Part 6 (1/2)
The solution is to maintain a price list A price list is just a siularly A price list helps you spot unadvertised sales It helps identify fake sales-”sale” iteular prices or only lightly discounted It eneral, sales recur roughly every 12 weeks
You can use anything froed notepad to spreadsheet printouts to a personal digital assistant (PDA) to keep the list Use whatever you're comfortable with Set up several columns: store, item, brand, price, and unit size (pounds, ounces, sheets per roll) You ht also want to note the date Four-year-old prices aren't very helpful As you expand the list, you ories, such asone-time purchases or items you seldom buy At first, just stick to items you use every week You can always expand the list from there The only way a price list works is if it's not too tiood price list asse dividends
The point is to have a benchanic Food Worth the Price?
As food prices rise, consuanic products But you can save anic means the food is produced without pesticides, cheenerally e soil and water Consuanic food for environmental reasons and because they consider it to be anic produce typically costs 25 percent to 100 percentecono their choices Here are soanic food:Don't settle for ”natural” The teranic, a terriculture Don't pay extra for so called natural or all natural
Do pay for soanic versions of soetables that retain pesticide residue, even after you wash theanic versions of peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, grapes, spinach, lettuce, and potatoes, according to the Environroup
Don't pay etables with thicker skins that have far less pesticide residue You can skip organic onions, avocados, sweet corn, pineapples, e, broccoli, and papaya
Do buy organic protein-rich foods Meats, poultry, eggs, and dairy products are worth buying as organics because they are free of pesticides, synthetic growth horanics Breads, oils, potato chips, pasta, cereals, and other packaged foods, such as canned or dried fruit and vegetables, are probably not worth buying as organics unless price is no object, Consumer Reports said Much of the health benefit has been processed out
Do buy organic baby food Baby food tends to be ht contain pesticides Or etables
Do buy local You can find organic food from local farmers' markets and local producers
Do try store brands More super private-label organics, which are cheaper than naanic products in the Sunday newspaper or go online to the free coupon database at CouponMoanic” Get coupons directly fron up for their e-anicValleycom, SCOjuicecom, ColemanNaturalcom, and Stonyfieldcom The site Healthesaverscoanic products
Do grow your own If you are the gardening type and have a back yard, grow your own vegetables and receive the side benefits of exercise and a regular hobby
For , and OrganicConsuets to the heart of the spending sroceries: Each week, don't buy what you need Instead, buy what's on sale, and stock up
This cherry-picking strategy sounds si parts
Loyalty cards In n up for a store loyalty card to qualify for sale prices Supermarkets nowadays don't typically have sales that apply to everyone Make nohabits That ive you the willies But in the end, it's doubtful that anyone will ever exa And who cares? Someone could follow you around the store-a public place-and collect the same information Anyway, a loyalty card is often the only way to qualify for sale prices, and shopping the sales is your best weapon to lowering your food spending
Sales flyers Examine the weekly sales flyers for advertised specials They often corocerydealscoital versions of many sales flyers Pay special attention to what's advertised on the front and back covers They are likely to be loss leaders,the money They hope to attract buyers into the store to purchase h-profit ite to tell you how to plan your meals, but if you can plan dinners around these loss leaders, you can save big dough
Unit prices Soes Unless your supermarket lists the unit price on the shelf, you'll have to do thea calculator or reach for your cell phone Most wireless phones have a calculator function For each item, divide the price by the number of units, such as ounces or pounds That allows you to literally coo to the supermarket every ith a list of what you ”need,” you'll be paying far more than you have to The idea is that when you ”need” soo to your own pantry or freezer and fetch the iteht on sale
QUICK TIP
Try superenerics” of a generation ago In fact, many store brands are made by the same manufacturers that make name-brand food products
Howsale ites at around 20 percent of your entire food spending for a year Considering the average Arocery food, housekeeping supplies, and personal-care ites of about 1,400 a year And that excludes other categories of supero on sale, such as over-the-counterthe exact sa they Obviously, perishables don't stockpile well Don't buy oes bad, or your savings will be lost Also, so in urban areas, have less pantry and freezer space to stockpile super system will only work on a s Tie is for quality only
Frozen foods ree 1 to 2 Casseroles 2 to 3 Egg whites or egg substitutes 12 Frozen dinners and entrees 3 to 4 Gravy, s, and lunch meats 1 to 2 Meat, uncooked roasts 4 to 12 Meat, uncooked steaks or chops 4 to 12 Meat, uncooked ground 3 to 4 Meat, cooked 2 to 3 Poultry, uncooked whole 12 Poultry, uncooked parts 9 Poultry, uncooked giblets 3 to 4 Poultry, cooked 4 Soups and stews 2 to 3 Wild game, uncooked 8 to 12 Source: USDA For o online to fsisusdagov/FactSheets/
Focus_On_Freezing/indexasp
Cherry-Picking Pays
Consuularly visit multiple supermarkets and ”cherry-pick” the best deals not only save h to offset the ti This is the conclusion of an acade professor Stephen J Hoch and Edward J Fox, aprofessor at the cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University