Saving Money on Food & Drink

Title: Saving Money on Food & Drink

Have you ever just about died of a heart attack at the
checkstand of your local grocery store? It seems like the
price of food and beverages keeps escalating, with no end in
sight. Higher transportation costs (especially fuel) are
only one of the many factors have significantly impacted the
price of goods at your local store. This article will
discuss some of the ways you can cut back your expenses on
purchased food and water.

Food Purchased at Markets

You can save hundreds of dollars a year by shopping at the
lower-priced food stores. Higher-end grocery stores may have
a nicer, brighter, more spacious shopping area, but you are
paying for that in the form of higher prices. Some grocery
chains offer a “preferred” customer card, supposedly to give
you the best price over the “non-preferred, non-cardholding”
customers. You would probably be unwise to shop at these
stores without such a card (although it may be necessary
when traveling, etc.), but you would be even more wise to
look elsewhere. Sometimes that “preferred” customer price is
higher than the regular price at the store just down the
street. Resist that urge to shop at the convenience store on
your way home; you pay for that convenience in the form of
often significantly higher prices.

Shop with a list! This little bit of planning can also save
you hundreds of dollars annually. How many times have you
gone to the store just for milk (that you forgot to buy
earlier in the week when you were there) and come home with
$30 or more worth of groceries? Grocery stores are purposely
designed to keep you in the store as long as possible; for
example, on your way to the back of the store to get milk
(even this is on purpose), you pass by hundreds of products
and colorful displays, not to mention delicious smells
enticing you in their direction. And, oh what luck! There is
a cookie display right next to the milk. Even the music over
the loudspeaker has been specifically chosen based on market
analysis of what age brackets of shoppers shop at what times
of the day (and thus what kind of music they like). Make out
a list and stick to it!

As with all other things, comparison shop. You can save
hundreds of dollars a year by comparing price-per-ounce or
other unit prices on shelf labels. Stock up on those items
with low per-unit costs. Store brands are often just as good
or better than national brands, at sometimes almost half the
cost! Try some; you probably will be pleasantly surprised.

Water

When you go out to eat, don’t buy a drink. Ask for water
instead. You probably won’t notice the difference (if the
food is good enough) and you will be drinking a healthy
alternative to soda or alcohol.

Keep a water bottle near you at all times. When you start
feeling hungry or thirsty drink some water instead of
heading for the vending machine or that stash of candy bars
in your desk. Many times we feel hungry when we are instead
thirsty. Satisfy the thirst first! You will save money and
improve your health.

If you prefer drinking bottled water, look into purchasing a
water purifier or purification system. Over the long run it
may be much cheaper than purchasing bottled water. In
addition, a good filtration system could improve your
health, considering all the microbes and chemicals found in
the water coming out of the tap!

Saving money on food and water doesn’t require that you go
on a starvation diet. It just requires a little up-front
planning. You know the saying: If you fail to plan, you plan
to fail. Make planning a habit and watch the savings rack
up.

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© Simple Joe, Inc. Article by: Chemain Evans
Chemain Evans is a quality control
specialist for Simple Joe, Inc., makers of the popular
Simple Joe’s Expense Tracker PC software. Expense Tracker is
a quick and simple way to keep track of your expenses and
stay within your budget.

Expense Tracker is ideal for tracking personal, business, home and club expenses..