Welcome back!
Following my weekly grocery shopping yesterday, I realized how much money I was saving by limiting my visits to once a week. A year ago we were in the habit of stopping at the store every time we drove through our small town.
“Do you need anything?”
“Well, we could get….”
Sounds like a typical conversation as we then wandered through the store filling our arms with items we had no intention of buying in the first place. In fact, we didn’t bother with a shopping cart because we really didn’t need that much.
No wonder Dad and I were both gaining unnecessary weight!
How many times have you stopped at the store to pick up a carton of milk only to walk out with a grocery bag full of items? Thankfully, we no longer fall prey to that emotional shopping habit.
Here are a few tips that might help you shop less, spend less, and weigh less:
- Keep a grocery list. Our grocery list lies on the windowsill beside my side of the kitchen table. Whenever we find we need something, or as shopping day approaches – Wednesday one week, Thursday the next – I make a concentrated effort to check cupboards and refrigerator for essentials.
- Keep forbidden foods off the list. Dad is diabetic. Neither one of us needs any junk food or convenience-type foods that are loaded with sugar or salt. Now we concentrate on fruits, vegetables, grains, and white meat with an occasional treat such as sugar free Breyers butter pecan ice cream (when it’s on sale, of course).
- Only buy what is on the list. Unless you have a powerful reason to add extra items to your cart, stick with your list!
- The old adage about eating before you go shopping remains true. Never, ever, go grocery shopping when you have not eaten. This is the voice of experience speaking. If I shop prior to eating, our bill is probably at least $25 higher than it would have been otherwise. That amount is not scientifically proven, but I guarantee you the cart somehow mysteriously ends up piled high with a lot of items we don’t need, or want.
- Make between trips only in an emergency. We rarely need to make an emergency trip for grocery items, but when we do I usually walk the five blocks to the store.
Because I don’t keep track of daily and weekly expenses, mainly because we don’t have that many, I honestly don’t know how much we have save by only buying groceries weekly.
I do know, however, that we are spending much less than we did before, we rarely have any type of junk food around the house, and we both are losing much unneeded weight.
If you want to shop less, spend less, and lose weight in the process, try following those simple steps.
If these ideas work for you, or you have any other tips to share, you are welcome to leave us a message in the comment section.
