How to Compensate for Rising Grocery Costs
February 5, 2008 By Matthew Paulson
You may have noticed in the last year or two that prices are increasing in your local supermarkets. The price of energy has increased making it more expensive to produce and transport the food to your local grocery store. In addition, the price of plastic containers has increased as well adding to the price of the items you purchase on a regular basis. This has put people who are lower or fixed incomes in a bit of a pinch. Here are some options to compensate for the increased price of buying groceries.
Shop at the Right Store. Wal-Mart and Costco have consistently been the two grocery stores that sell groceries at the lowest cost. These two stores are about 20% cheaper than an average grocery store. If you have shopped at a corner market or small grocery store chain, it might be time to give into the will of globalization and shop at one of the big box stores where the prices will be much lower.
Buy Private Label Products. There are a lot of privately-labeled products that are almost the exact same product that you would purchase if you were to get a name-brand but are 20% to 30% cheaper. It’s always a good idea to buy these over their name-brand equivalents. The reason they are so much cheaper is that you as the consumer no longer have to subsidize the name-brand company’s multi-million dollar ad-campaigns.
Circulars are there for a Reason. The grocery store makes almost nothing and often loses money on the items they put out in their weekly flyers. These products are what’s called “loss leaders,” meaning that the company is willing to sell some products so cheaply that they lose money on them, but it gets people to go into the store and buy other products as well. Inside your weekly flyer, you’ll find the best deals that are in the store that’s too be had. Consider getting two or three flyers from different stores and making a couple of stops, so that you can get some really good deals. Don’t purchase items in the flyers that you won’t ever make good use of.
Buy in Bulk, Sometimes. For the items that you buy most often, you should buy them in bulk. Only buy items in bulk when it makes sense to do so. If you are purchasing a product that you don’t use very much of, there’s no reason to buy it in bulk. And be aware that items sold in bulk packages are not necessarily cheaper. Always calculate the cost on a per unit basis and make sure that the bigger package is indeed a better deal.
Rising grocery costs might pinch your pocketbook a little, fortunately there are proactive things that you can do to decrease your weekly grocery bill.
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September 25th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Since groceries are my biggest expense after rent, I have been trying to figure out how to cut costs. Thanks for these tips. I’d add: shop only once per week. I make several trips a week to the store and to the farmer’s market and I bet that those trips are adding up in a way that one trip would not. I’m going to try a new way and see if it reduces my food bills.
Thanks for a great site!
Cynthia
September 25th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
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September 26th, 2007 at 8:17 am
It seems like both the author and Cynthia advocate giving up something very valuable in exchange for a few dollars saved each week. First, the author advocates visiting “big box” stores in lieu of local establishments. Supporting one’s local grocery store preserves a community resource; often these stores will have more unique food items and more knowledgeable employees (as well as employ all the local teens). Secondly Cynthia mentions stopping her frequent visits to the farmer’s market. She’ll be sacrificing providing the freshest available food to her family and instead purchasing items that have traveled an average of 1500 mi from field to fork. Finally, Jaco beach pales in comparison to CR’s other beaches. I’ve been there.
September 26th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
I disagree with this post for anyone but the poorest person. You sacrifice quite a bit of food quality by shopping at Walmart, especially with their private label stuff. I’m not willing to eat pre-packaged crap to save what amounts to maybe $40 a month. Quality of food is far more important than price to me.
Food is extremely cheap in America. Even buying the best, you will spend a much smaller proportion of income on food than in most countries. Personally I care more about putting only good things into my body than saving some cash and spending it on some crap like plasma TV’s. It’s my form of luxury, and you don’t have to be rich to eat well.
September 27th, 2007 at 12:02 am
You say “Wal-Mart and Costco have consistently been the two grocery stores that sell groceries at the lowest cost.”
However, you fail to mention that Cost-co has consistently been voted one of the best large corporations in terms of the way it treats and pays its employees (including benefits) and Wal-Mart is one of the worst. There’s no comparison between the two. I wouldn’t set foot in a Wal-Mart (or Sams Club) for anything.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:40 pm
I have to say, my experience with Wal-Mart quality (especially produce!) has been abysmal. Costco, on the other hand, has great produce but I never get through all that I buy.
My solution is a local market that sells great local produce for cheap. It’s a health food store, so everything else is way expensive, but for those things I shop the local grocery chain and buy their store brand.
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:11 pm
Oh, it’s so easy to trash WalMart, Sam’s etc. But when I go into my WalMart it’s packed with consumers. So they must be doing something right, e.g., pricing their products so we can afford them - good quality too. Sam’s is the same, great prices on bulk items. For my family and my pocketbook I couldn’t do without either & by the overflowing parking lots neither can most of my neighbors!
November 15th, 2007 at 8:13 am
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