Grocery Shopping Saving Tips

Think you need to spend a fortune feeding you and your family these days? Think again! There are many ways to keep those bills as inexpensive as possible.

Have you tried the following?

1. Buy only the items that are ‘sale priced’ in the weekly flyer. Sooner or later, most items which you
   crave will be highly discounted – Then you can ‘stock up’ on those desires.
2. Avoid ‘Spur of the moment’ purchases – These will ‘eat’ into your budget – Plan your ‘buys’ before
   you enter the store
3. Compare the ‘regular’ and ‘sale’ prices of each grocery store near you — You’ll notice which ones are
   the best – for future purchases
4. Most stores have a ‘bargain’ area for each major department (meat, fruit/vegetables, dry goods,
   bakery) – Go there first, when you enter the store, for the best selection – times vary as to when
   the ‘marked down’ goods are put out – visit the stores at varying times to ‘discover’ the best time to
   arrive – or just ask one of the clerks in each department!
5. Visit the ‘fast food’ section of the grocery store within the last hour before the store closes – BBQ
   and assorted cooked foods are usually deeply discounted in order to have the remainder of the goods
   sold – instead of having to throw perfectly good food into the waste bin
6. Refuse to buy overpriced products – no matter how much you ‘want it’ – stores notice very quickly
   that if a product doesn’t ‘move’ regularly, that they will need to substantially reduce the price –
   otherwise they’ll be stuck with it occupying valuable shelf space – something they cannot afford
7. Does your grocery store have a self-check price scanner – If it does, check various products that you
   buy – If the scanned price is higher than the shelf price, purchase it – then go to the courtesy
   desk afterwards and tell them that you were overcharged – In some states/provinces, they are
   required to give you the product for free (refunding the money you paid and allowing you to keep
   the item) – Or if the cash checkout scanner produces the same higher than shelf price results,
   capitalize on it at the courtesy desk.
8. If your grocery store says they’ll match the price of other competitors on the same product or it’s
   free, check out the competitors (even the smaller ones) – Sometimes, the competition indeed has a
   lower price – great news for you! – since you’ll get some freebies!
9. Some chains advertise the ‘freshness’ of their products – if you find a product that is past its ‘due
   date’ still on the shelf, they’ll give you a ‘free’ item of the same kind or a competitors similar product
   of equal value – If you find any ‘outdated’ grocery stock, put it in your carriage and pay a visit to the
   courtesy desk – for yet another freebie!

10. At Christmas and New Years (and other long holidays where your grocery store closes for a day or
    more), visit the meat, bakery, deli and fruit/vegetable sections a few hours before closing time (the
    last day the store is open prior to the holiday) – you can usually find super deals on perishable items
    at that time. Remember – Don’t be shy! Be a Smart Shopper!

Bonus: Immediately after major holidays,
visit your grocery stores seasonal items area – they dramatically reduce the prices of those goods – to
make way for the next in line ‘holiday’ products.