Category: Reduce Spending

We will often find that when we go to the supermarket, we will end up spending a lot more money than we intend to. This can be annoying but also can mean that we do not have enough money left for the other things that we need to buy. Therefore, it can be a good idea to think about things that you could try to make sure that you are not spending more than you really need to.

Take a List

This is a well known thing but it really works. Taking a list can help you to focus on buying what you need. If you have no idea what you need, then you could end up buying things that you do not need. If they are items that will go off quickly it means that you could end up wasting food that you cannot eat quickly enough or eating more than you need. Either way you will be spending more money than you need to. You may also find that if you do not take a list you might not buy everything that you need to and this could mean that you have to return and you could end up spending even more money then.

Compare Prices

It is wise to make sure that you compare the prices on everything that you are buying. You will find that there are several different brands of many things that you buy or alternatives that you can buy. Make sure that you compare the prices of these and you will be able to check that you are not paying more than necessary for them.

Avoid Sale Areas

When we see things on sale it will tempt us to buy them. This can sound great because we will be buying things that cost less money. However, we could end up buying the sale items in addition to the items that we normally buy. We may also find that we will think something is cheap because it is on offer but then realise that it is actually still more expensive than what we normally buy. You may find, for example, that supermarket brands are still cheaper than big brands even if they are on offer. If the brands you normally buy are on offer, you will spot them when you are buying them at their normal place.

Avoid Tempting Aisles

There are certain aisles that might tempt us to spend a lot of money that we do not really need to spend. For example, avoid the alcohol, fizzy drinks, crisps, biscuits, cakes or sweets aisles and you will save a whole lot of money and avoid buying things that you do not really need anyway. You could also avoid the processed food aisles as they tend to be expensive as well. Generally, the healthier, unprocessed foods tend to be around the edges of the supermarkets and it can be best to try to focus on shopping around there and do the bulk of your shopping in these areas.

Take Your Own Bags

Although carrier bags seem pretty cheap, the cost of them can really add up. If you buy bags every time that you shop then the cost of this will really add up over a month and even more over a year. Take your own bags all of the time and you will save a lot of money. It will cost money to buy a reusable bag, but most of us have some anyway and once you have soe decent ones you will be able to use them lots of times and it will be cheaper than buying bags each time you shop.