Shop Around

Many consumers spend more than they have to simply because they choose not to shop at a variety of stores, or look at ads in the newspaper. The simple fact is that your favorite grocery store is not always going to have everything you want on sale every week. However, that’s okay! Most Americans live in areas that have several grocery stores, pharmacies, and large stores such as target and Wal-Mart. A great way to save money is to look at each store’s ad on a weekly basis. Recently I found Store A near my home selling a frozen pizza for $6 while Store B down the street was selling the same frozen pizza for $3.75. However, Store B had 24 packs of water on sale for $2 while Store A had them for $4.50. So, it is very important to know where to buy certain goods. By simply shopping different stores, you could save over $100 a month.

Buy Store Brands

I know we have all seen the specials on TV regarding buying store brands instead of name brands at the grocery store. The fact of the matter is that some store brands are better than others. There are some items that truly cannot differ that much from name brand vs. a store brand. A good example of this is ketchup. Do you ever crave ketchup or do you crave a bratwurst or cheeseburger? I have never avoided ketchup because it was a certain brand. So, while the savings may not be that much, try to save money by purchasing store brand items where there is little difference between the name brand and store brand.

Buy in Bulk

We are all familiar with stores such as Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale where individuals can receive discounts by purchasing food in bulk. There are some items at these stores that you would not want to purchase unless you own a restaurant. Personally, I’ll never have a need for five gallons of mustard, but I can appreciate a discount on six containers of peanuts. The key with this strategy is not to go crazy. If you don’t need a lot of an item, don’t buy it. Remember, even if an item is on sale, you’re still wasting money of you buy that item and do not really need it.