Reduce your Grocery Costs
Monday, concentrate on saving money on your food budget. Miser Monday? The definition of a miser is "a saver." Today's savings challenge is to become a grocery miser. Once you start saving on groceries, you'll want to learn more ways to save on groceries. Few people realize that the grocery expense is the most flexible budget expense. You can easily reduce your grocery costs using some simple money saving strategies. Grocery savings can be substantial savings that can free up money for future financial goals. It's the first place to look for, and eliminate, overspending.
Plan your weeks menus around the sales flyer for the store where you frequently shop for groceries. If there's a great buy on ground beef, plan to have spaghetti, chili, meatloaf, or some other ground beef dishes. The same strategy applies if chicken is on sale. You can have two or three meals planned around the meat special for this week. Plan at least one, preferably two, meatless or reduced meat meals. Beans and rice or bean casseroles are a good meatless meal. Thinking ahead, and planning, is an important part of saving money.
Use your menus to make a grocery list. Purchase only the items on your list. You might need to use a great deal of self control but, you'll save time and money using a grocery list. Purchase only the grocery items needed to complete the week's menus. You might also want to consider stocking up on any leader sale items that you use on a regular basis.
Save even more using other money savings strategies. You don't have to clip coupons to save. The rule for coupons is to clip coupons for products you plan to buy. Don't buy a product simply because you have a coupon. You'll save just by planning your menus around sale items and sticking to your grocery list. But, using some other money saving strategies, you can save even more money.
Search for coupons for items on the list before going to the store. Compare pricing carefully. Larger quantities aren't always cheaper, especially if a smaller quantity of the same item is on sale. Pricing by unit (per pound, ounce, or quart, liter, etc.) is the best way to compare. Deception in packaging is a common food vendor practice. Learn not to be fooled.
Buy generic, if generic is lower cost. Many generic products are just as good as brand name items. Many grocery stores now offer a rebate program for even more savings. They make it very easy by providing online submission sites. No more mailing in receipts and filling out forms. Receipts are automatically tracked and rebate items credited to your account.
Using a combination of these saving strategies on your grocery purchases will result in maximum savings. Purchase sale items, and use coupons and rebates in combination whenever possible. If you've planned your menus correctly and followed your grocery list, you should not have to return to the grocery store until next week. That leads me to the next grocery saving strategy.......Stay out of the grocery store as much as possible.
Grocery stores use numerous consumer tactics to get you to buy more! They do a great deal of research in consumer habits to develop tactics that prompt you to spend more. Don't expose yourself to consumerism any more than is necessary. If you must run to the store for a forgotten item I have two suggestions. Send an older child into the store to purchase the item. They won't have the option to buy anything else. If that's not possible, take the most direct route to the product you need and head straight for the cashier. When you've saved all that you can save on your grocery bill, you've met your Miser Monday savings challenge.
Next in this seven part series - PART 2: Save Money, Don't Spend
Click here to access Part 2 of 7
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