Josh Elledge - Chief Executive Angel
For years I’ve encouraged people to buy what you don’t need (yet), and to stock up when deals are the best. The mentality to only buy what you need asks, “Why buy what you don’t yet need? How does that save money?”
As counterintuitive as it seems, that actually is the way to save and cut your grocery bill in half. Shopping entirely from a need-based shopping list is, by far, the most expensive way to grocery shop. Instead, by stocking up when items are offered at 50-100% off, you gradually move away from buying all your grocery items based on need. You escape from paying killer retail prices. (Of course, stick to items you’d buy anyway. Buying a bunch of things no one will ever eat or use doesn’t help at all.)
Over the years of giving out this advice, I’ve often been asked, “But how do I begin stocking up when I can barely pay for my weekly grocery bill now?” I have five pieces of advice to answer this question…
(1) When you change your shopping style, it will take time. Plan to work slowly and don’t fret over every deal you wish you could get. The deals will come around again; and next time you’ll be in a better financial frame to get in on the savings. For now, start selectively. Even if you can only afford one extra deal, buy it, knowing that as you work this plan, you’ll be able to do more and more as the weeks pass.
(2) Shop from your pantry, freezer and fridge. When forced to get creative, you can work wonders with simple ingredients. You may not need to buy as much as you initially thought, freeing up money to grab quality deals and stock up instead.
(3) Employ gift cards as a savings tool. Instead of using your bank card for normal spending, like gas, restaurants, and especially groceries, use gift cards. Not only do they have a built-in spending limit, you can get deals on them – increasing your savings. Watch for special offers involving gift cards, especially as we move into the holiday season. By keeping an even tighter rein on your spending, it becomes easier to set aside a portion specifically for stocking up.
Gift card tips:
- Buy gift cards in small denominations, for tighter control. When you buy in a large amount, all at once, it can be dangerous. You could be tempted to spend too much of the card balance early in the month, leaving you short on funds by month’s end.
- To facilitate stocking up, buy an extra gift card just for that purpose. Start small if you need to, but use this card only for stocking up on good grocery deals, nothing else.
(4) Check your list – twice. By double-checking your grocery list before shopping – and sticking to only your list while shopping – you can eliminate purchases that you don’t really need. For each item you can do without, you can replace that item with a stock-up deal instead. The magic of this trick is that you’ll usually get more than one item buying a stock-up deal than the single item you’re making do without.
(5) Evaluate pound for pound. One common, yet avoidable mistake is not paying attention to the actual price per pound. A straightforward example is the better value – both financially and health-wise – of bananas over potato chips. People think nothing of paying over $3 for a 12 ounce bag of chips, but balk at paying 59 cents for a pound of bananas. (I.e. you can either buy over 5 pounds of bananas or a meager 12 ounces of chips for the same $3.) Switch your shopping mentality to seek out and purchase food items that give you the most for your money. The added incentive of this way of shopping is that often healthier foods are actually less expensive per pound than many packaged favorites. And, yes, you can find coupons for healthy foods.
