How to Save $30 a Week on Your Shopping

How to save $30 per week on the family food shopping is as simple as always shopping with a shopping list and not just wandering around the supermarket and picking up items that take your fancy. This is a quick way to blow the shopping budget right out the window. It is a well known fact in supermarket presentation that it is affective marketing to move an essential item like eggs and locate them near other unrelated items to try and tempt shoppers to buy items that are not on their shopping list. This is good marketing and it works.

The bottom line is shop with a list and dont get sidetracked.\r This principle can also be applied to just about any shopping we all do. How many times have you gone to the shops for the butter or bread that you forgot and come home with a new T shirt or that fancy new ice cream that is double the price of other brands. Dont impulse buy. Chances are that tomorrow you will have forgotten what is was you absolutely had to have and it sits in a cupboard or freezer somewhere.

To shop with a list takes us one step further in the budgeting dos and donts. Dont shop every day except for fresh food items. Plan on doing your shopping once a week. Allow for your fresh fruit and vegetables three times a week. Nearly everyone has a freezer these days to store their meat and bread also freezes well.

The most expensive way to shop is daily.

Remember this as it can easily add anywhere from $30 and up per week. The best budgeters are those that live in the country who are too far to travel daily to the shops. Make a set day for shopping and dont run to the shops if you run out of something unless it is essential. If you have a good method for preparing your shopping list this shouldnt happen but we all make mistakes.

Another tip to bullet proof your weekly budget. Use a computer shopping list that helps you generate your list for you. Just type into your web search free shopping list and you will see a number of free software you can use. Also many of the recipe sites have free shopping list software you can use. Or for a free recipe file that generates a shopping list you can download one here Recipe and Shopping List

Dont shop when you are hungry as you will be tempted to buy treats for yourself and also you tend to overbuy on some items. \r Learn to exchange some items on your list if you see a special. If you have lamb chops on your list but pork chops are a super special then be flexible and save dollars.

Always remember that items that come in bulk packages arent always the cheapest. Coffee is a good example here. Many times the smaller jars are a better price and it also keeps your coffee fresher for longer. Toilet paper is another item to watch - many times the 4 packs are cheaper than the 12 packs. This is another marketing ploy to get you the customer to spend more money. Learn to work out the cost of each item in multiple packs. Just divide the total package cost by the number of items. The arithmetic doesnt have to be spot on just a ball park figure will do.

Another easy tip. All supermarkets have times during the week when they mark down the prices. This will vary from shop to shop but you can get some great bargains just by shopping at a particular time. Also check the markdown prices on meat. You can get some great bargains here and as long as you are going to freeze the item there is no problem of it being past the use by date.

So to summarise:

1. Set your weekly food budget
\r 2. Always shop with a list and stick to it
\r 3. Dont impulse buy
\r 4. Dont shop daily shop once a week
\r 5. Dont shop when you are hungry
\r 6. Compare costs on bulk packs and items
\r 7. Check the price mark down time at your supermarket

Beth Black is the webmaster for Keyword Articles a resource that lists groups of keyword targeted articles.\r http://www.keyword-articles.info

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