5 Top Tips For A Lower Shopping Bill

By Jessica Mackie

Shopping: you either love it or hate it but it’s a fact of life and it can be an expensive fact. Here are 5 tips everyone can try to bring that checkout total down to a more manageable figure.

Grow What You Can

You can’t grow fries or pizza but you can grow the staples that make up your food, the herbs and vegetables are all really easy to grow yourself. Even if you live in an  flat a small window box is all you need to start growing your own rosemary and thyme. You might even consider taking a small allotment where you can grow your own fruit or vegetables on a slightly larger scale. Look at the foods you eat on a regular basis and start with the basics of those before you jump into trying to grow something too complicated. For most of us, this will be things like potatoes and tomatoes.

Study Your Receipt

If frugal shopping is new to you then look over the receipts from your last few shops, mark off anything that was an impulse buy, anything that was a luxury and anything that ended up being thrown away. Now you can see where most your food money is really going. Next time you go shopping, create a receipt that you’re going to stick to. Make a note of all the things you actually need then add the things you want down the end. You can only have the ‘want’ items if you don’t throw any other impulse buys in before you get to the checkout.

 Know The Layout

Supermarkets keep all the perishable produce round the sides of the building. The fruit, vegetables, dairy and bakery items are very rarely buried away in the middle of the isles. These are what you want to stock up on, fresh produce is better for your budget and your waist than processed foods. Another common layout at most supermarkets is you’ll always find the most expensive branded foods right at eye level, the cheaper and own brand foods will be down the lower or upper shelves. You’ll find the special offers at the end of the isles so always check the special offers on that isle before you go down it, you’re only buying products on special offer if they’re on your list.

 Check Their Website

Always check your supermarkets website before you head off for a big shop, put half an hour aside and check what they’ve got on special offer, any promotions they’re running and check through their social media accounts too. Larger chains have regular newsletters so make sure they always come through to your email and follow or friend them on your social media networks. If time is tight you might even want to do the whole shop online and pick a convenient time for it to be delivered. The great thing about ordering your food online is you can’t get tempted by items you weren’t planning on buying.

Solo Shopping

If you are heading off to the supermarket make sure you’re going by yourself. Going with your friend means you’re going to be distracted; going with a partner is likely to lead to an argument if you’re trying to do a frugal shop and taking a child along is just asking for a temper tantrum. Before you know it there’s a bag of chocolate and bottle of wine in there just to keep everyone happy. Shopping by yourself means you’re able to concentrate on what you’re doing and keep a manual calculation in your head so it’s not quite such a shock when you get to the tills.

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