Shop with a list and stick to it. The advice is simple but this tip can save you hundreds of dollars a month at the grocery store.
How many times have you gone to the store to do some shopping and not had a clear idea of what you wanted, only to come home with extra food, chips, cookies, ice cream, candy bars and magazines? And maybe you forgot a key ingredient for a meal you were planning. Not only did you spend money you did not intend to spend, you also had to go back to the store for the forgotten item.
Making a list and sticking to it allows you to breeze through the store, ensures you remember to pick up everything you need, and allows you to spend only the amount of money you intended to spend at the outset of your shopping trip.
Most importantly, it takes the emotion out of your shopping. Let’s be real. Many of those little purchases are designed to provide some kind of emotional comfort. We’re feeling a little blue? Only a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and a Perugina chocolate bar will do. Feeling lonely? Let’s read about celebrity breakups in a trashy rag. Come on, you know you’ve been there. And you also know the guilty feeling you get when you get home and wonder why you bought the stuff.
Shop with a list and stick to it. You’ll be happy you did.
