Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill

Most of us have noticed that even if you buy the exact same things as you bought last week or last month your bill at the checkout is higher. Here are seven things I learned to do back in the 1970's to lower my food costs. Some of these things I learned from my mother who learned them in the 1930's.

1. Begin planning before you have to go to the store. When the ads for the local grocery stores arrive in your mail box take a few moments with a marker to study them. Mark only the items on sale that you KNOW your family will use. No matter how good the price on something is it's money wasted if no one will eat it.

2. Make a list. This is the most important thing you can do to reduce your bill at the checkout counter. Make the list and do NOT add anything to it after you get to the store. If you forgot to put something on it, start a new list. When you first begin doing this you may have a list as long as the one you brought by the time you leave the store. Before you go shopping again check every item you put on the list and remove any that is not really necessary. It will not be too long before you can create a list that meets your family's needs without missing essentials.

3. Coupons can be amazing savings devices for some people, but they do take time and effort to use to your advantage. There are websites devoted to teaching the skill of using coupons. For the rest of us the easiest way to use them is to only use coupons for things you and your family already buy. If you eat certain cereals and you have a coupon for them then make sure you use it. If the coupon is for something you don't use toss it or give it to a friend who does use the product.

4. Shop the perimeter used to be good advice. Now you, the consumer has to be wily because the stores are getting cleverer about luring you into the areas that encourage you to buy their high profit items. They sprinkle the outer edges with all sorts of things that bring in more money. The necessary items such as milk, bread, canned and frozen vegetables are placed in the middle or back of the store in such a way you have to go passed all sorts of lovely impulse items to reach them. Be careful and shop your list.

5. Don't go down the aisles that have soft drinks, chips and candy if you can avoid them. Here again the people who plan store layouts are getting sneakier. They put candy near the baking and seasoning departments. Crackers are in the middle of the chip aisle and juice is near the soda. Be careful when you see these traps.

6. Check the shelves above and below your head. The shelves you can most easily see are stocked with items that are attractive and make more money for the store and producer. Your basic canned green beans and corn are going to be on the bottom shelf. The healthy for you cereal will either be on the top or bottom shelves. Don't believe me? Read the nutritional information.

7. Check size vs. price. Bigger isn't always better. Here a calculator might really come in handy. Frequently you will find that the smaller boxes of cereal and bottles of detergent are less expensive per ounce than the "Giant Economy" size. Sometimes you get a bargain by buying large but don't assume that is the case. Check first.

These seven tips may not keep your expenditures at the grocery store from going up, but they will at least slow down the climb.