No matter how often you visit a supermarket or a local fruit & vegetable market, smart shopping with the following money-saving tips will let you spend less on buying fresh fruits, vegetables and meat.
1. Create a shopping list. Every time you go shopping, take a shopping list with you, so you will know exactly what you need to buy. In that way, you can avoid impulse purchases being tempted by the smell of freshly baked bread or cookies. Prepare the shopping list in advance, and do not make any purchases that are not on the list. Just stick to the shopping list no matter what happens.
2. Do wholesale shopping for yourself and friends. Certainly, you will never lose buying in bulk. Your friends may not pay you anything for doing them a favor, but they will certainly be grateful. It will cost you a little more effort to deliver stuff to their homes, but you can save a few percent on each product when buying larger quantities.
3. Never go shopping hungry. Going shopping for groceries before lunch or dinner can increase the amount of food that you buy. Shopping when on empty stomach means ‘a shopping suicide’ because everything in the store will look delicious. Therefore, you will always end up spending more money.
4. Check if the amounts on the receipt are correct. I always check if the cashier did not add into my final bill any extra products that are not in my basket. If you buy discounted products, always verify the shelf price with the price on the receipt.
5. Use loyalty programs. Many supermarkets and hypermarkets have their own loyalty programs. If you spend a certain amount of money, points will be added to your loyalty cards. Once you collect enough points, then you can get a discount or exchange the points for certain products. Use it.
6. Do not take kids shopping. If you plan to spend a lot of time in the supermarket, never bring your kids with you. The longer you stay inside the shop, the more bored your kids will be. Also, kids love colorful stuff, so they will keep adding things into the shopping cart.
7. Find discount codes for grocery shopping online. Look for promotional codes to lower the final price of your purchase when buying online. Also, look for the discount codes before you even start shopping in the online stores. You can check Rakuten or Mr. Rebates.
8. Collect coupons. Coupons can give you pretty decent discounts. Look for coupons in your local newspapers.
9. Test cheap groceries. Do not take for granted that branded products are better. Very often, the same products are offered under the brand name of a hypermarket, but for much lower price. Read the labels to check whether you are buying a product with the same ingredients as the branded one.
10. Do not treat shopping as a way to reduce stress. Overeating will neither reduce stress nor keep your body healthy. To reduce stress, start running instead, not shopping!
11. Use cash rather than pay by credit cards. The best, if you bring a limited amount of cash with you, so you will only buy the products which you have originally intended to buy. If you pay your bills in cash, you will never spend more than you can afford.
12. Keep receipts. Receipts will be useful in case the product’s best before date has passed, or if you want to return the item.
13. Compare the prices of products which you buy the most often. This mainly applies to food. Visit different shops in your local area from time to time to check which one has the lowest prices for certain products that you buy the most frequently.
