Grocery stores are a staple of every community across the United States. It is the place we go when we need food for ourselves and our families, for paper products and toiletries, and increasingly a place for savings on gasoline purchases. Grocery stores are expertly designed to entice you into spending more than you planned on your purchases, making it difficult for many trying to stick to a grocery budget. If you have ever exited a grocery store with more in your cart than you intended to purchase when you walked into the store, you know exactly what I mean. Fortunately, there are many effective solutions for those having trouble sticking to a grocery budget.
Limit Your Cart Size
Shopping carts are placed at the entrance of every grocery store to provide a way for shoppers to carry around their purchases easily. The carts come in different sizes for different needs and the store may even have small baskets available for those coming into the grocery store for just a few items. People tend to fill up the cart that they are using, which is why there are so many more bigger carts than smaller ones. To ensure success at sticking to a grocery budget, use the smallest cart or basket you can to carry your grocery choices around the store. A smaller cart means less room for things that you did not intend to purchase.
Create A List Before Heading To The Store
Another good way to ensure success at sticking to a grocery budget is to create a list of the things you need to buy before heading out to the store. Having a list in hand will keep you focused on the things that you actually need and reduce the allure of the items being attractively advertised by the store. In my house, we have a white board in the kitchen that we use to write down the grocery items that need to be purchased. Before I head out to the store, I take a picture of the board with my smartphone and use that picture as my shopping list while I am in the store. That way, everyone gets what they want and I limit the number of extra things I purchase thinking that someone else in the home might want it.
Limit Your Purchases To What’s On Sale
Matching your grocery store purchases to the items that the store has on sale will also help with you sticking to a grocery budget. At any given time, a grocery store may have several brands in each category on sale for a discounted amount when compared to the other brands. This is very common with items like cereal, cookies, potato chips, and frozen goods. By reviewing the store’s sale flyer online before heading out to the store, you can see which items are on sale and modify your shopping list to include those particular items. By focusing on the items that are on sale, you could reduce the cost of your shopping trip by 30 percent or more.