Tear Up that Shopping List
Abandon that shopping list to save time and money. If the trip to the supermarket is but one of several errands and you need something special, it is all right to write down a few reminders. The thing you want to get away from is going into the store with the fixed notion, for example, that you must have lamb chops. If you go shopping with that attitude, then you are going to have to pay whatever the store wants to charge you for those chops, and, the odds are, it will be the full markup price. On the other hand, if you go into the store with the attitude, “I must gather provisions for the next few days,” and leave the rest up to circumstance, you will save a bundle.
There has probably never been a week in anyone’s recent memory when
something was not on sale in each major department. Every week, in every
supermarket, everywhere there is a sale. You can blindly go into a
grocery store and expect to find bargains. The uncertainty is exactly
what and where you will find them. That is why the smart shopper needs
to maintain a flexible disposition. Some items will be on sale because
the store got an especially good deal on that particular item. Other
sale items will be simple “loss leaders” to entice you to come through
the door. After you have snapped up an advertised sale item or two, you
will shell out the full price for those lamb chops you had your eye on.
If the big loss leader in the meat department that week (and typically,
there is more than one) happens to be chicken, then you buy the
chicken instead. Sooner or later, those lamb chops will go on sale.
You just need to be patient. By the way, you have a great deal more
flexibility with meat than you do with produce, simply because meat
freezes. That gives the enterprising shopper even more flexibility. Be
watchful though,
meat in a regular freezer beyond 60 days tastes like it was marinated in
formaldehyde when it is finally eaten.
Video: Shopping for Groceries on a Budget
There are a great many things you can buy at a supermarket that you
don’t serve up as a meal in the next few days, such as batteries, paper
towels, detergent and light bulbs. As with the food, there are bargain
weeks and full-price weeks for all these items. Be smart and buy them
when they are on sale, not when you have just run out. Even with all
this smart shopping, there will be necessary items that you will need
that, either do not go on sale or are reduced so infrequently that you
must usually pay full price. These are staples, such as eggs, milk and
bread. It is this type of item that leads into the next money-saving
tip.
The New Right Way to Check Out
Bypass the do it yourself checkout lane and go to the lane with a human cashier. Then carefully watch the prices charged for each item by the RFID scanner. None of us would wish to accuse the supermarkets of deliberate chicanery, at any level, but the sad fact of the matter is they can be justifiably be accused of large-scale inaccuracy, particularly in the matter of items that are temporarily off-price. Whether it is improperly-adjusted scanners or on-item coupons the checker was supposed to spot, but missed, any number of things can happen to beat you out of the bargain you thought you were going to get. To be sure, if you bring it to the checker and the store’s attention, they will invariably make it right, but you must be able to spot the error in the typically rapid process of getting you checked out and on your way. Getting someone’s attention for a price check in the self-check out line is near impossible.
A way to help you scan the checkout monitor for correct prices is this. First, unload all items for which you know you are paying full retail. While the checker is scanning them, you can be about the business of emptying the rest of your cart, placing the biggest, most vulnerable bargains at the rear of the procession, so that, when it is their time to be scanned, you are free from the distraction of unloading and able to watch the register to ensure you’re getting what you were promised. You would be surprised how much you will save in corrected mistakes over the course of time. It will not be nearly as much as you will save by having a flexible attitude, but it will be worthwhile, and it will give you whatever satisfaction that comes from not having been played for a sap. Again, do not imagine you have been cast in a den of thieves, out to steal your money. But do realize you are in a fast-paced operation that is prone to inaccuracy, which it would be in your interest to guard against.
One final note: many supermarkets these days have courtesy scanners for the customers’ use, before they get to the checkout. These are handy for clearance sale items. Go ahead and give them a swipe before checking out. It can help spot a discrepancy between an advertised discounted price and the full retail shelf price. Be proud of your self for going through the human cashier line. You are helping to protect the checker’s job by getting in his or her line!
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