Strategies and Tactics for Grocery Shopping

You can save a lot of money at your local grocery store. Here are several approaches that can help you save.

1) Stick to the grocery list. The grocery store wants you to make impulse purchases. If you make a grocery list at home and stick to it relentlessly, you will not be buying things you don't need.

2) Don't shop hungry or thirsty. If you are hungry when you shop, you will buy more to satisfy your voracious hunger.

3) Abandon brand loyalty. Brands use advertising to attract consumers. Advertising adds to the price of goods. Many private label food items are made in the same facilities as brand name items. Even with a coupon or sale, brand name foods are generally unable to beat store-brand foods on price.

4) Look for the lowest unit cost. Every time you pick up a food item, divide the price by the product weight or number of servings.

5) Clip coupons. Coupons can help you save a considerable amount of money on brand name items. If a coupon can lower the price of a product to the point where it is the cheapest on a per unit basis, then use it to buy the product. You can get coupons off of the internet from sites like www.couponsuzy.com and from manufacturer sites.

6) Shop sales. The weekly sales circulars at the grocery store and in your local paper can be helpful in creating your shopping list.

7) Stick to staples. In good economic times, gourmet foods were an indulgence that made many Americans feel rich. However, in bad times, they simply increase a family grocery bill. To save money, stick to the basic staple items that you really need.

9) Pay with Cash. If you take a set amount of cash with you to the grocery store, you will be forced to stay within the money you have.