Showing posts with label Consumer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Consumer. Show all posts

How to Save Money on Food and Other Grocery Shopping Bills - A List and More

Latest update: January 5, 2022. Page URL indicates original publication date; meanwhile, times change and the updates continue.

Saving Money on Food Is Easier Than One Thinks - Reduce Those Shopping Bills


And a note about government food benefits during hard times. And also a math note for parents and our education system and kids.


Inflation! Inflation! Inflation!

  • Inflation is here to stay. To the extent one is able, it is definitely a good idea to start buying ahead and stockpiling non-perishable items we know we will always eventually use anyway. Paper products, cleaning products, and hygiene products are excellent examples. Pretty much all canned goods have a worthwhile shelf life of a few years; check those expiration dates. Even frozen foods can be bought up to 6 months ahead or longer; again, check the expiration dates.

Coupons and Websites

  • Yes, do use those coupons; the Sunday paper and your junk mail will give you all you need. Also drop by your main grocery store’s website and see what they have to say for themselves; more often than not, they will have additional digital coupons you can use where you simply enter your phone number at the checkout register to collect.

Generic Brands

  • Yes, do buy the generic store brands. It is common knowledge they cost less. What isn’t so well known is that more often than not they are made by the same manufacturer as the nationally labeled brands that cost up to twice as much.

Product Shelf Positioning

  • Make it a point to look at the top and bottom shelves. The middle shelves are where the high markup items are.

Unit Pricing

  • Do make it a habit to routinely check the unit pricing. No rocket surgeon degree required; the unit price is right below or beside the sale price. There will be at least one occasion every trip where it will affect your decision as to what to buy. Does your store not conveniently display the unit pricing? If so, then find another store. Also, you may be surprised to learn the larger sizes do not always represent the best unit pricing. Stores are sneaky that way, knowing that consumers automatically assume the larger size is the better deal.

Product Store Positioning and Impulse Buying

  • Never buy anything displayed at the register and checkout line. Those are what is known as spontaneous purchases and impulse items and always have the highest markup. Always bring a shopping list. It will cut down on your spontaneous impulse buying immensely. And while we are at it, never shop hungry.
  • The freshest items and those with the longest expiration dates are at the back of the shelf. This applies to produce, dairy, bottled and canned goods, and actually pretty much everything.

Don't Pay for Unneeded Labor

  • Never buy pre-made sandwiches or other items requiring extra preparation in the deli section. The prices are highway robbery and are for people who are taking their lunch break from work, etc. If the sandwich looks delicious, then just buy the same filling from that same deli instead. This assumes you are willing enough to take the contents from the container and put between two slices of bread yourself. Chicken salad and egg salad are good examples. Doing this will usually save you between $2 to $3 per sandwich. And save the containers, they can repeatedly be used for freezing and storing leftovers.

Stock Up on Non-Perishable Sale Items

  • Prices can vary by as much as 50% from week to week. Tissues are an excellent example of this. Canned goods are another excellent example. Some juices also have long expiration dates.

Check Your Receipt for Double Billing

  • It happens a lot more often than you think. It usually happens because either the cashier doesn’t like you or the scanner sensor is dirty. And checking the receipt really is easier than you think; even a long receipt takes less than a minute to quickly glance through. At minimum, at least check the higher priced items. When you find something (and you inevitably will), simply return to the same register and tell them. They will refund your money on the spot.

Never Set Your Wallet on the Counter at the Checkout

  • Sooner or later, you will inevitably forget and leave it there when you walk out of the store. It won't always still be there when you go back for it.

Fewer Trips

  • Every trip you make to the store probably costs you between $2 to $4 in gas. Try to organize to make fewer trips.


Government Food Benefits

BTW, Food Stamps aka Cal Fresh aka SNAP benefits are used by millions of Americans. If your financial situation is truly grim, it is worth investigating.

Government Websites to Get Started

https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/apply
https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap
https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligibility


And last, but not least...

Parents: Teach Your Kids About Unit Pricing and Basic Math - A True Story

I actually saw this happen several years ago.

A parent and teenager are in a store. The store is having a candy sale. There are two different-sized boxes of chocolate cream candies on display. There is the 12-oz. box for $4.95. There is the 1-lb, 2-oz. box for $12.95. There is some dialogue. Then the teenager selects the one-pound-plus box saying something to the effect that, "The larger box is the better buy."

The parent says something to the effect, “I am really worried about your math skills.”

I kid you not, I really saw this happen. And one can tell by the prices that it was indeed many years ago.

Here are what I believe their respective thought processes were:

The parent: “Hmm, $5 for 12 ounces is equal to $10 for 24 ounces. The $10 for 24 ounces is better than the $13 for 18 ounces.” Parent chooses two of the smaller boxes.

The teenager: “The larger box will have the better per-unit price.” Teenager doesn’t consider doing any calculations. Teenager chooses the larger box. The equivalent of this is probably still happening thousands of times a day nationwide. The retail stores are fully aware that our education system isn't what it used to be.

And while we are at it and on a separate note, there are also some small store owners who are equally aware of this lack-of-education fact when is comes to charging sales tax.

Grocery Store Food Discrimination - A Commentary

Grocery store and supermarket chains discriminate against single people, divorced people, senior citizens, and anyone else who happens to live alone. Unless we are buying groceries for a family, the national chain grocery stores apparently don't want to bother with us. Or if they do, it looks like they want to charge us extra for the privilege.

Having to buy four or five units of the same food item in order to get the discount sale price really does discriminate against singles, senior citizens, and other people who live alone. Only families can benefit from the use of this particular sales and marketing practice.

I’ve noticed this sales tactic is becoming more and more prevalent lately. I figured it was time to say something about it.

There really are very few people living alone who can make use of four boxes of crackers, five bottles of soda, four cans of tuna, and so forth.

And this buy-4-items and buy-5-items requirement to get various discounts is spreading to staple items. It is no longer limited to the more “frivolous” purchases.

In all fairness, it should be noted the grocery stores and supermarket chains doing this are not doing it to deliberately discriminate against singles, senior citizens, etc. They are doing this for the same reason they do all their other sales tactics; the purpose being to increase sales and maximize profits. Nothing wrong with that; that is capitalism.

The resulting discrimination against certain classes of people is simply the unintended consequence. Basically, it's called collateral damage. [Update. This discrimination commentary was written long before the pandemic situation. Due to the hoarding, plant closures, and distribution infrastructure problems; though the sales tactic is still present, it is not as prevalent these days.]

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An article from NPR: Inflation Is Surging and People Are Hopping Mad

- End of Article -

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Best Consumer Information Website List and More - Includes Dot Com Boom & Bust Era

Latest update: April 13, 2023. Page URL indicates original publication date; meanwhile, times change and the updates continue.

This is a rather unique list. In addition to the useful, current resources; there are also a lot of companies and resources from the infamous boom & bust dot com era. It is interesting what some of those companies are up to these days. I do my best to keep this page current; if a broken link does show up, please let me know via the comments section below. Also a note, if "https" is not available, it would be wise to not go there.


Resource Description - Worthy Consumer Resources
JDpower Consumer product information.
Consumers Review Consumers Review listings and reviews.
ConsumerReports Consumer product information. Free and fee based service.
BBB Better Business Bureau.
RipOffReport Consumer complaints about specific entities.
cnet Consumer tech product information.
HotDog Get rid of cable TV. Do internet video streaming. Save a fortune.
WiseBread Living large on a small budget.
SlickDeals Deals info.


Resource Description
gifts Intelligent directory of products.
LetsTalk Compare cell-phone plans.
Defunct ---
AuctionGuild Industry watchdog. Useful info.
PayPal Reputable online payment service.
CraigsList Online classified ads. Be careful here.


Resource Description - Worthy Consumer Resources
Credit Union Nat'l Association Locate a credit union near you.
DoNotCall Federal telemarketer Do-Not-Call list.
AnnualCreditReport Legit free credit reports site.
SmartMoney All sorts of useful info.
DealMine Discount aggregator and cross-reference site.
GetHuman Dealing with Corporate America by phone.
iHateDebt Dealing with debt problems. Information, free and fee.
hotels Compare hotel prices.
CreditUnionsOnline Locate a local credit union.
Life Ant Life insurance quotes.
Insurance Panda Auto insurance quotes.
BankRate Interest rates comparison.
HSH Associates Mortgage rate information, more.
Insure.com News, company fin'l info, more.
Consumer World Information.
ConsumerProAssoc Information and many links.
epinions Information and many links.
FTC Federal Trade Commission.
C.I.C. Federal Consumer Information Catalog.
FDIC Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Books/Mags Description
amazon All.
barnesandnoble All.
half All. Owned by eBay.
abebooks All.
magazinepricesearch Price comparisons.
studentbookworld New text books.
campusbooks Text books. Connects buyers/sellers, new/used, more.
collegebooksdirect Text books. Buy/sell used.
textbookrevolution.org Student run. Free educational materials.
librarything Organizational resource.

Resource Description
Junk Busters Stop telephone solicitors, junk mail, more.
Scam Busters Information.
spamlinks .net Spam track & trace.
C.A.U.C.E. Anti-spam site.
Reserved    -
N.F.I.C. The National Fraud Information Center.
ic3 Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Nolo Legal self help, more.
lawyers Legal info, more.

Resource All Things Real Estate....
Fannie Mae Foreclosed homes, much more....
Freddie Mac HomeSteps. Foreclosed homes, much more....
MoveUp Research home value.
HomeAdvisor Houses, Apts, Neighborhood research.
HomeShark Info on buying a home, more.
APBnews Crime info by zip code, more.
IRED Directory of real estate websites, more.
AllApartments All things apartment related.
SpringStreet All things apartment related.

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