When we are being smart about managing our money, and we are making intelligent decisions on how we choose to spend our money, we are being Cents-able.  A lot of people do not save for the future, they live and spend their money for that day and that day only.  It is ok to live pay check to pay check if you are not worried about your future. However, I think that the majority of us would like to save some of our money to ensure future financial stability.  As they say, we never know what the future holds.

After my housing costs, the 2^nd largest percentage of my budget is spent on food; this includes both grocery shopping as well as eating out in restaurants and takeout food.  I prefer to go and get my takeout food instead of having it delivered.  This helps me save on the extra delivery charges, as well as the extra tip for the driver.  I only order delivery food about 3 times a year; and it usually involves pizza and a really big snow storm.  I also don’t eat in restaurants a lot because I feel that the price of drinks are very overrated.  I often find myself tipping for a service that was not worth 20% of my total bill.

Here are 5 quick tips for cutting down costs while grocery shopping:

Make a List and Check it Twice.  Write a list of everything that you need to buy with the prices beside them. When you get to the grocery stick to your price point. If the item costs more then you wanted to spend, try to buy a no name brand of your product or leave it off the list for this week.

Avoid Making Impulse Purchases.  If it is not on the list then don’t buy it.  If you didn’t need it at home then you don’t need it while you are in the grocery store.  Don’t buy the gossip magazine that you are reading in line, when you get to the check out put the magazine back on the rack.

Bring Cash to Pay the Bill.  Once you have added up all of your potential purchases on your list at home only bring the amount you hope to spend in cash to the grocery store.  If we have available money, we will spend it; we can avoid this by not bringing our debit and credit cards with us while grocery shopping. 

Don’t go to the Grocery Store if You are Hungry.  This creates impulse purchases because everything looks good to eat when we are hungry.  Too often I buy an item at the grocery store because “it looks good” at the time.  In reality, it expires while it is still in my fridge.

Shop for the week or for two weeks. Buying in bulk is cheaper. This saves us time and money.

Photo By Jessica Mullen

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