Saving money at a grocery store is easy, if you don’t mind a little preparation and some forethought. One easy way is to make sure you only buy food you can use. A lot of people (myself included!) have fallen into the trap of thinking that just because something is cheaper means that it will be the better deal.
One of the most common mistakes I made while grocery shopping in college was continuing the buying habits my family had before I left. We bought everything we could in bulk, and for my 5-person family with plenty of storage space, that made sense! Even infrequently-used items like canned tuna could be bought in 10 packs; they’re good for a year or more and it takes two or three cans to make enough for five people.
However, living in the dorm room and later a tiny apartment quickly made me realize that just because what I was buying cost less per unit (be it ounce, gallon, or pound) it was a better buy for me to make. This applies to anything you can buy at the supermarket – groceries, toiletries, everything.
Because I was only feeding and supplying one or two people on my budget, a lot of what I started to buy started to go bad before I could use it, or took up so much room that it made life impractical. Yes, I could save a few cents per roll buying toilet paper in 48-packs, having to find somewhere to store that much paper was immediately impractical (it turns out that with a piece of stiff cardboard and a tablecloth you can improvise a nice coffee table!). This simple lesson was one of the most important changes I made during those years: buy what you need, not what is cheapest.
If you can’t use it before it goes bad, you are wasting money. Yes, the big box of mixed greens costs a few cents less than the smaller one, but unless you eat a lot of salad, you aren’t going to use it all up before it gets slimy. I still have about 3 ½ pounds of pasta in my cupboard that I bought nearly two years ago because the 12-pack of 1 lb boxes was on sale. My housemate and I recently threw out three containers of yogurt that had gone past expiration because we bought them on sale in multiples of 10.
Yes, it is still an easy trap to fall into. Items you see for sale in large quantities seem tempting, especially if you are on a budget. You’ll rationalize, just like I did and still sometimes do, that since you bought it, you’ll use it up. Don’t fall into this trap! Hundreds of dollars in food expenses can go to waste for just this reason.
So take a look at what you are buying – are you going to use it all? Will it clutter up your space so much that the savings aren’t worth it? If so, even if it is a little cheaper, get the smaller size. You will save yourself hassle and money in the long run!
Tags: Budgeting, bulk, food, grocery store, money, savings, waste
