Monday

Snippets of Grocery Shopping wisdom. …no matter what shape your budget is in,

• Keeping a stock of non perishable necessities means some grocery shopping trips are left to walking around the perimeter of the store. Less time : less money.
• look up and down a display shelf . The manufacturers pay slotting fees. Essentially, they are renting the prime real estate ( middle , eye level shelves) . The best value will generally be higher or lower than center shelves.
• we all know that generally, the store brand is cheaper. Stores contract with the “name brand” manufacturers to make their products. My sister worked for a frozen food distributor, she brought home mislabeled vegetables that were double labeled . This was back in the day where vegetables came in boxes.
• 60-70 percent of all grocery store sales are impulse buys. The less time you spend in a store, the less time you have to throw that cream danish in your cart! Avoid things that aren’t in your plan.
• The entrance of the store is bombarding you with impulse high profit merchandise. Avoid the impulse. Often, you will see extra displays for a “go with” item, Like the buns next to the hot dogs. Those are generally more expensive. Rarely will you ever see both the hot dogs and the bins on sale at the same store. Pasta is on sale all over now, but not the sauce. They are banking on you not going to more than one store and not stocking when something is on sale
• thete is a fine line between stocking and overbuying, Know your family and don’t buy more than you typically eat and find ways to preserve excess. Zest oranges and freeze orange juice or make applesauce and freeze. Muffins to freeze?
• go shopping with a plan. By having basic food that your family will eat, you avoid being stuck paying full price. Going with a plan means you are hitting the produce isle looking for in season fruits and vegetables with some degree of flexibility. Market based shopping will take advantage of a sale that you can incorporate into your meals. IE: peppers were 1.00 yesterday, but a bag of six red, orange and yellow were 3.00. I see peppers cut up and frozen for fajitas and stuffed peppers in our future. Maybe a rice stuffed pepper with our tacos
• know the prices of the things that you buy on a regular basis. RBP is the lowest price you EVER see for that product. My mother used to say some people could have a bargain get up and bite them in the butt and they wouldn’t see it. Don’t be that person!
• buy your meat when it is at its RBP. Usually, one meat will be featured at a “loss leader price. Buy enough fir a months worth if those meals. Not 30 days worth, but if you eat hamburger twice a week, then you want enough to make 8 meals.
• find two stores in your area , or an area that you go to frequently for something else, that have the best prices. Here that would be Winco and Fred Meyers. This makes a huge difference, QFC and Fred Meyers are both Kroger stores. Yet, some identical things can be almost 50 percent higher in price, you are literally throwing money away. Go to the store for the prices. Not because they are less crowded or they have friendlier check out clerks. I would draw the line at anywhere that wasn’t clean.