The Science of Grocery Shopping & How to Save Money on Groceries

So I was sitting down to write my blog and was trying to think what pearls of wisdom I could espouse this time around. I realized that I have been saving money for a while now on my groceries with very little effort and why not share that with you.

I have found that there are a few types of grocery shoppers amongst us:
1. The Just-in-Time Shopper – these shoppers are generally single and have no dependents and run to the local grocer and get one meal at a time. Their cupboards are often bare and the fridge does not need baking soda as there is seldom anything but beer or pop in it.
2.The Menu-for-the-Week Shopper – these shoppers either make a menu before they go shopping or they do it while shopping. You will see their carts full of things that make up the ingredients for the week’s meals. Often these shoppers will come home and have to go out to purchase a staple food that was omitted from the menu like butter or sugar.
3.The Check-and-Replenish Shopper – these shoppers typically look in the fridge and then the cupboards to see what it is that has disappeared or that is in short supply and then they replenish it.
4.The Driver – these shoppers may very well be one of the above, but they are going to drive from one chain to another so that they can get the best price on the food of the week
5.The Combination Shopper – these shoppers do two or more of the above.

All Shopper types can benefit from doing a wee bit of planning before going to buy. I know that there are some stores that excel in fresh produce and others that have great meats and the list goes on. With a little planning, you can save money each week which will add up to a lot over the course of a year.

So here come the pearls:
1. Most chains put out their weekly flyers on a Thursday.
2. Most chains now have websites where their flyers can be found
3. Most people need a bunch of items infrequently and a bunch of items regularly
4. Set a specific day each week to shop and try to go only once a week
5. Make sure you go after a meal and not before a meal
6. Take ten minutes and go through the flyers and find out who has the infrequents on sale and the regulars on sale that week
7. Print off the flyers that you require for those items
8. And find a store that price-matches and go there

If you save $10 per week that becomes $520 per year and you can buy a round trip ticket to a number of places with that savings. This means that you still eat the same way so you do not feel the difference, but your life is enhanced by a trip which is your reward for doing a little bit of planning.

Happy Shopping.