Your Money_ The Missing Manual - J. D. Roth [40]
Note
For the most part, smart grocery shopping hasn't changed in decades—your grandmother could have written most of these tips. For a fun look at the shopping advice of yesteryear, watch this 1950 film about buying food: http://tinyurl.com/1950shopping.
Make a list—and stick to it. This is the cardinal rule of shopping. Your list should include only the stuff you really need: staples you're out of and ingredients for upcoming meals. This will help you avoid buying on impulse—which is how shopping trips get out of control.
Compare unit pricing. An item's unit price tells you the cost for each unit of measurement. For example, the unit price of a box of cereal tells you how much you're paying for each ounce. If you're lucky, your grocery store already posts unit pricing for most items, which makes comparing them easy. If not, carry a calculator.
Note
The biggest package isn't always the most cost-effective. Stores know that people want to buy in bulk, so sometimes they actually make the larger package's unit price higher than the smaller package's.
Choose a store and learn its prices. Because supermarkets monkey with prices, you can't be sure a deal is really a deal unless you know what the store usually charges. Use a price book (see the box on the next page) to uncover regular and sale prices. Once you know one store's prices, you can save even more by learning another store's prices and comparing them to the first store's.
Buy only what you can carry. If you're dashing into a store to pick up milk and bread, don't use a basket—it'll just tempt you to buy more. Similarly, try walking, biking, or taking the bus to the store. When you're limited to what you can actually carry, you're more likely to avoid impulse buys.
Discard brand loyalties. You may have a favorite brand of diced tomatoes, but does it really matter? Buy whatever has the lowest unit price, even if that means getting the store brand or a generic. You may find you like the less-expensive product just as well. (The box on Supermarket savings has more on generics.)
Your Money And Your Life: The Power of the Price Book
In The Complete Tightwad Gazette (Villard, 1998), Amy Dacyczyn advocates using a price book to save big bucks at the supermarket. A price book is an ongoing list of the items you buy most often, where and when you buy them, and how much you pay. That info can help you figure out sales cycles, spot bargains, and plan your shopping trips for maximum savings. You also learn which stores offer the best prices on which items.
"At first you may think this is too much work and the idea of shopping at so many stores will be inconceivable. It will pay off," Dacyczyn writes. "The keeping of a price book revolutionized our shopping strategy more than anything else we did. For the first time we had a feeling of control over our food budget."
By keeping a price book, you'll learn the strike point for your favorite items—the price that's low enough to let you snap up a supply until the next time the strike-point price rolls around.
Shop less. Studies show that when people shop more often, they buy more stuff. (Shocking, huh?) Every time you enter the grocery store is another chance to spend. Fewer trips mean you'll avoid temptation and save time and gas.
Tip
Steve and Annette Economides, authors of America's Cheapest Family (Three Rivers Press, 2007), are extreme non-shoppers: They've been making just one grocery shopping trip per month since 1984—and they have five kids!
Use coupons wisely. Coupons get a bad rap, but they really can save you money. Clip coupons only for products you'll use or for stuff you'd like to try. And if your store lets you, combine coupons with sales.
Take advantage of special offers. You may not need two pot roasts, but it's the same as getting one for half price if you can find somebody