10 practical tips that will help you cut your shopping bill at the supermarket. We’ve followed these guidelines for years and they really do work.
- Never go food shopping when you’re hungry. It’s purely psychological but you’ll find you spend far more when you are hungry. You’ll buy things you wouldn’t normally because you fancy eating them and you’ll rush because you’re in a hurry to get home and eat. Studies have proven hungry people spend more which is why supermarkets waft scents like fresh baked bread around. It makes you hungry and you spend more.
. - What isn’t on offer in one shop may well be on offer in another. If you don’t have time to go to more than one supermarket a week, vary which one you use. This will expose you to different offers and help train you in how much things cost.
. - Take a shopping list with you and stick to it unless it’s a one off, ‘end of date life’ offer. This reduces what you spend and it also reduces what you might waste by buying the same thing you already have at home.
. - Unless you’re very good at mental arithmetic, take a calculator with you. It’s so helpful when working out which size of pack offers the best value.
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- Don’t assume larger packs are less money per gram than small – more often than you might expect, they’re not. Check it with your calculator.
. - Try to avoid shopping on busy days and at busy times. On a quiet Tuesday you have time and space to look at the options and towards the end of the day there will be drastic manager’s reductions to be had. On a busy Friday or Saturday you’ll be lucky to find a bargain reduction and you’ll be too busy fighting the crowd to think properly.
. - Try the value or own label products. Sometimes they’re rubbish compared with the branded products but sometimes it is exactly the same product in the tin with a different label.I once saw a packet of biscuits from a well known manufacturer with three labels. The main wrapper was for the branded product and the label at each end was for two different supermarkets’ own label versions. The same pack of biscuits had 3 prices as well.
. - The best value for money items are often on the bottom shelves. The shelves at your eye level are going to move goods fastest so logically the most profitable ones for the shop are placed there
. - Always check around for reduced price labels and shelves of reduced lines. See this article:
. - Don’t trust the till! Always keep an eye on what price things are coming through at and scan the receipt before you leave the store. Sometimes the computer will differ from the shelf price due to error. Strange how they tend to be errors in favour of the store most of the time. Reduced goods are high risk for mistakes, they get scanned at full price or have been further reduced and the wrong price is scanned.
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