Food Shopping on a Budget

A very helpful guest post for supermarket strategy

Looking to trim some bucks from your grocery shopping bill? Here are a few easy ways to save money at the supermarket.

Sign up for Rewards Cards. Pretty much every store offers a free loyalty program. These programs not only give you discounts on select items at the store each week, they can also lead to additional savings throughout the year. For example, the Giant supermarket chain in the Washington, DC region mails coupons to their Rewards members based on the items they’ve purchased in the past, along with dollars off total order coupons.

Clip Coupons. Clipping coupons are quite the craze these days. There are even television shows dedicated to people who save hundreds of dollars with coupons. You don’t have to go to that extreme to save some bucks on your food bill.

Focus on the items that you know you need to buy and clip coupons from your Sunday newspaper inserts for those products. If you don’t get the Sunday paper, consider signing up for a subscription. The money you save from the coupons would more than offset the cost of the subscription. Or, you can ask a friend or neighbor to pass along their paper when they’re finished with it. If getting an actual copy of the paper is not an option, some coupons are available online for printing.  Good sites to check out are: http://www.redplum.com/ and http://www.smartsource.com/

Shop on the right day. Grocery stores want your business and to get it, they’re offering special discounts to certain groups. For example, Harris Teeter offers 5% savings every Tuesday for adults 60 and older. Select Kroger and Publix stores offer seniors up to 10% off when you shop on certain days. Check with your local stores to see if they participate in the discounts.

Skip the Brand Names. Many stores carry their own line of products. These private label items are often much cheaper than the brands you see advertised on television, and in many cases, of equal quality. From pasta and frozen vegetables, to sugar and cheese, you can save a good amount by skipping the popular brands and opting for the less expensive store-branded items.

Read the Price Tags. When we’re shopping we typically look at the price of an item and move on. But there’s another number we should pay even more attention to than the price—the price per ounce or pound. This amount is typically found on the left side of the price tag on the shelf.

Most people believe that the biggest box/can/jar is the best deal, but to truly determine that, you need to look at the price you’re paying per ounce or pound. There are times when the smaller box might be the better buy.

Who couldn’t use some extra cash, especially at this time of year? Follow these simple steps and start saving on your weekly bill today.

This article is written by  + Stu Lieberman the writer for Nutri-Health.com, an online High Quality Supplement and Health Store.  Assisting people and helping them find quality supplements and health products online is what Stu has been doing for over 2 years.  Nutri-Health.com carries Digestive Supplements to Probiotics to Joint Health.