With a little planning, extra money in your wallet and food in your refrigerator is easily obtainable.

It’s difficult to buy anything in the current economy without cleaning out your wallet. In the supermarket, price increases due to increased transportation costs and inflation places an additional burden on the our budgets. While you cannot change the retail price of items you buy, you can make this burden a bit easier, by applying some old-fashioned consumer-savviness, and a little bit of planning. Every guy’s budget is different, but for those wishing to get the most bang for the buck, try adding a couple simple steps to get a better deal.

Don’t Waste Food.

This is the most obvious and easy way to save money on food. Each time you pour that half gallon of spoiled milk down the drain or toss the moldy loaf of bread, you are literally throwing away money. To prevent waste, think and plan before buying food. Being aware of how much you consume each week can significantly cut down on waste and costs, by purchasing appropriate quantities. In particular, think twice when buying perishable foods. Bulk buying goods that spoil rarely results in significant savings, so there’s little incentive to purchase the gallon of milk over the quart. And buying in volume saves no money if you must throw half of it out. Also, think of your taste buds. I enjoy most fruits, but I rarely eat more than a couple before filling my craving for its taste. Likewise, if you are trying a new food, or even purchasing a foreign brand for the first time, look for the smaller package. Ultimately, the goal of reducing product quantity prevents paying for a product you will never use.

Overstuffing a refrigerator makes no economic sense.

Another great way to prevent food waste is to use your freezer and refrigerator effectively. Perishable foods go bad because bacteria and molds begin to grow on them as they are exposed to the open air. By freezing foods you essentially stop the clock on the growth of bacteria and mold. I buy large amounts of bread and freeze all but one loaf. This allows me to shop less and prevents me from worrying about spoilage. Placing food in the freezer increases shelf life dramatically, but you cannot keep them forever. Even frozen foods spoil after a couple months, so keep this in mind when purchasing for freezing. Refrigerators also extend the life of food. After returning from the store, place your fruits and vegetables into the fridge immediately. They may not need to be refrigerated, but they will last several days longer that way. This works just as well with breads and most other perishable food products.

Shop smartly.

Buying at the lowest price is critical to saving money on groceries. Smart shopping begins before you enter to the grocery store. Check circulars for deals and coupons for use in the store. With many products you can “double up” your coupons. This simple process involves presenting a store coupon (or waiting for a sale) along with a manufacturer coupon. You can score amazing deals from this method; its possible to actually purchase free products after applying double savings or rebates.

Location matters if you want to seriously shop smart. Consciously observe prices at your local grocery stores. You will be surprised to find the pricing disparity between particular stores. It can be a pain shopping at more than one store, especially when there is the temptation to buy everything at once and be done with the process. However, the rewards from scouting will save you in the long run. Plus, the burden diminishes once learning which stores sell products at the lowest price. I plan my errands accordingly so I hit different stores relatively quickly. In fact, I can grab all of my groceries from several places and only add five or ten minutes to my total trip time, since I know the stores well and shop at off-peak times (midday during the week, and in the evening on the weekends).

Once in the store, you can save money just by swiping the right card. Join the store savings club. This free program, now nearly ubiquitous, provides you with a shopper card offering you savings. In many stores, these cards offer the only way to receive promotional prices. Although it takes a few minutes to fill out I suggest grabbing the card sooner rather than later. If you value your privacy and worry someone might be tracking your Special K consumption, use an alias.

The secret to product savings

Many of the products in your basket can be purchased at reduced cost with coupons.

When comparing products, most people look at the price of each product. Instead, you should focus on the unit price, or cost per unit. Every store lists the unit price on the shelf price tag, located next to the price. This tag tells you the value of your purchase by dividing cost by quantity. The value of this number allows you to compare items of different quantity. The lower the number, the better the deal. Generally, store brands offer better deals than name brands (and often times are manufactured at the same plants), but always check the costs based on unit of measurement to be sure you are getting a good deal. One last key to shopping smart is to always check clearance aisles. Usually, these products are not expired, but instead the store over-purchased and worry they may expire if not sold.

Shopping in volume can help your wallet tremendously. Big box stores like Super Wal-Marts offer great deals. These stores may be nightmarish due to size and congestion, but the deals often make shopping there worthwhile. Knowledge of product cost is the key to savings at these stores. I prefer going even bigger and hitting wholesale clubs. They provide even better prices by offering products in large quantities if you are willing to purchase a membership (price ranges vary between twenty-five to forty-five dollars for a yearly membership). My only caveat with wholesale; it is not a bargain if you don’t use all of the product

Eat out sparingly, and when you do, get the most for your money

The average American eats out 4 times a week.¹ Eating out costs more than eating at home because you pay for preparation, restaurant profit, and service. But don’t avoid restaurants completely. If you go out, make it a special event. Make it a date, or go out with friends and family. Food always tastes better when shared with valuable company and splurging for that petite filet tastes that much better when saving it as a treat.

When dining out, get value out of your meal. Find something on the menu that makes your experience worthwhile. I stay away from meals like Fettuccini Alfredo, because its fairly easy to make and is generally overpriced. If you’re going to spend your money, make it memorable, interesting, and beautiful. This principle will not save any money in the moment, but part of smart shopping is finding value in your purchases. I call it getting the benefit of the bargain.

Grocery stores invest millions of dollars to study consumer habits and design stores that will entice them into spending more. By applying some of these strategies to your shopping and eating habits you will hopefully find a slight bulge developing in your back pocket. It’s probably the only added weight we can all appreciate.

1. http://www.restaurant.org/rusa/magArticle.cfm?ArticleID=138 ↩

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