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Unless you plan on eating out for every meal in your life in hopes of having a heart attack by age 40, chances are you’re going to need to make a weekly trip to your local Hy-Vee, Wal-Mart, or whatever grocery store happens to be prevalent in your area. Unfortunately most of us seriously mess up when we go grocery shopping. We go in, buy whatever looks good, take it to the register, pay and think nothing of it. This will cause you to pay too much and buy food you don’t need and probably don’t even want. Make use of these ten ideas when going to the grocery store to save time, money, and even inches on your waist line.

1. Don’t Go When Hungry – Statistically you’ll buy more food when you go to the grocery store when you have an urge to eat, so have a snack before you go grocery shopping or go right after a meal, and you’ll be less tempted to buy extra food that you probably don’t need.

2. Make a List, Check it Twice – A lot of us go to the grocery store and end up buying things we already had, but just didn’t realize it. Making a list before hand will make sure that you get all of the important items and also make sure that you don’t buy any items that you really don’t need. It’ll also save you time because you then know exactly what you need.

3. Bring a calculator – Some of the stores will do the cost per ounce pricing for you, but not all of them do. Bring a calculator with so you can do these calculations for yourself, and also make sure you haven’t spent too much money.

4. Make a Weekly Menu – This goes along well with making a grocery list. Plan out meals for the week so you know what to get at the grocery store and don’t wander through the aisles aimlessly hoping to feed your family.

5. Fruits and Vegetables – Usually you can get fruits and vegetables at the grocery store for very little money. They make for great snacks, and will dramatically improve the healthiness of your diet.

6. Waste Not – If you make a meal and don’t eat it all, save it for later, bring it to work the next morning. Send it off to the kids for their school lunch. Don’t buy something than only eat half of it and throw the rest away. You’re getting rid of perfectly good free food.

7. Think Generic - I usually bring home a 12 pack of soda for a week, and for a while I was paying $3 or $4 for Mountain Dew, but I switched to a generic brand that’s only $2.00 for a 12 pack. It tastes pretty much the same, and

8. Use a Basket – If you’re just shopping for yourself, don’t get a cart, use a basket. This’ll make sure that you don’t buy a lot of food when you don’t really need to.

9. Coupons are there for a reason – You don’t have to go crazy when it comes to coupons, but before you go, check out the weekly circular and see if there’s anything on sale that you might need and can get for less money.

10. Make Sure You’re Shopping at the Right Place – If you always go to the same store, consider checking out a few other competing stores and make sure that they don’t have consistently better prices. You might be paying too much on a weekly basis and not even realize it.



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