Consumers are always looking for creative ways to save money, especially on big-ticket items, with attention-grabbing advertised savings. But while it is easy to wrap our heads around saving thousands on a car purchase, we don’t always recognize the same potential for savings on every-day items.
All-told, grocery expenses add-up to one of the most prominent costs of living, so it pays big dividends to focus on food savings. Shoppers use lots of different approaches, providing family sustenance in ways that fit with schedules and eating requirements of each member. A Payday Loan can offer a much needed boost to your funds to make essential purchases possibles when your budget is completelty stretched. Just be sure you have checked the rates and choose the best one available for you.
Daily stops at the market are great for landing fresh ingredients, but most consumers bite-off more than a couple meals worth with each shopping trip.
Whether you shop daily, weekly or monthly the best ways to trim grocery costs use savvy, but straightforward techniques, easy to incorporate into any schedule and diet. By planning ahead and staying on-point, you’ll get the most from your food budget.
Plan Ahead
Planning meals is essential for squeezing the most out of your grocery money. Keeping a well-rounded inventory of staples, like grains, rice, pasta and canned goods keeps you ready and able to produce a variety of dishes without a special trip to market. By planning weekly menus and leaning-on your stock of basic supplies, you’ll minimize shopping trips and maximize grocery value. As you work-up the week’s meals, think about leftovers from each dinner, which might be used to plan the next night’s meal. Large cuts of meat, like roasts and hams can be repurposed in a variety of ways, providing a low-cost flow of protein for the entire week.
Whole chickens and turkeys are cost-effective when feeding large families, but they can also be eaten at multiple meals for families that don’t require as much meat in a single sitting. For the highest yield of food possible, serve poultry roasted, and then stow the remaining meat for use in casseroles and other creations. The bones and carcass can then be boiled into stock or soup, further stretching each bird’s contribution to the family table.
Advanced planning leads to overall grocery savings, allowing shoppers take advantage of store sales and promotions. And trips to market are short and sweet, requiring only a few items here and there to round out the menu.
Familiarize Yourself with the Environment
Repetitious activities, like going to the grocery store, lure us into complacency, letting our guard down too far. Remember, markets are in business to make money, so they bank on certain consumer behavior to increase sales numbers. When you are not at the top of your shopping game, it is easy to fall into consumer traps targeting your purse strings.
The physical layouts of shopping outlets are working against shoppers, from the start. The items most people require frequently are not placed at the most convenient points, near the store entries and exits. Instead, things like milk and other staples are placed remotely, at the farthest reaches of the building. If you’re not immediately aware, think of the number of individual products you see, pass, and maybe buy on the way to the milk.
The familiar consumer reservoirs located near pay stations at supermarkets are not there by accident either. A vulnerable point occurs for shoppers there, as they wait their turns on line. Impulse decisions are primed by gum, candy, papers, lip balm, and a host of other add-ons placed in prime positions. While spending on these items occasionally seems less-than tragic to most supermarket budgets, the overall impact on your food bill is negative, so falling prey to the enticement should be avoided. Keep in mind too, the items placed directly at eye-level are the ones the market want you to buy – for whatever reason. Perhaps the maker paid to place them there, or maybe the brand is owned by the market. To get the best value, take-in the whole picture before committing to the most visible brands.
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