shoppingonabudget

When you go grocery shopping, do you go alone? If not, you may want to try doing so. You are likely to spend more money when you have someone else with you, as this person is likely to add items to your cart.

Although shopping alone is a great way to save money on groceries, it isn’t always possible. When I go grocery shopping, I usually have my 4 year old with me. I have been trying to schedule shopping trips so that her father can stay at home with her, but that doesn’t always workout due to busy schedules.

If you must take your child or another person with you, try to keep them busy. I let my daughter look at the store sales flier or I have her help me by putting items that I hand her into the cart. When she is busy, she is less likely to ask for things. Although she doesn’t beg, it can still be hard as a parent to say no to your child. Saying yes, however, can raise your grocery bill. Even if you only spend $2 or $3, that can add up each week.

If you are looking to save money on groceries, it is important that you shop at the right store. Of course, you will want to shop at a grocery store that has good prices or is known for their great sales, but also look for other rewards. With food prices increasing, it is important to look for other ways to save money.

I shop at a grocery store that has stores in Pennsylvania and New York. Some of these stores have gas stations with them and others do not. As for what rewards you gain access to right now, it all depends on the store.

Those who shop at the stores with gas stations are able to accumulate points on their shopper’s card every time they make a purchase. These points can be redeemed for .10 cents off a gallon gasoline. If you are presented with this kind of deal, make sure your tank is kind of low, as you are able to save the most money. Most stores have restrictions, say one fill-up and on one car for each hundred points earned.

The stores in my area that do not have gas stations attached are still being rewarded, with a moneysaving certificate. There are three certificates available, all for different amounts, and the amount you receive depends on the number of points you accumulate on your shopper’s card.

If your current grocery store doesn’t reward you for shopping with them, even on occasion, it may be time to examine your other local options.

Are you concerned with the rising cost of food? If you are, you may want to try stocking up on many of your needed supplies. We did so this past week and I feel a little bit comfortable. The items that we stocked up on were things that we use a lot of, such as tuna fish, peanut butter, jelly, cereal, and cheese. These are also some of the items that I have noticed price increases on.

If you do make the decision to stock up on some food, you will want to play close attention to the expiration dates. This is particularly the case with small stores that do not get as much traffic. As former retail store manager, it is important to know how most stores stock their shelves. The new items go in the back, leaving the other items in the front. This is so that all food will be sold before it expires.

Stocking up is great, but only if you will be able to eat your food before it expires.

A personal experience today at one of my local grocery stores has lead to a great moneysaving tip. It is important to know what sales your store has going on. You can do this by reading store sale fliers or by looking out for signs.

After a nice trip to the zoo with our family, we stopped at the grocery store to pickup some hamburger meat for Memorial Day tomorrow. The sign said $1.99 a pound for the larger packages. So, I was shocked when the packages that are normally $7 to $10 on sale were marked as being $14-$20. The gentleman standing next to me was just as shocked.

As I leave to approach a store employee, he says that he found them. The packages of meat that were on sale were underneath the regular priced meat. Nothing about the two products were different, same lean ratio and everything. The only differences were the price labels and the barcodes were different.

I don’t know if it was because they were trying to make extra money for Memorial Day or what, but I was shocked. That is why it is always important to know what items are on sale and be sure to ask if you have any questions. You should always receive the advertised sale price.

In the past, I was a big over spender. I would walk into the grocery store saying that I only had so much money to spend and I would almost always walkout spending more. Since I had extra money in the bank, it wasn’t that big of a deal, but now it seems as if I, as well as many other Americans, are starting to see our bank accounts decrease faster due to rising costs.

If you typically find yourself spending more than you need to at the grocery store, the next few posts are perfect for you.

The first step in not spending too much money at the grocery store is knowing how much money you have to spend. Create a budget for yourself. When doing so, you have two options.

If you are limited on money, determine exactly how much money you have to spend. You can then create your grocery list from there. Take the average cost of the items you need into consideration. Stop when you reach your maximum dollar amount.

If you aren’t on a limited budget, like if you do have extra money to spend, create your grocery list. Next to each item, write down the average price. Tally up your total. Do not leave your grocery store spending more.

Also, be sure to bring a calculator with you on your shopping trip. This will prevent you from going over your grocery budget.

Are you looking to save money on groceries? If you are, you may be using coupons to your advantage. If you are, do you have a system that you use to stay organized? If not, you may want to create one. I can’t count the number of times I wasted money because my grocery coupons weren’t organized.

When you clip your coupons, I recommend buying a grocery coupon organizer or at least using an envelope to store your coupons in. Around every one or two weeks, go through your coupons and get rid of those that have expired.

Before leaving for the grocery store, sort through your coupons. Pull out and set aside the coupons that you will actually use. Keep these coupons in a separate part of your coupon organizer to reduce confusion or error.

Next, make your grocery list around your coupons. Mark next to each item that you have a coupon. Throughout your shopping trip, you will be reminded that you do have food coupons. This makes you less likely to forget that you have them.

Before walking out the door, be sure to check and recheck that you have your coupons with you.

By keeping the above mentioned points in mind, you are likely to get the most out of your coupons (lol because you will actually be using them). This can help you save money on groceries.

In my last post, I outlined how yard sales are a great way to save money on many items, other than food. If you have never been yard sale shopping, you may be leery of doing so. Speaking as an avid yard sale shopper myself, you may be surprised with what you see, as well as how much money you can end up saving.

If you want to see if you can save money by buying clothes, books, movies, toys, games, home décor, or exercise equipment from yard sales, here are a few tips to get you started.

Check Your Local Newspaper

Many times, a yard sale host will put a small summary of what he or she is selling in their local newspaper. You can examine these listing to help you determine which sales are worth visiting.

Check Everything Over

Although most yard sale hosts will sell items that are in relatively good condition, some will also try to sneak a few pieces of “junk,” in. These are items that you will want to avoid. Make sure all toys have their pieces and make sure clothes are not stained.

Never Pay Too Much

One of the many reasons why people host yard sales is to clean out their homes, but with the economy the way it is now, many are also using yard sales as a way to make extra cash. That is why you need to be cautious. Unless you are buying a name brand shirt, I wouldn’t recommend paying more than $1 or $2. Otherwise, you may as well just visit your local Wal-Mart or thrift store.

Although my previous posts have typically focused on how you can be frugal when grocery shopping, the fact is that we consumers buy much more than food. Whether you need new clothes for work, for summer, or clothes and toys for your children, you may still be seeing an increase in prices. For that reason, you may want to do some of your non-food shopping at yard sales.

When it comes to yard sale shopping, you should be prepared to buy used. With that said, many of the items, especially clothes and toys, appear as if they were new. Often times, you are the only one who will know that your new outfit or child’s “new,” toy was really purchased from a yard sale.

If you are interested in saving money by buying clothing, books, toys, games, and movies from a yard sale, you will want to examine your local newspapers. During the spring and summer months, there is often a special classified section for yard sales. Look for those where a summary of what is sold is provided.

If you are looking to save money on groceries, the stock up sales that many stores have may sound attractive. These are the sales where you can buy say 10 jars of spaghetti sauce for $10. The only problem is what if you don’t have the money to buy 10 jars?

Does your store still allow you to get the sale price on these types of items? If not, you should consider finding a grocery store that does.

In my area, most grocery stores will allow you to get the special sale price, even if you only buy a small amount of the product. For example, instead of spending $10 on 10 jars of spaghetti sauce, I can get 4 for $4. There are, however, a couple of stores in the area that do not operate this way. If I were only able to purchase 4 jars of spaghetti sauce, I would be charged full price for each one.

Stocking up is a great way to save money on groceries, but it is something that not all of us can do.

Regardless of where you live, you should have a number of dollar stores located nearby. Due to shoppers always looking for the best deals, dollar stores have increased in popularity. While dollar stores are typically known for their affordable books and home décor items, many also sell food.

If you are like many other individuals, your first thought is that you don’t want to buy food from a dollar store or that you shouldn’t. Of course, you should use your best judgment, but you will typically be fine when doing so. This is especially true when shopping with national dollar stores, like the Dollar Tree, or dollar stores with good reputations in your community.

When shopping at your dollar store for food, just be sure to keep a close eye on the expiration date. Some dollar stores receive discounts when buying foods that are close to their expiration dates.

It is also important to keep sizes in mind. For example, some dollar stores offer boxes of cookies or bags of chips for $1, but the sizes are often smaller than normal. When comparing, they may not be as good of a deal.