Great Tips to Save Money on Your Weekly Shop

Young parents are often not as affluent as more established individuals and, therefore, are more likely to try to save money on their weekly shopping.

There are many ways to save money and still bring home nutritious and delicious food. Young mothers who like to save money often check online to find the best rates available. The best rates available go a long way towards saving for the future. In order to save money on the weekly grocery shop there are many things that can be done. Mothers are often surprised how much they can save simply by following a few money-saving strategies when they shop.

• Watch out for magazines and sweets by the register. These are specifically placed to create impulse buys. Being aware of the store’s manipulation tactics makes it easier to avoid these items.
• If there are items that you always buy and you know where in the store they are located, then there is no need to venture into aisles that do not have those products. Staying out of unfamiliar aisles is a good way to avoid being tempted by packaged products that are not on the grocery list.
• The products that are profitable for stores tend to be stored at eye-level. These are usually also the more expensive brand-name products. Items that are on the lower shelves tend to be cheaper and buying them can save a lot of money during the weekly shop.
• Watch out for false sales. Stores often place discount tags on products to make them more attractive to buyers. Often a look behind the sale tag reveals that the regular price is only a few cents more. There are usually similar products that are much cheaper than the discounted products.
• Another ruse that stores like to use is adding .99 cents at the end of a price. An item that is priced at $3.00 seems much more expensive than something that is priced $2.99 even though there is only 1 cent difference. This is an old psychological trick that stores like to use and can be easily spotted when looked for.
• One of the best ways to save money is to buy items in the bulk bin section. The small extra effort used in scooping dried goods into bags can have a big impact on grocery bills.
• Ready-made meals are generally the most expensive items and should be avoided. Not only are prepackaged meals expensive, they are usually very unhealthy as well. Buying goods and then cooking them at home from scratch saves money and is much healthier.
• Name-brand items are not necessarily better than no-name brands. Many no-name brands are manufactured in the same facilities as the name brands. People who buy name brands are not necessarily buying better quality products, what they are doing is paying for the brand name recognition.
• Many grocery stores send out flyers in the mail to entice shoppers into their store. Taking advantage of these deals can put a big dent in grocery bills. Using coupons and discounts at stores and switching to no-name or cheaper brands makes a big difference in expenditures.
• There are stores that are generally more expensive than other stores. They carry the same brands but their prices tend to be higher even if the products are on sale. If there is a choice between shopping at an upmarket store and a cheaper store selling the same brands, it makes sense to shop at the cheaper store.

Disclosure: This guest post was brought to you by our friends at MoneySupermarket.com