How To Save Money On Your Grocery Bill
1. Avoid Grocery Shopping When Hungry
Feeling hungry is perhaps the worst time to do your grocery shopping primarily because the temptation to buy additional food is hard to resist and often leads to impulse buying more than you actually need. Also you are more likely to race around the store in order to get home to eat, which means that you will be paying less attention to the food items you put into your shopping basket.
Supermarket psychology is also highly developed and many supermarkets will deliberately pump the smell of freshly baked bread and cakes around the entrance to their store in order to entice you in and make you feel hungry. Of course the more hungry you are the more likely you are to buy additional food items. Our advice is to take your time so that you can compare offers and find the best bargains rather than opting for the first product you see, for convenience.
2. Plan Your Meals
This may seem like hard work but weekly meal planning can really generate excellent grocery bill savings, and only takes 15-20 minutes to complete. Plan your lunch and main meals carefully, that way you can make the most of seasonal foods which are less expensive and you also get a feel for your grocery bill before you head out shopping. The added advantage of this method is that you are likely to stick to you grocery budget and be less tempted to impulse buy additional food items or opt for unnecessary offers. The more times you plan your meals the more recipe variations or meal ideas you will generate. To save even more time, write these in an excel spreadsheet or word document and that way you can refer back to them in the future if you are running short of meal ideas.
If you are stuck for meal ideas here is a great sites to get you started;
3. Buy Foods In Season
Because we live in a consumer society we are used to having all our favourite foods available all year round, regardless of whether those foods are in season or not. It is a common fact that you can make significant grocery bill savings just through buying foods at the right time of year. When certain foods are in season this normally leads to a larger supply becoming available which means that prices fall, saving you money on your grocery bill. Here is a list of fruit, vegetables and meat and their traditional seasons;
Spring
Young salad leaves, kale, spinach, asparagus, turnips, spring greens, carrots, new potatoes, spring onions, rhubarb, cherries, apricots, peaches, duckling, lamb, chicken, turkey, pork.
Summer
Redcurrants, strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries, plums, blackcurrants, cucumber, broad beans, runner beans, peas, carrots, lettuce, watercress, spinach, salad leaves, potatoes , beef, lamb, pork, venison, rabbit, chicken.
Autumn
Raspberries, blackberries, pears, apples, pumpkins, beetroot, tomatoes, onions, marrows, potatoes, courgettes, butternut squash, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, spinach, celery.
Winter
Bananas, tangerines, apples, pears, oranges, swede, onions, leeks, parsnip, carrots, brussels, beef, red and white cabbage, partridge, turkey, goose, game, pork, gammon, pigeon, pheasant.
4. Avoid Shopping In The Morning
Shops or supermarkets will usually reduce items later in the day and almost never do this first thing in the morning. The best time to maximise your grocery bill savings is to get to the store around an hour before it is due to close. In particular bakery items like bread and cakes, are heavily discounted around this time of the day, which means that you can locate the best bargains and discounts and save money on your grocery bill.
5. Buy Local
The myth that buying from a smaller local supplier is more expensive is often fuelled by larger retailers. Farmers markets and local produce can often work out less expensive than supermarket produce simple because you are cutting out the middle man and the advertising costs associated with promotions. Local food rarely has excessive transport costs, storage costs are low because most farmers only select food a day or two before selling it, and it is not storage for weeks in huge chilled areas. The reality is that buying local can be just as competitive and this will help to add to grocery bill savings.
6. Shop Online
Online grocery shopping is a fast growing sector. Some people are put off by delivery costs involved or the fact that you are unable to physically view the items before they arrive, but online grocery shopping can often bring some of the biggest grocery bill savings. Firstly sites like My Voucher Codes offer discount vouchers for most leading supermarkets which entitle you to free delivery if you shop online. Secondly you can keep within your grocery budget quite easily because at any given time you can view exactly how much you have spent as it appears in your online shopping basket. Thirdly because you can usually get delivery discount vouchers, doing your grocery shopping online saves you time and money on petrol costs to and from the supermarket to pick up your shopping. Fourthly most supermarkets will price match your items, which means that if they are not in stock they will usually send you a higher value identical product but match the lower price, meaning that you save money!Having used online grocery shopping sites for the past twelve months, we have made huge grocery bill savings.
The following sites all offer online grocery shopping;
7. Down Shifting
The down shifting concept was introduced by Martin Lewis, the money saving expert and was designed to help hard pressed consumers make serious grocery bill savings. The idea is that you buy one brand below what you would normally buy, so for example if you buy Kellogg’s Cornflakes you instead try the next brand down or if you buy a very exclusive brand you down shift to a mid range brand. It is fun to try and you might be surprised by the quality of the lower brand, whilst making grocery bill savings as you do it.
8. Bulk Buying
Bulk buying can be a highly effective way of making monthly grocery bill savings, however it can also have the opposite affect if not done wisely. The common mistake when bulk buying is to make purchases on impulse or just because it is on offer or has some discount available on it. What then happens is that a few weeks later you still have a large quantity of left over items cluttering up your cupboards which is a waste of both food and money. Our top tip is to ensure that you buy only those items that form part of your meal plans for that week, that way you maximise your savings. Also consider bulk buying grocery items with another family, what way you get to maximise your grocery bill savings together.
Places like Costco or Makro allow shoppers to buy in bulk with a valid membership card, they have stores located throughout the United Kingdom. To find out more about becoming a member visit www.costco.co.uk or www.makro.co.uk
9. Avoid Items At Eye Level
A favourite supermarket tactic is to place expensive items at eye level, which you are more likely to see and then buy. Supermarket psychology also dictates that if they place the most expensive items to the far right at eye level, these are the ones that your eye will naturally travel too, mainly because we naturally read from left to right. Always look above and below eye level to spot the real bargains and make further grocery bill savings.
10. Stick To Your Budget
Once at the checkout it can often feel embarrassing when the final total appears on the till screen and you realise that it is beyond what you were expecting to pay. This is often due to the fact that we do not want others to feel that we can’t afford to pay our way or that we do not want to cause inconvenience to other shoppers by holding up the queue. Don’t be afraid to say that you want to take a few items off to balance the budget, who cares what others think of you as a result, you will probably never see them again anyway and at least you will go home in the knowledge that you have made further grocery bill savings.
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