Grocery Store Savings

When trying to save money on groceries, make sure you have time.  The stores know that many shoppers run into the store and rush through their shopping.  Knowing this, the stores place the more expensive items in certain areas giving them the best chance that you will just grab the item when it catches your eye.

The stores tend to place the items in three key areas that you should be aware of….

1. At eye level on the shelf - They know that when you zip down the isle, you aren’t going to take the time to look around.  You will tend to grab the item that you see first.  This is why the put the more expensive items at eye level.  The better deals tend to be on the top shelves and bottom shelves.  Stop and look around before you grab an item off the shelf.
2. At the end of isles - Grocery stores love to put the ’specials’ at the end of the isles.  By doing this, it catches your eye and looks like a deal.  So into your shopping cart it goes.  I tend to try and stay away from the isle ends when shopping.  If it looks like it is a deal, wait until you are in the isle of the item where you can look around at similar items and compare.
3. At checkout - These items at the checkout isle are called impulse items.  The store knows that while you are waiting your turn to pay for your groceries, you’ll have time to look through the magazines, see the batteries and your kids will whine about the candy.  A large percentage of people will buy these items even though they did not plan to when walking in the grocery store.

Be aware of these areas when shopping and try to have enough time to compare prices and not to fall into the grocery store’s trap.  You will save money.

If you go grocery shopping while you are hungry… everything will look good and plenty of extra groceries will end up in your shopping cart. 

Have you ever noticed the fresh smell of cookies or muffins when you walk into the store.  The grocery stores know that the good smell will trigger the hunger in you and will help in getting extra food into your cart.  Don’t be easy prey to the store.  Before you go, make sure you eat something.  If you can’t have a meal at least have a snack.

In August, 2001, SmartMoney put a list together of the top ten things the grocery store won’t tell you.   Number 10 on the list was “Our Scanners are a Scam”.  Some of the larger grocery store chains have since put in a guarantee that the price listed on the item, or the price listed on the shelf, will be the price rung up at checkout.  If the item rings in incorrectly, you get the item free.

Checkout is not a time to take a nap.  Be aware and keep an eye on the items as they get rung in.  Either keep a mental note, or jot down the item, that you think may have rung in incorrectly and bring it to the attention of customer service.  There are also times that the store may neglect to take down the sale sign on the shelf from the previous week.  If it is no longer on sale, it will ring in differently at the register and again, you will get the item free.

I know of an individual that was in the oriental sauce isle of a major grocery store.  He noticed that the sale prices from the previous week were still under ALL of the sauces.  He put one of each in his cart and brought it to the attention of customer service that the price at the register was different than the price on the shelf.  He received over $60 worth free sauce.  (His family ate alot of stir fry for awhile).

Here are some of the grocery chains that I know have this guarantee:

• Stop and Shop
• Shaws
• Star Markets

If you know of additional stores that have this policy, please click the ‘comment’ button below and submit them.

Believe it or not….YOU CAN save money at the grocery store.  It really isn’t that difficult. I’ll be getting into more detail as I continue to post, however, there are two main things to keep in mind:

1. Give yourself enough time to do it right and

2. Be aware of what you are actually buying.

If you go into the grocery store and rush through the store isles, you absolutely will spend too much money. You will buy impulsively and you won’t be shopping smart. By taking your time and being aware of what you are buying, you will save money. You will be able to compare prices and you won’t be shopping impulsively.

Take your time, shop smart and you will save money on groceries.

Not everyone wants to save money on groceries, however, if you’ve found this site, you do!  There are plenty of ways to save on groceries and I’ll be trying to post some techniques and stories about saving money on groceries, online grocery shopping, coupons and anything else somewhat related to these topics.