Smart Shopping Series

Let's talk about how to shop at the grocery store. I'll give you a little hint: you don't actually have to coupon to save a ton of money on your regular shopping trips. You just have to change the way you shop.

Let's rewind 2 1/2 years. This was right after I got married, but before I started couponing. I think I was probably the worst shopper out there. Every time I went to the store I spent at least $70 or $80, and that was just for me and my husband! And that was shopping more often than once per week! Before I went shopping I would think of some meals I wanted to make and then at the store I would buy the ingredients for those meals, plus some snacks. As I exited the store each time I remember thinking, "Wow, that's a lot of money for this week, but next week I'm sure it will be less." It never was. How depressing.

If this sounds familiar then this post is for you! Are you ready to revolutionize the way you shop? Read on.

The first thing you need to do is turn your old way of shopping on its head. Instead of buying ingredients for the meals you want to make, you need to buy what is on sale at the store each week and then prepare your meals from what you already have. (Look for a post on menu planning soon!) Buy what is on sale and stock up on it so you don't have to buy it again until it is on sale again. Let's do an example to see just how much you can save by shopping this way.

Let's say you want to make spaghetti this week. You need three ingredients: noodles, sauce, and beef. If you were to go to the store today and just buy those three things your receipt might look something like this: (prices may vary)

16 oz package of noodles: $2
26 oz bottle of spaghetti sauce: $2.50
1 lb. of beef: $3
Total Spent: $7.50

Now, let's say that instead of buying it all at once you buy each ingredient separately when they are each on sale. One week you buy the same package of noodles on sale for $1, another week you buy spaghetti sauce on sale for $1.25, another week you buy beef for $2. Total Spent: $4.25.

I know that's just a silly little example, but it illustrates the point well. Buying the ingredients on sale saves you $3.25 on that one meal. That's about 43% savings! If you are doing this on all of your meals you are going to be saving tons of money each week!

So, here is what you need to do. Browse your weekly grocery store ads and make a list of things that are on sale that you use. Remember, just because it's in the ad doesn't necessarily mean it's a great price. Stick to your list as you shop (no impulse buying!) and stock up on the things that are on sale. The next several posts on this blog will guide you through the steps you need to take to save an enormous amount of money on your grocery bill and regain control of your grocery budget!