Ninja Shopping Techniques

Times are tough at the moment, but even when they're not, we all like to save money while shopping, and it is a constant battle between the supermarket giants and the consumer. Common advice includes looking at specials, using growers markets, buying in bulk and using a cooperative. Most of us know this is the sensible way to shop and we can maximise our budget using these methods. But what about when times are really tight, like right now? This may not necessarily be due to economic conditions in the country, but to personal financial difficulty.

So, we are hard up, but we would still like to enjoy some of the luxury items we recently took for granted. Well, you can. Budgeting doesn't mean foregoing all of your luxuries just a smarter approach to shopping techniques that you probably have not previously considered. You may be costing yourself more than your perceived savings in the pursuit of specials, than you realise. How? I have a friend that religiously goes through all of the junk mail circling any and every special item that she thinks she may require in all of the supermarkets putting out brochures. But what she doesn't realise is that the cost in travel to each of the outlets in fact cost her more than her savings of a few cents per item in the fuel cost alone!

This is a perfect example of false economy. Look at the specials on offer from each chain and make a small list of the items you require, grouping them by the supermarket offering a special. You might be asking yourself, where the Ninja aspect comes in. Get in and out at the the most opportune moments. Take, for example, one of the most expensive food items, meat. Bring on Ninja shopping!

Various food chains have days where they marked down products, and meat is a very perishable item. There are strict laws in place to prevent the sale of out of date meat produce so invariably huge discounts occur on certain days in certain chains. Stores I shop may have meat marked down on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and sometimes even Sundays. If you have a large family, try to ignore the markdowns on family packs of meat. This may be only one dollar fifty or two dollars, or perhaps even three dollars, not a huge saving. The savings on these family packs are negligible. The big savings come in the single pack items, a dollar off for example, a small serve of mincemeat, this maybe reduced by one dollar and a single T-bone steak by maybe two dollars. Quite simply, compare the savings over the reduced bulk pack discounts, compared to the single packs you'll be quite amazed at the huge difference in savings.

The Ninja technique of taking advantage of meat markdowns is in following the person who is employed by the supermarket, who is making the markdowns. Establish the day that they do their markdowns and get there on time. You can follow that person down the meat isle, and pick up the best bargains before anyone else. Does this sound a little embarrassing? You can always wear sunglasses or observe a few times and see how many people follow this technique. You are a supermarket Ninja, few of the people that see you will ever see you again, if at all. It's up to you, you can be first or last.

Most shopping malls these days have fresh bread outlets that rely on fresh baked bread products to sell that day. At the end of the day, any unsold produce is normally put out on super cheap specials or thrown in the garbage. Bread can be frozen, so grab what you require and place it in a deep freeze, you can pick up a decent deep-freeze for under $100 at a garage sale and it is well worth the investment.

Out of season vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower can be very expensive, you need to grab these while they are in season and cheap and do a little freezing. With most vegetables, this is a simple process whereby you place them in boiling water to blanche them for a minute or two, drain, and place in an air tight plastic bag and freeze for later use.

Many people do not consider the advantages of your own vegetable patch and this is unfortunate, as growing your own vegetables is very rewarding, and also an organic experience that you can involve the whole family in and save considerably with your shopping bill. A small herb bed can be grown in a window box, the herbs can be picked freshly, and save considerable dollars when you look at the supermarket cost of common herbs in packets.

What about salads? Many people purchase off the shelf at supermarkets, paying inflated prices for simple produce such as lettuce. Come on, what's the matter with you? You can grow it easily with a packet of mixed seeds.

Pre-prepare a weekly menu. Base this menu around the specials from the supermarket. You can save considerable amounts of money doing this. Pick and choose. This takes a moment to do before your weekly shopping trip.

Inspire your teenagers to learn to prepare and cook snacks for themselves rather than rely on prepackaged products, they may even enjoy it!