Click here to compare offers on multiple items and save hundreds of dollars. Compare and save on credit cards, cell phones, long distance plans, mortgages, insurance, shopping, and so much more.<\/a><\/p>\nSupermarkets and grocery stores have an aim that is the complete opposite of yours. Yours is to buy exactly what you need at minimal expense, theirs is to persuade you to buy more than you need at maximum profitability for themselves.<\/p>\n
Be prepared<\/b><\/p>\n
Before you even set foot in the store, you should be well-prepared. You should have eaten, written out your shopping list, left the spouse and kids at home. You have chosen this particular store because you know from previous experience and online research that it carries the products you like at consistently good prices, and is currently offering a number of sale deals on items you need.<\/p>\n
Store tactics<\/b><\/p>\n
Remember their aim: to sell you more. The entry area will be awash with eye-catching offers and advertisements which can safely be ignored. The store layout rarely varies: the basic foods and ingredients (cheaper) are laid out along the perimeter walls while the inner aisles contain all the more expensive brands and processed goods, thus offering you ample opportunity to be tempted into buying something you didn\u2019t know you needed.<\/p>\n
Shelf layout is usually standard too. There are typically 5 levels \u2013 cheapest items on the top, then medium, then (at eye-level) most expensive, then medium, then cheapest again right at the bottom.<\/p>\n
The wording on items and price tickets is carefully designed to tempt you into buying the items the store would prefer to sell you. Words like \u201cPremium\u201d, \u201cBasic\u201d and \u201cValue\u201d abound. There is more ornate packaging on the most expensive products, obviously. There are lots of offers of 1-for-2 or 2-for-3. Alongside genuine sale items, non-sale items might well carry exactly the same design of price tag.<\/p>\n
At the checkout counter will be candy and goodies placed just where kids would be looking while you settle up.<\/p>\n
Stay Focused!<\/b><\/p>\n
You needn\u2019t be fooled by these tactics if you concentrate on looking for the genuine bargains and best deals and on completing your list.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all about comparing. Packaging doesn\u2019t matter \u2013 you\u2019re not going to eat that. Compare unit costs<\/b> of brand name products against the store\u2019s own products against generic products, and go for the cheapest that is of acceptable quality. Compare unit costs<\/b> of the \u201cspecial\u201d offers and see if it\u2019s really a bargain (as well as something you need). Check that the item under the special-sale tag is indeed the sale item before you put it in the cart. If the price tag on the cheapest products is mysteriously missing (incompetent worker, mischievous child \u2013 or a \u201cdirty trick\u201d?), take the time to get the price scanned.<\/p>\n
At the checkout take note as your purchases are rung up. Make sure that discounted items are registered at the correct price \u2013 sometimes there can be a mismatch. Use coupons, the store\u2019s own card and check for any other discounts that may be available.<\/p>\n
Smart shopping means not accepting the sales pitch at face-value. It means being healthily skeptical, checking and comparing. This may take time but if it cuts down your shopping bill by 15%, 10% or even 5%, surely it\u2019s worth it? Shop smart and save money.<\/p>\n
Click here to compare offers on multiple items and save hundreds of dollars. Compare and save on credit cards, cell phones, long distance plans, mortgages, insurance, shopping, and so much more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By John You, like most people, are probably looking for ways to cut costs and make savings these days, as inflation relentlessly outstrips wage increases. Once all the big and regular payments for insurance, home, auto, utilities and other services have been taken care of, what is left is what you have to live on. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-budgeting","category-uncategorized","category-shopping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dontspendmore.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dontspendmore.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dontspendmore.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dontspendmore.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dontspendmore.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.dontspendmore.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":657,"href":"http:\/\/www.dontspendmore.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656\/revisions\/657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dontspendmore.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dontspendmore.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dontspendmore.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}