How you can save money on your trip to the grocery store

Shopping for groceries is an essential chore of our lives. Although grocery shopping is not as extravagant, it can significantly add to your expenses and affect your monthly budget. You need to carefully allocate the money to be spent on groceries and adopt budget-friendly practices to save on grocery shopping.

Here are the top tips as an answer to your question on how to save money while grocery shopping. 

1. Go for the cheaper items at the bottom and top shelves 

A clever hack used by grocery store is to place higher-priced items in the middle shelves, which are at the eye-level. You tend to examine and take stuff that is conspicuous and within your line of sight. Seldom do you care to bend down or stretch and reach up to examine the items on the bottom and top shelves. Grocery stores use this habit of ours to their advantage by stacking high priced items on the middle shelves while the items priced lower are placed on the bottom or topmost shelves. Besides, the items on mid-level shelves are often larger; hence, the higher cost. Next time you go grocery shopping, make sure that you check out the bottom and top shelves and find items within a reasonable price range and in suitably-sized packs to save money on groceries. 

2. Do not be lured by free samples

Tasting free samples of a newly-arrived or freshly launched food item may seem harmless. Pleasant faced, and smiling salesperson offering free samples of food items is a tested method of winning your confidence about the product. After sampling it, if you find the item to be good, you may naturally think of buying it, if not at that point then maybe on your subsequent visits. Free samples of food items are a way of tempting customers into purchasing it. A wise tip on how to save money at the grocery store is to avoid free samples and prevent yourself from spending extra money unnecessarily. 

3. Avoid bundle offers 

In bundle offers, several items are combined and sold as one. The cost of the bundled product is lesser than the combined value of individual items. This may seem as you are making a smart choice of buying a bundled product at a lower price, than buying each item separately and paying a higher price. Similarly, offers like ‘buy one, get another on discount’ or ‘buy one, get one’ might tempt you to spend on items that you do not require. However, the fact is that shops usually sell their least selling products under such offers to make it appear more attractive to customers. Also, these offers might tempt you to spend on items you do not require. Be calculative before approaching such seemingly lucrative deals and discounted products. 

4. Stick to your grocery list

One of the most straightforward and effective answers to how can people save money on groceries is to make a grocery list and stick to it. Before visiting the shop, list down the essential items, you need to buy. This will give you an estimate of the total expenditure. Try to follow this list strictly. Refrain from impulsive shopping or making sudden decisions to purchase something that is not on the list. Even if you do indulge yourself in some unplanned shopping, ask yourself whether you need the product. A planned shopping will also make your trip to the store shorter and spare you from aimlessly navigating the aisles.

5. Be conscious of the things in your shopping cart 

Do not just stack things in your shopping cart. Keep on adding the cost of the items, as you drop them in your cart. This way, you will be aware of the growing cost with the addition of each item. This might compel you to shop smartly. People often do not calculate the total cost of the groceries at the time of shopping and might be shocked by the total at the billing counter. This tip will also help you shop within your budget and prevent splurging. So be wise and keep calculating the cost while navigating the aisles and save money on groceries. 

6. Use cash for payment 

While using a card and online payments are convenient and encouraged by sellers, paying cash for your purchases might help you shop prudently. When you carry a certain amount of money, you do not want to splurge and run short of money. You know exactly how much you have and what is the maximum that you can spend. Hence, to save money at the grocery store, carry cash. 

By following these smart steps while shopping for groceries, you can enhance your savings and know how to save money to efficiently manage your budget. Happy shopping!