How to Grocery Shop Effectively and Save Money

If you know me pretty well, you know I work at Safeway, a grocery store, as a checker. I see dozens, if not hundreds, of different shoppers every time I work. And from what I have learned, experienced, seen, I have gathered enough to provide these grocery shopping tips to you. Some of these you will be able to use, some you won’t.

- Use coupons!
I can’t stress enough: USE COUPONS. Safeway has in their weekly ad coupons on various items in the store. There is also coupons.com (http://print.coupons.com/Couponweb/Index.aspx?pid=13306&zid=iq37&nid=10) where you can print off coupons to use at many stores. There are manufacturer’s coupons in the Sunday newspaper. You are often handed coupons by the cashier (Called Catalina Coupons) which you can use on products in the store. There are many ways to get coupons. You don’t, however, have to use every coupon you get. Why use a coupon on something you’ll never eat or use? So, look for coupons on products YOU LIKE. I can’t stress that enough. It will add up over time, using coupons on items you previously didn’t before. Find coupons. Save them. Use them. It will add up.

- Score on big deals
Sometimes I’ll notice at my store that a certain item will have an almost ridiculous deal. During the holiday season, we sometimes have 12 packs of soda buy 2 get 3 free. So you pay for 2, but get 5. Just recently at Safeway, there was buy 1 get 2 free containers of blueberries. Whenever you can get more free than more that you have to pay for, it’s a good deal and you should take advantage of it.

- Shop alone or learn to say no
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen parents with kids that end up buying gum, candy, a toy, or some kind of item their kid wants. Look, if they want it, they’ll but it themselves (if they’re old enough). Adding gum and candy all the time to your grocery bill will cause it to add up. Either shop alone, or just learn to say no. Perhaps promise them something else at home.

- Look high, low, far and wide
Product placement is huge in grocery stores. They put the eggs and milk towards the back because they are two of the most popular grocery items, causing shoppers to pass by many other grocery items on their way to get their eggs or milk. Besides that, however, items are conveniently placed to attract the customer’s eye. Items the store really wants to focus on selling will be at eye level and/or towards the front of the store. Items that they don’t want to sell, which could be for a very great deal, could either be low, high, far, or on the far side of the store. At my store, there is a 50% off rack of items. But guess where it is. VERY back of the produce department. Not towards the front. The back. So my advice to you is look high and low and in each corner of a store for great deals.

- Avoid the wallet breakers
Sometimes, because an item is displayed very well and looks appealing, you might be tempted to buy it. Look at the price though first. Could it possibly be Honeycrisp apples at $2.99 a pound? A bag of five Honeycrisp apples at $2.99/lb will cost over 10 bucks, I kid you not. Sometimes grapes might be $3.99 a pound, putting the average bag near 10 dollars. Sometimes cereals will be near $5 a box. For those certain items, avoid them. They may be something you really enjoy, but unless you really REALLY want it, let the store deal with overstock and force them to lower the price. If grapes or a certain kind of apple aren’t in season, just don’t buy it. Wait for it to go down.

- Check for mistakes
Mistakes can be made by people who do inventory, people who check your groceries, even by people who bag your groceries (forgetting to put all of your bags in your cart). We’re all human. So, when you’re done checking out, make sure you got charged the right amount for each product. That might entail trying to make a mental note of the price of each item you buy, but it could save you money down the line. When you get home and unbag your groceries, make sure you got them all and got charged the right amount. If you notice any kind of error, the checker or someone in customer service will help you out. That’s what they are there for.

Well, those are all the tips I have for you. In summary, use coupons, score on big deals, shop alone, look far and wide, avoid pricey items, and check for mistakes. If you do all of those on a routine basis, you will see your grocery bill go down immensely.