Info about Groceries
Grocery Shopping Tips When to Shop
Grocery Shopping Tips - When to Shop
When humans were hunter-gatherers, they would go shopping for their food with their spear in their hand when they felt hungry. Sometimes, they ran into food sources they could not handle and came off worse. Now we have got superstores and we can still come off worse if we go shopping when we are hungry. It is the golden rule: never shop for food if your stomach is rumbling! If you go shopping when you are hungry, you will spend at least 10 per cent more on your groceries.
Times to Shop
Choosing the right time to shop is obviously down to personal preference and circumstances, but here are some golden rules:
- Vulnerable times: Try not to shop after work or on pay day or just before a public holiday.
- In advance of need: Shop before you run out and not when you desperately need something, otherwise you will end up paying a premium price for convenience.
- Buy in season: Learn the sales cycle and buy items when they are cheap and plentiful and not when they are out of season.
- Buy local: Go for home grown and not imported products. This means knowing when fresh produce is in season.
- Monthly staples: Do a monthly bulk shopping trip for staples like canned tomatoes, flour, sugar and coffee.
- Frequent trips for near-perishing items: Make frequent trips to the store if you are aiming to use products that are close to their 'sell-by' or 'use-by' dates, but do not make impulse buys while you are there.
Suit Yourself - Shop Solo
A partner or friend can be useful for trolley steering and for loading bags, but they can also cloud your judgement Now you have your master shopping list and you are focused on what you need rather than what you want, shopping on your own can stop you making those impulse buys. With many stores open 24 hours a day to catch shift workers and those who work unsociable hours, pick a time to suit you. Evenings are a good time to pick up reduced groceries, particularly perishable items. Research has shown that weekday mornings are the quietest for food shopping. A less busy store means you will forget less, with the added bonus of getting less irritated.
Give Yourself Time
You might think that if you have plenty of time to walk around and browse the store that you will end up buying more. This is not true if you are disciplined. If you are not rushed, you won't forget things, you won't snatch up things that you do not need and, above all, you won't miss the best deals. You will have a chance to check the price per ounce or per gram and compare like for like. This will help you find the best value for money. You can compare brands and you can also compare different types of food and consider substitutes. When something is on sale, buy lots of it. Look out for those regular purchases that are marked down temporarily and stock up. You will then have enough until the price is marked down again in a few weeks' time.