Hi,
Many people are surprised when they look at their grocery receipts for a month because they tend to be significantly higher than the amount they allocated for their food budget. There are numerous reasons for this. I will identify some of the common ones:
1) One of my favorite ploys is the "buy one get one free" enticement. In most instances, it is "buy one, get a quarter free". Stores do this by inflating the price of the item to make you think you are getting a better deal than you actually are due to their presale mark-up.
2)Another common marketing ploy is "bigger is better". In many cases the actual price is no different, or in some instances even higher by buying a large quantity of something. To find out what an item really costs, look at the per ounce cost. Sometimes people buy large quantities to take advantage of the price even if the product will not be used before going bad, and will be inconvenient to store. It's not a deal if you end up throwing it out.
3) Large discount food stores create the impression that everything they carry is the best deal in town. This is not always the case.
4) Don't use coupons unless they are for a product you use, or plan to use. Getting a good price on something won't help you if you don't need the item.
One tool which can be invaluable to people in lowering their grocery bill is to scan the weekly ads which come in the mail (these are also online). The savings from one store to another on the same item can be dramatic.
Tomorrow we'll finish this discussion by covering the rest of the stacks of bills.
Until then,
Alan
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