Grocery Shopping Strategies Revisited... It's Us Against Them. Srsly.

Are you one of those shoppers who goes into the store without a plan and grabs what you need, pays, then leaves? If so then you are one of the people who the grocery store marketing people love. I am the complete opposite of that kind of shopper. They don't like me very much I can assure you. LOL

In reality, grocery shopping is one of the best activities to see how frugal you are.  Here are some of my best tips on saving money when grocery shopping. You will notice that I really do not mention coupons at all. Coupons are great when you have them and I would (and do) use them in addition to what is outlined below. Relying on coupons alone will not net you the kind of savings that I get.

It is important to bring a shopping list with you when going to the supermarket. If you do this you will remember what you need and avoid another trip back to the store to get what you needed in the first place. Inevitably you will ALWAYS buy something else in addition to what you forgot in the first place. (Ask me how I know.)

Compare prices of different items. If the other item is cheaper and has the same amount of product and use then why not buy it instead? Store brands can be your friend. Believe it or not some store brands are really the name brands with different labels. What you are paying for with the name brands is all of the advertising that goes into those fancy labels and television commercials, magazine ads, etc. Let THEM pay for that stuff, not you.

Plan your shopping trips around other errands and activities. If you have kids in school you have 2 trips that you know you will be making to take them to school and pick them up. Work in your trips during those times. By doing this, you will be able to save up on gas as well.

Be aware of supermarkets' marketing strategy. Products are placed in certain ways so that customers will buy those products which they might not really need but think its a good deal. I notice this every single time I walk into a grocery store. Things on the end caps are not always on sale. They just put them there to give that appearance. KNOW YOUR PRICES that way you don't get sucked into their little tricks. 

Speaking of knowing prices... When I worked in retail (shudder) there was a list that came across every single morning with what was called 'Price Changes'. Every day. I'm not kidding. We then had to go around and re-price whatever was on that list. There was no rhyme or reason to why this was an everyday thing but nonetheless we changed prices every day on at least 20% of the store. Get to know what the lowest price is on an item that you buy regularly and do not pay more than that.

Take advantage of sales. Stores have these things called "loss leaders" which are items that are priced at rock bottom prices. They don't do this to be nice, they do this to get you in their store so that you can buy the rest of the stuff that you need at their inflated prices. Don't do this. I am not afraid to go in, buy ONLY the loss leaders and then leave. I buy a TON of the item if it is dirt cheap and stock my pantry up. Remember, we do not owe any store any kind of loyalty. My loyalty lies with my family. The store is out to make a buck- I make sure that they get as few of mine as possible.

Speaking of stocking up- DO IT WHENEVER YOU CAN. Many of you know from reading my blog that when tuna goes on sale for under .40 a can I buy a few cases of it. Why? Because I buy enough to last until that next rock bottom sale and by doing this I am able to save about 60% on the regular cost of it. I do this with most everything that I buy and THAT is how I am able to stock my pantry without spending a fortune to do it. How cool would it be to just pay 50% of what regular retail for groceries currently are? Well I do exactly that and all you have to do is take advantage of the sales and know your prices.

I hope that these tips above have given you some ideas to get you started to be the kind of shopper that the markets don't like. It's fun being a rebel. LOL