THANKSGIVING PREP TIP: GROCERY SHOPPING
Are you ready to go to the grocery store with your carefully made list? Here are some tips for you.
TIP#1 Shop at low-convenience grocery stores to save money.
Grocery stores use the perimeter of the store to suck you in so that you'll buy what is on the middle aisles. The flower department, the ice cream machine, the deli, the bakery, the pre-cut veggies are all used to get you to walk into the store to buy the highly processed, preservative-laden (my words not his) non-perishable (his words not mine) products because that is how they make their money.
While they do make money off the perimeter offerings, all of that requires expensive man hours. He pointed to the beautiful array of spiral-cut zucchini, cubed watermelon, and diced onions and said, "I'm paying 4 people $15/hour to make those. He then pointed to the cans behind us, this is way cheaper to offer."
So why is Harmons' can of green beans more than Maceys'? Because Harmons has to pay way more employees around the perimeter than Maceys.
So my first tip is, if you are mainly purchasing dry goods on the shelf, choose a store that doesn't have expensive offerings around the perimeter. They mark up their dry goods to absorb some of the labor cost.
TIP #2 - Don't chase sales.
-Don't step over a dollar to save a dime. Different grocery stores will offer different perimeter specials to get you inside. Just pick one store and do all your shopping there, even if the cranberries might be 20 cents cheaper somewhere else. It's Thanksgiving, baby! This is the Super Bowl of putting dinner on the table. We need to keep our head in the game and not let ourselves get distracted by all those grocery ads. You don't want to spend 45 cents in gas to save 25 cents on sour cream.
TIP #3 - Free turkeys aren't always worth it.
-Read the fine print on the turkey offers. This is another tactic stores use to get you to buy the non-perishables. It seems that most of them are something like, "Free turkey with $75 purchase." But usually only one type of turkey is offered. It's usually the cheaper brand that is pumped full of sugar and salt solutions to make its weight seem more than it actually is. Figure out which turkey you want first (I like Norbest Naturals) and then see if there is a reasonable offer attached to it. And if you are buying your turkey on Monday, buy a small frozen one or get a fresh one. Time is clicking, honey!
TIP #4 Shop alone.
-Try to shop alone if you can. I know you will find this hard to believe (I could barely believe it myself) but when I lived in both Arizona and Salt Lake City, I had a neighbor who had 5 children whose ages matched my own 5 children born in 6 1/2 years. That's right there are at least 3 women in the world who gave birth to a daycare center.
Every week I traded about 2 to 3 hours of babysitting with these moms. We usually spent our mornings off grocery shopping. If you can find someone to watch your littles while you grocery shop, do it. Remember, this is the Super Bowl!
TIP #5 - If you can't shop alone, give them money.
-If you do have to shop with littles, give them their own money. Stores are set up to get your children to beg you to buy them stuff. As a young mom, I figured out how to beat the grocery stores at their own game. I turned the purchase power over to my children. It's amazing how frugal your kids will become when they get to keep what they don't spend on candy bars.
FYI, this strategy also has worked for prom dresses and weddings. I tell my child how much I'm willing to spend on a wedding or a prom dress and that they can keep the difference. They will go from wanting the most expensive prom dress to looking on the clearance racks. And the money they are pocketing? That's just money I would have eventually have had to give them later anyway.
TIP #6 - Consider curbside service.
-Consider SKIP, or curbside service. Personally, I'm a huge SKIP fan. It's an app that turns my phone into a barcode scanner so that I can bag my own groceries and walk out the door skipping the lines. Sometimes I just have to flash my phone at a cashier to prove I bought them, and occasionally I'm spot checked and they scan four random items. It's totally free.
Update: Macey's no longer supports Skip. I haven't found any stores that do.
Curbside service usually has a charge of about $5 or so. If you are mainly purchasing nonperishables this is a great way to save on time and avoid impulse purchases. But after living in NYC, I've learned that I don't like someone else picking out my perishables for me.
Okay friends, get on your comfy shoes, pull out your list, and let's hit the stores.
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