Plan your shopping and save your money

The weekly shop or the monthly shop can be a big drain on the amount of money that you have. And it’s not just food; it’s all the things that you need as well such as soap, washing powder and all the other cleaning materials that you need.  Sometimes, it can seem like you have got nothing to eat and the fridge looks empty.  But you have spent a fortune on all sorts of things that you need for the house.  So the last thing you want to do is come home with a load of things that you do not want or worse then that food you end up throwing away as you have not eaten it.

Now it is the retailer’s job to get you to part with your money and they will employ any number of tricks so that you do. They are not subtle and are easy to spot and that is what they want you to do.  To see them and be tempted to get what ever it is so that you spend and they make money. And to be truthful there is nothing wrong with this. If a supermarket did not discount or get in to any kind of price war then prices would be always high and it would be the consumer who would suffer.

The things to look out for are buy one get one free, buy two get three, two for five pounds or dollars any thing like this. It is to make you purchase more than you want. It looks like a bargain but it is only a bargain if you can use it and you need it. Otherwise it is a purchase that you do not want.

So what do you need to do to protect your self from getting things that you do not need. First you need to plan what you want. A shopping list is the best enemy to stop you from impulse buying. Just make a note of what you need and then just get what is on the list. It could not be any simpler than that, but that is the best way of not spending. If you use the same shop every time you go shopping then plan your shopping trip around the geography of the store. The only problem with this is that occasionally the store moves every thing around so you can not find what you want.

The reason for this is to make you look at other things and then you might get some thing more. Placing thing on higher or lower shelved to make you scan the whole shelf and making you look at all that might be on display. 

   

Second when you go in to the shop only go to the area that you need to shop in. If you want bread meat and fish do not go and have a look round the electrical goods, or DVD’s. That is only putting temptation in your way.

And the third and most difficult thing to do if it you how are determined not to over spend is go shopping on your own. If you go shopping and you do not want to over spend you will not. But if some one is tagging along picking things up, you have pressure from them. The worst for this are of course children who seem to be like sponges in picking up the lightest in new brands and must have fatty foods. But nay, one who is a parent will know that shopping and having the kids with you is a stressful thing any way. It is easier to cave in rather than say no.

So plan ahead, be strong and say no and avoid temptation. And if you are shopping on your own you avoid the pressure of other around you as well.