Smart Shopping Avoiding Supermarket Spending Traps And Saving Money

Learn how to outsmart the supermarket's tricks and pitfalls, and save money on your groceries with these valuable tips.

• This article offers tips on how to save money at the supermarket by avoiding common spending traps.

• Supermarkets are designed to make you spend more than planned by using various psychological tricks.

• Starting in the produce section and buying whole items instead of pre-chopped ones can save you money.

• Be cautious with free samples; they create a sense of obligation.

• Understanding pricing and unit prices can help you avoid unnecessary purchases.

• Larger shopping carts lead to increased spending, and rearranged store layouts create more temptations.

• Decision fatigue at the checkout encourages impulse purchases.

• To save money, make a list, use smaller carts, listen to upbeat music, and avoid shopping while hungry.

• Supermarkets rely on these strategies to maintain their low profit margins, so shoppers must be savvy to save money.

• Supermarkets. It’s hard to avoid these modern temples of convenience and consumerism. And like the fictitious temples from adventure stories, they’re filled with pitfalls and booby traps designed to make you spend more than you planned. As any good treasure-hunter will tell you, you can never let your guard down. Satipo “There is nothing to fear here!’ Indy “That’s what scares me.”

But with a little preparation and discipline, you can safely swing past every metaphorical snakepit, rolling boulder, and... alien spaceship? Let’s pretend that one didn’t happen. From the moment you walk through the front doors, your senses are getting played. Bright, colorful flowers, the smell of fresh-baked bread, soft, comfortable music. All these things are designed to put you in a relaxed, suggestive state of mind so that you’ll take your time and be more open-minded about what you came to buy.

If you’re like most people, you probably start in the produce section, and that’s no accident. Stores have found that when people stock their cart with healthy things early on, they’re more likely to reward themselves with junk food later. It may be tempting to grab some of those pre-chopped fruits and vegetables, but take a second to compare the price by weight. You could be paying 2 - 300% to not have to wield the knife yourself. Plus they often have a shorter shelf-life, and you’re creating more packaging waste. That’s why I chop my vegetables FIVE days a week. Oh, and by the way, that mist that makes everything seem fresh and crisp? It’s pretty much just there for show. Constantly spraying water on produce can increase the health risks of bacteria and make certain fruits and veggies rot faster. It also makes the leafy greens weigh just a bit more at checkout, so make sure to shake ‘em out before you bag ‘em.

As you walk the aisles, remember to look up and down, not just side-to-side. Stores put their most expensive items at eye-level, hoping you won’t notice the cheaper alternatives above and below. And yes, that applies to kid’s stuff, too. Excuse me, would you like to try a free sample? Uh… sure, I guess. Free samples are more about your emotions than your tastebuds. They create a feeling of personal obligation, like you’re already in too deep to back out. So if you’re gonna partake, be prepared to make a clean break and move on. You’re just gonna walk away? After everything we’ve been through?!

Supermarkets don’t just want you to buy expensive stuff. They want you to buy more stuff in general. Take this so-called “bargain.” Most people assume they have to purchase all ten to get some perceived discount, but if you read the fine print, you’ll usually find that the unit price is the same no matter how many you buy. It’s also why shopping carts have been getting bigger over the years. Marketing tests showed that shoppers spent up to 40% more with a double-sized cart! Those supersize carts also make it difficult to do a U-turn in a narrow aisle, so you’re more likely to take the long way around. A longer path means more temptations, which is why stores will periodically rearrange the merchandise to keep even experienced shoppers searching. Some people think that’s why essentials like milk and eggs are always at the back at the store, but store managers insist on a more innocent reason by law these items can’t be unrefrigerated for very long, and since the delivery trucks unload at the back, it makes sense to put the fridges there. I guess making shoppers walk through the whole store is just a “happy accident.”

Once you’ve finally found everything you need, there’s one more trial to overcome the checkstand. This is where stores traditionally keep impulse purchases like candy, magazines, and gum because they know that by now you’re experiencing what psychologists call “decision fatigue.” We get tired of being sensible and weighing costs and benefits. It wears us down and makes us more open to suggestion. So it’s best to not even look at that stuff. “Don't look at it. Shut your eyes, Marion! Don't look at it, no matter what happens!”

These strategies have been refined over decades to make shoppers spend more than they have to and buy more than they need. Unfortunately, people who buy more tend to consume more and waste more. It’s kind of a lose/lose/lose situation. But shopping for groceries and cooking at home is still cheaper and healthier than eating out all the time—which is a major reason why Millennials are having trouble saving money. So by all means go to the supermarket… just be prepared!

First off, and most importantly, make a list even if you have to write on a napkin in the parking lot. Don't go through those doors without it. The fewer choices you have to make in the store means less temptation and less fatigue. If your store has them, use smaller carts to discourage overbuying. Although those handbaskets may not be a good idea. Studies found that the physical act of lifting and carrying handbaskets made shoppers feel like they deserved junk-food rewards. The brain’s a funny thing, isn’t it? Bring headphones and listen to upbeat music. It will keep you fast and focused. And never go to the grocery store hungry. That’s just asking your reptile brain to take the driver’s seat. And if you still have trouble sticking to the plan, leave your credit cards at home and bring only what you want to spend in cash. Julia and I have been doing that for years and it keeps temptation in check.

Remember, these stores aren’t evil organizations getting away with highway robbery. In fact, as an industry, supermarkets have one of the lowest profit margins in the U.S., so they rely on these mind-games just to stay in the black. But you have a right to defend yourself, and the best defense is understanding how your own brain works. And that’s our two cents!

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