💰 10 Ways You Are Wasting Your Money at the Supermarket (AARP Article)

[Winter2024]

FROM THE ARTICLE - SEE ARTICLE FOR MORE!!!

For starters, stop buying precut fruit and bottled water. 

By Donna Fuscaldo, AARP. Published September 03, 2024.

Inflation isn’t the only thing pushing up the grocery bills of households across the country. A lack of awareness of the spending traps is costing them too.

The supermarket is where you go for the ingredients to prepare an affordable meal. But it’s also a place where you can overspend if you aren’t careful. That’s particularly true if you’re squarely focused on saving time and effort. “When it comes to groceries, convenience costs,” says Brian Vines, deputy editor of special projects at Consumer Reports. “You can expect to pay a premium when supermarkets help you cut corners in the kitchen.

https://www.aarp.org/money/budgeting-saving/info-2024/supermarket-spending-traps.html

[EricC28201]

Thanks for the article Nicole @Winter2024 .

Couple comments:

Combining numbers 4, 6, 7 & 10 start your trip on the internet. Check your grocery stores' web sites for prices. Once the habit is formed, the sites are added to Favorites and you are accustomed to the Search functions it only takes 10 or 15 minutes. It's kinda like 'Pre-Browsing' not only are you less likely to forget to put something on your list, you're less likely to impulse buy. You can also note which store has the best price on which item.
Full disclosure: In my little home town, all three grocery stores are on corners of the same intersection which, I think, lends to the practicality of this habit and following suggestion #6.

As far as suggestion #8 goes, it's a judgement call based on one's own comfort level...keep in mind that store 'Loyalty Programs' are collectors of personal data that is then used for targeted marketing and possibly sold for profit. Even reputable companies sometimes get greedy...Avast anti virus (Highly rated despite being owned by Norton) recently received a major smack-down from the FTC for its collection and sale of customer's personal data.

[EricC28201]

A couple more comments: Since we live in a society with a free market economy following the writer's mantra of, “Let the deals lead your shopping outings,” is a form of community service by fulfilling a civic duty to keep retailers from over pricing just because they can get away with it and it will pad their profit margin. No matter what their commercials say their first two priorities are paying themselves and their stockholders.

Customer loyalty programs are an attempt to get people to forego their most substantial means of influence.

[Winter2024]

@EricC28201 , luv my privacy and TRY to avoid signing up for anything these days. In the old days, IF a discount was tied to a card, you got one in store. NO invasion of privacy. Lol, and those "generic" ONLINE questions about age, income and so on. Nope!!! Nicole 👵

---

[*** ERIC wrote: A couple more comments: Since we live in a society with a free market economy following the writer's mantra of, “Let the deals lead your shopping outings,” is a form of community service by fulfilling a civic duty to keep retailers from over pricing just because they can get away with it and it will pad their profit margin. No matter what their commercials say their first two priorities are paying themselves and their stockholders.

Customer loyalty programs are an attempt to get people to forego their most substantial means of influence. ***]

---

[Winter2024]

Yes Eric @EricC28201 , your tip about checking the internet is wisdom. Lol, I finally started to check Kroger's this month due to finding out I now have pre-diabetes. My old reliable Walmart is NO longer a good source for my Mediterrean Diet my Medicare doctor suggested. Kroger is EXPENSIVE, but do have "buy one, get one free" and "digital coupons"... Thanks for stopping by, Nicole  👵

[*** ERIC wrote: Thanks for the article.

Couple comments:

Combining numbers 4, 6, 7 & 10 start your trip on the internet. Check your grocery stores' web sites for prices. Once the habit is formed, the sites are added to Favorites and you are accustomed to the Search functions it only takes 10 or 15 minutes. It's kinda like 'Pre-Browsing' not only are you less likely to forget to put something on your list, you're less likely to impulse buy. You can also note which store has the best price on which item.
Full disclosure: In my little home town, all three grocery stores are on corners of the same intersection which, I think, lends to the practicality of this habit and following suggestion #6.

As far as suggestion #8 goes, it's a judgement call based on one's own comfort level...keep in mind that store 'Loyalty Programs' are collectors of personal data that is then used for targeted marketing and possibly sold for profit. Even reputable companies sometimes get greedy...Avast anti virus (Highly rated despite being owned by Norton) recently received a major smack-down from the FTC for its collection and sale of customer's personal data. ***]

[EricC28201]

BTW: The 10 or 15 minutes invested in checking the internet before going to the store will, most likely, be easily offset by the time saved NOT browsing in the store...it's not ALL about the money.