Stupid "save money at the grocery store" articles

**YankeeMom** · 07-25-2008, 04:43 PM

Can you pick out the

tips in this article?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/perso...ill/index.html

(crossing my fingers that this works...I've been trying to start a new thread for two days)

**Sonnenwende** · 07-25-2008, 04:51 PM

3. Scooping up 10 for $10

"Wow," we think, "4 soda packs for $10? That's a steal!" It is, but does any one household really need 48 cans of soda? Not unless you're helping host a block party that week. But, unless is the ad specifies a minimum purchase, you can usually buy as little as you need while still taking advantage of the discount.

Um, we go through around 60-72 cans a month. For 2 people. Another vice. In my defence, the water out of the tap here is disgusting to drink. Tastes like algae or bleach 90% of the time. It's all built into the food budget.

**elphie** · 07-25-2008, 05:35 PM

yeah, I'd say buy as much of the soda as you can and then use it as you need it instead of buying it again next week at a higher price. We generally don't drink soda because water, tea, and juice are cheaper. But, dh takes soda in his lunch, and since he brown bags lunch meat every day I'm not gonna deprive him of his daily Mountain Dew fix... so when it's on sale, I stock up, when it runs out if there is no sale he is stuck with store brands until the next sale comes along which is usually soon.

I also think the list item is bogus. I have a list, I stick to my list. I don't plan my list around my menu, I plan my menu around my list based on what's on sale and what I still have stocked in my pantry from my monthly "big shop" at Aldi's.

All in all though I thought this was not a bad article, no new information in it for me but it wasn't the worst I've seen.

**Persimmon Lace** · 07-25-2008, 06:08 PM

At least people are taking an interest in saving money at the grocery store!

**YankeeMom** · 07-25-2008, 06:14 PM

Originally Posted by Persimmon Lace

At least people are taking an interest in saving money at the grocery store!

Yeah, well they're not going to save money if they follow these tips...I mean really? Shop without a list? Don't stock up just because it's on sale?

**freyadog** · 07-25-2008, 08:11 PM

Not use a list

not buy on sale

**MisaLady** · 07-25-2008, 09:04 PM

Originally Posted by freyadog

Not use a list

The idea is not to chuck the list completely, but to chuck the idea of the shopping list as wish list. Plan lists around menus, keeping the store circular handy so that you can take advantage of specials.

I actually BARELY use a list. This is because I know how to cook a TON of things and we use a lot of "markdown" items that I couldn't possibly plan for. The meat-markdown bin is my friend. I got 2 packs of 8 yogurts for $3 buying markdown. If ham is markdown, suddenly the plans change - we're going to have bean soup or potato soup - and, even better, I'll probably make it on Monday and have it all week for lunch. I also hit up the baked goods markdown section. In stores that have them (my usual doesn't, but a different one I use sometimes does), I also hit up the dented can bin. I can't PLAN for these things and if I plan more than a loose idea, then it's very stressful for me at the store. Like the article says, I don't completely toss out the list - I usually don't have ingredients, but a small list of "this is a set of meals that we could potentially have this week if I don't find better deals" (unless I'm trying something new - and even then, sometimes, I don't).

**beks37** · 07-25-2008, 09:38 PM

Spend less time at the store? What so you can pick up quickly the items that you think are cheapest instead of taking the time to price compare?

I have seen some worse articles too. I just recently got an e-mail with tips to save $500 a year. One of the tips was to get a smaller pet or no pet. What? Am I supposed to get rid of my dogs.

**dcompton** · 07-25-2008, 10:54 PM

It's sad, but I imagine there are probably some folks for whom this might be a revelation. Unit price. Don't buy more than you can use up just because it's on sale. But for the hard core frugal folks who have grocery shopping down to a science, a lot of this is dumb. I especially agree with beks37 about not being in a store long. Shopping carefully takes time. But if you're just cruising up and down the cookie aisle, you probably need to call it a day and go home.

**krissyre** · 07-25-2008, 11:18 PM

Proponents of list-making says that it helps them remember what they need and avoid impulse purchases, but Robyn Moreno, the consumer editor at Women's Day, says that shoppers with lists spend over 41 percent more than those who shop list-free.

Are they counting the return-trips that the non-listmakers have to make, because they've forgotten half the things they need?

Or they take out meals they might have to buy, if they don't have their meals planned?

**amanjud** · 07-26-2008, 07:33 AM

This article must have been written by the grocery store chains to get people to spend more!

Shopping without a list is just crazy for me, especially when I have all 4 kids with me, I can't think straight.

**Persimmon Lace** · 07-26-2008, 08:15 AM

I shop without a list, I only shop the sales and have a stockpile. Because I know by heart what is needed I don't need a list. I don't over buy and feed all of us, pets included for less than 150.00 a month. That's for 2 people, at this time, 2 dogs and 2 cats. If I run into marked down meat, I buy it and I check the clearance cart as well. Being flexible and shopping the sales saves me more money than shopping without a list. If we do make a mid week trip it's usually for milk as we don't keep more than a 1/2 gallon around the house.

**mhope** · 07-26-2008, 09:21 AM

I don't shop with list. I found years ago I do better without a list. I know when price is good and when its not.

**pip** · 07-26-2008, 09:37 AM

There seems to be more of these kind of articles these days, probably because the price of groceries, etc. is personally affecting more people and their wallets. The advice given might sound stupid to many of us who already know how to shop frugally but, maybe for the average person who has no clue, there is probably some messages that could help someone who has not really thought about how they could save on spending at the grocery store. It does make me roll my eyes though, like duh, when I see the obvious!

**YankeeMom** · 07-26-2008, 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by mhope

I don't shop with list. I found years ago I do better without a list. I know when price is good and when its not.

Originally Posted by Persimmon Lace

I shop without a list, I only shop the sales and have a stockpile. Because I know by heart what is needed I don't need a list. I don't over buy and feed all of us, pets included for less than 150.00 a month. That's for 2 people, at this time, 2 dogs and 2 cats. If I run into marked down meat, I buy it and I check the clearance cart as well. Being flexible and shopping the sales saves me more money than shopping without a list. If we do make a mid week trip it's usually for milk as we don't keep more than a 1/2 gallon around the house.

Yes, but we're talking about the average every day joe for whom saving money at the grocery store is a foreign concept. To advise people who are new to trying to cut their spending at the grocery store to shop without a list is just bad advice IMO.