Fourteen Ways to Trim the Fat From Your Food Bills

There’s a nice tips article up on BabyCenter.com with some helpful hints on cutting your grocery costs. Food is one expense you can’t completely eliminate so it’s important to find ways to prevent over-spending. Here’s a section of the article that I really liked. Remember your whole shopping experience is the store’s targeted marketing plan. There are people at every company’s whose job it is to get your to spend more. Fight back by understanding what their tactics are and how they work!

2. Understand how stores work
A basic understanding of merchandising can help you avoid overspending. These simple habits will go a long way toward keeping your budget in check:

• Walk briskly toward what you came to buy and avoid distractions along the way. For example, have you ever noticed that the diapers and milk are often at the back of the store? You’re forced to walk past a lot of temptation to get to the items you need most often.

• Products are displayed at the ends of the aisles in order to catch your eye. Think carefully about whether what you see there is really necessary — or a bargain — before you toss it in the cart. Many “featured” items are not bargains at all.

• As you peruse the aisles, bend over to check the prices on the bottom shelves and compare them to the cost of the items at eye level.

• Avoid buying the items displayed by the register. The magazines at the checkout stand cost much more per issue than they would if you had a subscription, and cookies in little packages cost more than a from a box. Almost everything near the register is there to inspire you to buy on impulse, not to save you money.

Tip: Make fewer trips to the store and you’ll find yourself with fewer chances to pick up a few extras you don’t really need.

Read the full article here.

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