played between you and the grocery. The object of the game for them is to get you to buy a lot of stuff. The object of the game for you is to recognize and defeat their little psychological ploys.
Let’s say you need just milk and eggs. Have you ever noticed where those are in a grocery store? Usually they are at the back of the store and you have to walk all the way back there, past the shelves of food, and past the end caps with pretend bargains. The name of the game for the store is to get you to buy something else you didn’t anticipate buying when you walked in. They get a profit if you buy milk and eggs. They get more of a profit if you buy milk, eggs, a candy bar, and a soda.
The first way to beat the grocery store game is to make a list. There are two aspects to this. One is to make sure your list has everything you need on it so you won’t get into a habit of buying things that are not on the list. Keep a pad of paper and a writing implement in the kitchen so you can keep a running record of what is needed.
When you have a list of what you need, write it in shopping order. If you hit the produce first, that should be first on your list. Grocery store people know the longer you spend in their lair, the more you will spend. Making a list that you will stick with and putting your list in shopping order makes your shopping trip shorter and more effective, not to mention considerably cheaper.
The second way to beat the grocery at its own game is to look high and low. Stores place what they want you to buy where you are most likely to see it, which means on the second shelf at your eye level or on the end cap of the aisle. If you look high and low, you can comparison shop. Ignore what’s at the end of the aisle. It’s put there so you won’t comparison shop because you’ll assume it’s the cheapest one. It’s often not. Go to the correct aisle and check out the competition.
Have you ever noticed that the most expensive, sugary cereal is placed at eye level with the kid in the little seat of your cart? Part of the grocery store game is a plot to get your children to collude with the store in the spending of your hard-earned money. Foil them-turn those kids into counteragents, into low price detectives. Give each kid a calculator and part of your list and challenge them to find the least expensive version of whatever it is you want. It will strengthen their math skills and keep them from talking you into things you don’t really need.
You can win the grocery game and in the process save a lot of money!
