Money is something that we regularly consume and it represents a big part of our regular consumptions. A wise consumer weighs between quality and cost, so you can obtain healthy food, without spending too much money. Here are things you should do to reduce your food shopping costs:
- Don’t shop while hungry: This is a common way to avoid overspending on cost food and buying something you don’t need. Make sure that you feel slightly full before you shop for grocery and food. This is especially true if you are an impulsive buyer. Self control can be achieved more easily if you don’t feel hungry.
- Research prices: Watch for special deals and know your prices. But, be aware that many supermarkets seem to have great deals, but they are just creative deception. So, you need to avoid being outsmarted as well. Initially, manufacturers and sellers keep the prices low to establish market share and attract buyers. Before trusting deals, you should be aware of the original prices.
- Check brands: Even if you want to reduce prices, it doesn’t mean that you should sacrifice quality too much. Your bread may not be too fluffy, but you should make sure it’s nutritious. You can have brand loyalty only if there’s a great balance between price and quality.
- Don’t do eye level shopping: Sellers put product strategically and they often put premium products at eye level. Instead of scanning only horizontally, you should also scan up and down. Some good products can be placed at the lower or upper level. Spend a little bit more time to check all the shelves, before considering what to buy.
- Watch out for “salience”: Salience is a common marketing trick used in supermarkets. Salience is essentially one thing that stands out, in terms of size, color and placement. Supermarket can reduce costs by buying products and rely on salience to quickly sell products. Don’t trust too much on strategic placement, vibrant colors and larger sizes. You should consider values and make sure that you get what you need. Packaging is a direct way to gain advantage through salience. Manufacturers can use specific colors and sizes for packaging to immediately attract attention. What’s shown on the packaging is intended to properly represent what’s inside. Unfortunately, the packaging is often misleading. When buying foods, try to choose transparent packaging, so you can see the food inside.
- Be prepared for genuine deals: From time to time, there are genuine deals that you can get. Supermarkets use different tricks that encourage you to buy products and some of them can legitimately help you to reduce costs. Collecting coupons is also a good way to help you reduce costs.
- Use a list: You should make a list and always stick to it. Without a list, you could start to buy obsessively and spend much more money that you should. With a list, you will enter the grocery store knowing what you need to buy and avoid things that you don’t need. So, the list should also include items that you personally prefer, but you must not buy to reduce costs.