The 10 Rules and Tips to Save on Shopping
Saving is the desire of any person, even more so in this period when the general economic situation is not the most optimistic and many families are forced to use their heads and calculators to reach the end of the month with serenity. One of the crucial moments is certainly the moment when you have to go to the supermarket where it is easy to get carried away and be convinced by the numerous “irrefutable” commercial proposals. So let's see some important rules on how to shop while saving.
Establish a budget in advance
Knowing the maximum limit for your shopping will allow you to pay more attention to the prices and quantities of things you put in your cart. Everything that is not essential will magically be left on the shelves and it will be easier to make a choice of the most important products.
Prepare the amount in cash
Digital currencies have eliminated the perception of the physical value of money. Using credit or debit cards does not allow you to perceive in a clear and "physical" way how much you are actually spending on shopping. There and then you think you have been paying attention and have saved on your shopping, at the end of the month the account statement will arrive and there will be nasty surprises. Having in hand the nest egg to spend, without any alternative that allows us to go beyond, is another important limit that allows us to pay much more attention. Nobody likes to go to the cashier, have no more money to spend and then be forced to leave something there, right?
Going out fewer times to do the shopping
Another curious method on how to shop to save is to simply not shop. No, I'm not crazy. It sounds trivial, but reducing the number of times you go to a supermarket is an effective way to see your shopping costs drop. Fewer trips to the supermarket means fewer temptations and fewer opportunities to spend money on products that are not always as useful as you think.
Plan the menu to save on food shopping
Much of the money we spend on shopping goes away for food. However, there are numerous recipes to save on spending, trying to throw away the bare minimum and reusing as much as possible of each dish. We had shown you all the ways to recover leftover rice with tasty and cost-effective recipes. Furthermore, knowing already what you want to cook every day before going shopping allows us to outline everything that is useful and necessary, avoiding putting products in the cart for desire. All wisely divided between meat, fish, vegetables and everything you need, without anything escaping the control of the cost of shopping.
Track offers, flyers and coupons
The television has cleared the weather to save on spending with coupons but in our part it is not so easy and usual. Coupons are not as easily found as in America and they work completely differently in our country. However, in Italy paper marketing made up of flyers is still very strong and keeping up with them allows us to always be on the piece with the relative advantageous offers. What we need to do is be sure to receive flyers from all the closest supermarkets in order to choose in a targeted and scientific way where to go to retrieve every single item of our shopping list.
Buy seasonal products
It shouldn't come as a surprise but it's always good to reiterate the concept. Buying seasonal fruit and vegetables is healthier and, above all, costs much less. Download a table of everything that is in season and use it when you find yourself deciding on the menu and making the shopping list.
Pay attention to deadlines
Running out of your food shopping stash is enormous damage that you absolutely must avoid. Buy products making sure that they do not expire shortly thereafter and always try to order them in the cupboard by always putting in front of your eyes those that expire sooner. Throwing out expired products is a double damage (and expense) that we must absolutely avoid to avoid affecting the economy of our home.
Avoid shopping with hunger
Don't laugh, it has been proven that shopping with hunger is a considerable problem. Exposing yourself to so many temptations on an empty stomach increases the chances of you giving in to some unexpected purchase and, we repeat, every unexpected purchase weighs on the final receipt. So try to plan a snack before the scheduled exit for low cost shopping.
Use the various applications sites dedicated to saving on spending
The web is full of applications and tools to help you save money by shopping. Digital flyers, apps that report offers, price aggregators: there is really anything to get help from technology not to spend money. It is just a little bit of effort to understand which of these are real aids and which ones are just trying to direct us to certain products or services.
Learn to do things yourself
Everything that is homemade costs less so it is worthwhile to roll up your sleeves and try to do things at home. Think, for example, of pasta: a half kilo packet of trofie can cost you even 4 euros when you need 1 kg of flour, half a liter of water and an egg to make it in industrial quantities (and not everyone puts it). It's all about finding the will to do it. Plus it can be a nice way to spend time with your family and children.
And you? What techniques do you use to save on your food and non-food shopping?
