I thought it would be fun to do a series on how to be a successful grocery shopper. Some weeks are always easier than others in terms of planning, shopping, and buying. And I struggle along with everyone else some weeks. But, I think that if your armed with tips and tools to help you along, the process is much easier and even sometimes, fun! Yes, I said, “Fun.” I do, have fun making out the grocery/menu list. And I want you to have fun too :)
I’ll post one tip, tool, or trick a week…( except for next week, because we’ll be on vacation) that you can use in your quest to become a better, smarter, and frugal shopper.
#1 in Tips of the Trade- Invest in your Sunday Paper. Here in Oregon, we have The Oregonian, newspaper. We buy it every Saturday (for the Sunday edition) because the Sunday paper is the one with all the fun ad’s and coupons.
Unless you read the paper on a daily or weekly basis, there is no need to pay for a subscription. We’ve done that and the paper just stacks up so fast and we were just throwing it away along with the money we spent on the subscription. So just make a habit of every weekend going to your store and picking up a paper. You won’t be sorry you did.
When you pick up your paper…as a rule of thumb…never grab off the top. When busy moms and dad’s are in a grocery store they will flip through the paper on top sometimes just to find the ad’s they need…leaving the buyer (you) of the paper…without some of those coveted ad’s. This is a tip I learned from my mom and I’ve stuck to it. So just grab your paper from somewhere in the middle and try to grab the thickest :)
Pretty Easy right? Just grab your Sunday paper :)
If any of you have suggestions or tools/tips that help you, feel free to email your ideas to me. I would be happy to feature your tip in the series :)