Being a smart grocery shopper involves more than just clipping coupons. Like everything else in life, grocery shopping requires a little planning before setting foot inside a store. Rather than always shopping at the same store, you can save money, as much as 20% on your monthly bill by buying your groceries at two or more stores. This is called shopping the sales.

Crisis Shopping
Probably the most important tip is to never “crisis shop” for food. This means don’t go to the grocery store hungry and don’t shop after work for the day’s dinner. Crisis shop mindset can adds hundreds to your yearly grocery bill. Planning out your meals before you shop will dramatically reduce the cost of food

Avoid Pre Packaged Food
Don’t waste money on prepared foods. Get in the habit of preparing meals in advance. For instance double up on a recipe, serve the first portion, freeze the rest for another meal on another day. Cooking may seem like a lot of work, but actually it’s fun and much more nutritious in the long run for you and your family.

Pay Attention to Packaging
Look at all packages. Just because you’ve purchased the same cereal for the past few years doesn’t mean it’s the same cereal. Manufacturers, lately have been using the same box, but shrinking it and putting in less product. You pay the same amount of money as before, but for less product. Check the label for details of the shrinking food content and adjust accordingly. You may find that the store brand cereal is the same stuff, just packaged differently. It’s a good bet that it’s also cheaper by a ton.

Farmer’s Market Produce
Shop your local farmer’s market for seasonal produce. It’s fresher, cheaper and tastes better while being good for you.

Reach!
An old marketing trick-the highest mark up items are chest high in the supermarket. The less expensive food is either on the top shelf or the bottom shelf, where people seldom bother to look. So look up and reach for the guaranteed better deals above your head or at your feet. You will be happy you did.

At Peace and Settled
Make sure you’re at peace, calm and rested while grocery shopping. People who are tired and restless tend to buy more sweets because the carb cravings kick in. If a person is angry, then they tend to buy more crunchy stuff like chips and pretzels or Dorito’s chips. The last thing you need in your basket is junk food at the end of a long day. If you don’t bring it home, you won’t eat it. And you will end up spending the money you saved by being diligent in the other food aisles.

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