Super Shopper - Lesson #3
LESSON 3 of 4
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Making Your Shopping Trip Meaningful
Compliments of Judy Brown,
Organized Forever http://www.organizedforever.com
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Lesson 3: Making Your Shopping Trip Meaningful
Have you made up a shopping list? Did you start
keeping a record of items that are running low?
Don't worry if at first this seems like a lot of
work, the more you get in the habit of doing this:
planning your menus and making a shopping list,
the easier you will find it to do.
Pretty soon it will become an ingrained habit.
Did you try the shopping software from lesson #2?
I hope so, again, this too requires a bit of
effort on your part. (Being thrify can be time
consuming.)Give it a try and learn how to use it,
people find it to be extremely handy once they get
it all set up. Let me know what you think so I can
post your comments on the Organized Forever
website. :)
http://organizedforever.com/shoppinglists.html
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LAST MINUTE CHECK
The day before shopping, try to use up the
leftovers in the fridge. Make some soup or freeze
things for future stews and soups. Wipe down the
fridge shelves and have it ready for your new
groceries. Make sure there is room in the cupboard
for the groceries you will be bringing home.
Need some inspiration for those menus? Try this good book,
http://www.organizedforever.com/recipes/recipesecrets.html
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When I was raising a large family (my own 5 kids
and various foster children)I made shopping day an
outing for me and one child. Each child got to
come with me to the grocery store and then we
would get a little treat or have lunch out before
we came home.
It was nice to have this one-on-one time with each
child, to make each one feel special, because in a
big family sometimes it is hard to give each child
the attention they need and deserve.
All the kids would help me get the shopping lists
ready, help me pick bargains from the flyers and
run to check the cupboards to see how many
potatoes where left etc. I think because they were
encouraged to do this and I did listen to their
suggestions re menu planning, that they learned a
lot from doing this about prices, quality, etc.
The boys today are good shoppers and love a
bargain too. :)
Try to go shopping after a meal, you and the kids
(if they go) won't be as tempted to buy impulsivly
if you are full. It will be easier to pass up the
sweets and junk food.
Stores are open at all hours now, the best times
to go are in the early morning hours or late
evening hours when they aren't as busy. It used to
be that if you shopped at a store the last day
before a long weekend or the Sunday of a long
weekend, you could expect to pick up some great
meat and vegetable buys. Any perishable goods were
always marked down at that time.
Get to know the people who work in the store, and
the managers and owners, if you can. Don't be
afraid to ask them what specials are coming up and
if there is a good time to shop when they have
meats and milk etc marked down. You might find
that they mark these things down every day or
every other day.
Look also for the distress basket. Most stores
have baskets or shelves with the marked down meat
or fruits and vegies, milk products etc. These
won't be in flyers but are just instore specials.
Ask when they usually mark these things down. Be
careful with the bread and milk products. If the
bread is prepackaged it is usually fine, but if it
is instore bakery bread, it won't have the
chemicals in it to make it last longer and it will
go mouldy quickly.
Breads and buns or other baked goods can be frozen
even if they are day old, so if there is a special
on it, grab a bunch for the freezer. You might
also look at the bakery in your area as they often
have day old bread on sale each morning or
evening. If you don't see any, ask them when is
the best time to come for the marked down
products.
Decide whether you are going to make your shopping
trip alone and turn it into an outing for yourself
as a little escape from the kids and husband,
perhaps in the evening. Or, will you shop with one
of the kids along to give you and him or her a
one-on-one excursion?
Another option is to exchange babysitting with
another mum in your circle. That way you can
babysit for her when she goes shopping.
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ALMOST READY TO GO! :)
Okay, I live in a rural area so I have to drive a
bit before I get to the grocery store. I always
try to group my outings. What I mean by that is -
that I will visit the library to take library
books back and pick up new ones. (You can also
borrow audio books on tape and CD as well as
videos from the library and it won't cost
anything.) If I need to go to the drug store or
maybe the dry cleaners I get everything together,
so I can do all my errands on my shopping day.
I always find that once I go out for something,
the whole day is shot. :( Likely it isn't, but I am
a bit of a homebody.) so by doing all my errands
the same day I go shopping, I feel like it is
making better use of my time and of the money it
takes for gas.
I keep a picnic cooler in the trunk so I can put
frozen foods in it on the trip home. This is
especially good if you are going to be shopping on
a hot day or when you may take longer than you
thought you would. If you do errands, it is best
to do them first and then get the groceries just
before your return trip if you live a distance
from the store.
If you go to the stores that don't provide bags,
don't forget to take your bags and boxes with you.
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Don't forget to take along your bottles and cans
if you are able to redeem them. Where I live they
even take back juice cartons. Or,perhaps you have
a bottle depot or recycling center, find out when
they are open and what types of containers they
take back. If you get a refund, put that bit of
money aside in a little savings bank.
I call bottle return money, little lottery wins or
money that falls on the floor, or out of pockets in
the laundry room my 'found money' and I save it up
until I have enough to roll up and deposit in the
bank. You can do this with coupon refunds too, if
you do the coupon thing. Have the cashier total
your groceries for the total amount WITHOUT the
coupon discount and ask her/him to give you the
amount of the discount in change. Then put it in
your 'found' money bank.
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AT THE STORE
Whoo hoo, we're at the store now. If you have one
or more of the kids with you, before you enter the
store, remind them that this is a 'business
outing'; you are there to shop for the items on
your list. You will expect them to help you. Older
children can be in charge of the calculator. (Yes,
it is handy for price comparisons.) So, for
instance, you are in front of the canned foods and
your list calls for 2 cans of peas, if you've seen
that in the flyer when you planned your list the
price in the flyer might have seemed like a good
buy.
Now you are in the store and you see another can
of peas that is slightly larger for only a few
cents more or if you buy 5 cans the price is 5 for
$3.99. Now which one is going to be a good buy?
Get that calculator going. Divide the number of
ounces or grams into the total amount of the $3.99,
how much is it an ounce? Do the same for the other
can, and see how much it costs per ounce.
Whichever is cheaper is the better buy.
Watch these sales, sometimes the item is actually
priced higher than it usually is. Just because
they have it priced at so many for a round number,
don't assume that is the better buy. You'll get
better at looking at things and estimating in your
head once you've done this with the calculator
awhile. Again, this is a good job for the kids to
do as you shop together. Ask them which is the
best buy.
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Everyone has their own way of moving through the
store, I always start in the inside aisles and
leave the bread, meat and vegetables (on the
outside of the aisles)to last. As you are putting
things in the cart, try to keep the like-items
together. All the canned goods together, all the
meats together, etc. it makes it much easier for
the cashier to process and pack if your things are
bunched in like groups.
Try to watch the prices as the cashier rings in
your order. Even with the computer cash registers
now, there are sometimes specials that don't go
through at the sale price. If you are in doubt
about something, don't be afraid to nicely ask
about it, to confirm that you are actually paying
the sale price, and not the regular price.
Make sure the groceries are being packed properly,
usually the staff does a good job but sometimes a
packer will put eggs into a bag with canned goods
and that is not a good idea. Again, you are paying
for these groceries and you want them packed
properly. If you notice something is not right,
nicely ask that it be done the way you want it.
(You might want your butter double wrapped for
instance.)
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What if you work full time? How do you manage to
grocery shop without stopping by daily to grab
something?
Plan your meals and make your shopping lists. Some
people who get an hour for lunch like to go
shopping on the lunch hour, but then the groceries
have to sit in the car all day.
I don't know about you, but the last thing I felt
like doing after working all day was going grocery
shopping. With a list, it does make it much
easier, you don't have too many decisions to make,
you've already made them with your list. Even if
you are a bit tired, it shouldn't take you long to
pop in and get the groceries.
Or, you could delegate it to your older children
or your husband. Give them the list and let them
do the shopping. (This never worked for me, my
husband was too much of an impulse shopper and the
kids were too young to drive.)
As long as you have your list and your cupboards
are ready for the groceries, it won't take long to
finish the shopping and the unpacking at home.
Then you can relax knowing you've done a good job
and the cupboards are full again. :)
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Take your cooler or the bags with the vegetables
and milk products and unpack the fridge items
right into the fridge. Have the kids carry the
bathroom items into the bathroom right away and
put those away.
Save the grocery bags for waste basket liners or
other uses around the house. If you have boxes or
bags to take shopping next time go out now and put
them into the trunk so they'll be ready for the
next shopping day.
Go over your receipts so you can see if everything
is okay. If not, make sure you circle the
questionable item so you can call the store about
it and then call them if something is wrong.
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Once the groceries are put away sit down and
relax, have a coffee or tea and pat yourself on
the back for a job well done.
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Over the next week, keep on top of the cupboards
and the fridge by wiping down shelves as needed.
If something spills, wipe it up right away so it
doesn't get hardened on which makes it more of a
job to clean later.
Keep track of supplies and add items to your list,
start planning your meals for the next week.
I've given you two exercises to do this week:
1/ Take out your shopping journal and note down
any new ideas or things you want to remember for
your next shopping trip.
2/ Do you have any shopping tips that help you
save time or money? Send them in to me and I'll
post them on the website along with your web link
if you have one.
STILL TO COME: Lesson 4: More Shopping Tips and
Tricks
Your final lesson will arrive in a week, when I'll
share more time and money saving tips for you
along with some food and menu planning tips! :)
Cheers! Judy
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Here's a good little software program that will help you set up
a workable budget and it's easy to use.
http://www.organizedforever.com/budgetplanner.html
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