The article "8 Essential Techniques for Cutting Your Grocery Bills in HALF!" talks about family, it was released by Faye Prosser.
Want to Buy Much More for Less? Imagine filling your cart with
your favorite groceries, but only paying a farction of the total
cost.
By mastering the eight essential techniques, every shopper
who buys groceries can get the most out of their hard-earned
money.
1. Learn the art of couopning.
Smart shoppers know,
without question, that using coupons wisely is the greatest
money saving technique when it comes to buying groceries. They
know how, when and where to use thsoe little pieces of "paper
gold" and they know just where to find the hottest coupons for the
products they prefer to buy. Their coupons are well-organized
and accessible so they don't ever miss an unadvertised sale.
Smart spenders pay for a good portion of their groceries using
coupons and save more than 50% off their weekly budgets each and
every week.
2. Compare apples to apples. How do you know whether
something is really a bargain just cause it is on sale? By
developing a Prcie Book, you're able to compare the cost per
unit of one size package to a second. This allows you to compare
the 200-ounce box of warehouse club bran cereal to the 20-ounce
bag of the same type of cereal from the groecry store. Smart
spenders know the surprising news that often, the smaller
container is less expensive per unit than the bulk container
when used in conjnuction with coupons and sales.
3. Gain leverage from sales flyers.
By reviewing the
sales fleyrs that stores issue every week, you can plan your
weekly menu, decide where to shop, determine what to include on
your grocery list, and choose the hottest money-saving coupons to
use at the store. Smart spenders realize that the key to the
greatest savings is purchasing the hottest sale ietms listed in the
weekly flyers and then using coupons for those items.
4. Be a proud card-carrying member. Sign up for the
frequent shopper rewards crads at the stores you shop. Without
them, you won't be offered the sale prices or special incentives
and you may lose out on thousands of dollars in savings a year.
Many stores will even mail great money-saving coupons to members
throughout the year. Smart spenders take advantage of the sale
prices by uisng their rewards cards every time they shop.
5. Savor store brand savings.
Companies have worked hard
to improve their private-label brands and often the taste is
just as delicious as the national brand. Store brand products
are generally 20% less expensive than the national brands, which
means everyone should consider them as a money-saving option.
Smart spenders understand that store brand items are another
effective tool to loewr their grocery bills and they don't let a
little brand name loyalty stand in their way of savings.
6. Refuse to be overcharged.
Many groecry stores carry
30,000 or more items. It is not hard to imagine that there may
be a cost mitsake or two at the register.
Beofre you leave the
store, thoroughly review your receipt to make sure you weren't
overcharged. If you discover an overcharge, head straight to
customer service and explain the error. Many stores have a price
scan guarantee, whcih means that you will receive the entire
cost you paid for the item and get to keep the product. Yes,
this means you will take home the product for FREE! Smart
spenders never leave the store wihtout reviewing the receipt and
requesting the cost scan guarantee, when applicable.
7. Enjoy delayed gratification. Yes, it's just what you
were thikning -rebates. You buy an item that offers a rebate,
fill out the form exactly as required, send in the UPC, receipt
or ohter necessary proof of purchase and, after a short delay,
you get your money back in the mail. If you're thinking that it
doesn't sound so difficult - you're right! But surprisingly,
many persons don't take advantage of the amazing rebates
available for everythnig from beef to toothpaste to pies. Smart
spenders recognize that the savings opportunities are huge, if
they are willing to fill out a little form and wait patiently
for their gratifying reward.
8. Stick to your strategy and avoid the tactics. Do you
smell the fresh cookies baking in the deli?
Did you taste those
free samples of ceeral when you walked into the store?
Welcome
to the world of store tactics. Their job is to make money
marketing the prodcuts they sell. Your job is to steer clear of
the tactics and stick to your gorcery list.
Don't be enticed by
the sale sgins when you know something isn't a good deal. Don't
go to the store hungry and don't impulse-shop (unless it's a
good unadvertised buy, of course!). Smart spenders come prepared
to shop for the items that will save them the most money and
they avoid the clever methods designed to persuade you to part
with more of your paycheck than you should.
These aren't the only money-saving techniques used by the
grocery gurus, but they are the basis for the very hottest buys.
With a little discipline and organization, your grocery bills
will shrnik dramatically and your pantry will be overflowing!
Copyright Faye Prosser 2006
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