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Quick Supermarket Saving Tips

The following article outlines a few quick tips on frugality and for saving money on your supermarket shopping bill. Whether you only buy for yourself or are trying to budget for a family of 5, these tips should help all people on all budgets.

5 tips when shopping

Make a List and Check it Twice

Before you even consider stepping foot out of the door, make sure you know what you're going to buy. Only go out to buy what you need. By having a list you make it easier to control your urges to buy whatever takes your fancy. Interestingly, research has shown that it is better to eat before you go on the big weekly food shop. This is because, shopping on a full stomach helps to stem the sudden urges for all your favourite foods that comes with shopping whilst hungry.

Meal Ideas

In a similar fashion to the advice above, preparing meals in advance will allow you to work out what exactly you needs. This means that you aren't buying things that you don't actually need and that there is no waste. Make a list of what to buy following this planning stage.

Shopping Time

I recently went to my local Tescos Express at about 8pm at night and was amazed to find the unbelievable discounts on food items such as bread, vegetables and milk. After asking the manager he explained that this happens everyday as they need to get rid of old stock to replace it with new. There is nothing wrong with the products other than that they are a day old. He explained that discounts tend to start at about 7pm every evening. Why don't you try this out. Let me know how you get on.

Economies of Scale

This is a simple idea in economics. I use it here to covey how the more you buy in bulk, the cheaper the cost per unit of each good. Without boring you too much, this is all to do with Area-to-volume ratios...blah blah blah...the point is, buying more of something (in one go) that you are going to use regularly, such as toilet roll, if you can store it buy it in bulk and enjoy the savings over time.

Discounts

British people in their snobbish attitude find this particular find this hard: Ask for discounts, particularly on big expensive items. There is nothing wrong with it. Next time you are buying a big electrical item such as a TV don't be afraid to ask the manager for money off. What's the worst that is going to happen?! Either he will say no, or even better, he might say yes. You could get up to or more than 20% off the price of these items.

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3 comments

WorkSaveLive said...

We create a menu plan and a grocery list accordingly each and every month!

The shopping time is an interesting one. My wife and I love to go extremely early on a Sunday morning because nobody is there. However, shopping later definitely sounds like it has its perks!

James said...

My local supermarket puts their meat on special around 9 A.M every morning. Any time I have a day off, I make sure I go to the supermarket where I can get those meat deals and freeze them.

Mr. Moneybanks said...

Hi James. Not sure if we're referring to the same thing. I'm not talking about deals where you get a percentage off. I'm talking about veg and bread for a couple of pennies, literally!