Strategic Grocery Shopping

What kind of grocer shopper are you? Do you shop daily for fresh fruit and vegetables? Every few days because you forgot something on your weekly shop? Or are you a seasoned professional and shop monthly with only a brief visit in between to top up on bread and milk? Do you shop by list or how you feel? Whatever kind of shopper you are, here are some quick guidelines on saving time and money in the shopping centre.

Shopping Centres were designed by incredibly smart people who are keen to keep you in there as long as possible, so of course the items you went in there for are always at the far back corner. You know you have to pass all those temptations before getting the staples that you really need. To top it off, the most expensive items, with all their pretty packaging and claims of being just that little bit better than the generic brand, are right at your eye level damn sneaky!

Before compiling a list, check and see what you already have in your cupboard that you can use up and take particular note of what is close to the ‘best before’ date. Throwing away food is like throwing away money!

It you know your shopping centre well and shop there regularly, you can design your shopping list by aisle. If not, sort by categories such as dairy/frozen/fruit & vege/general etc.

Make sure you eat before shopping and take your list! Doing this will hopefully cut down on those impulse buys.

Hop online and see if there are any super specials at your usual store. Sometimes it doesn’t pay to visit multiple stores when you take into account the time taken to travel between them and the cost of petrol. But if a supermarket you don’t usually frequent has a massive saving on something you use often and is usually on of the pricier objects on your list (say coffee, soft drink, baby formula etc), make a bit of leeway in your budget to stock up on these items. You’ll thank yourself the next time you run out of Milo and you’ve got that extra jumbo tin stashed at the back of the cupboard,

Finally, try and shop at the end of the day, when fresh food, such as meat and bakery items, usually get marked down to sell them quick.

Having a plan when you go shopping is important to save you money, otherwise you end up walking out of the supermarket with a full trolley and muttering the age old phrase “I only came in here for two things!”.

What’s your best strategic shopping tip?