How to shop 101

When I was married, I used to hate going shopping with my wife. When I go shopping I know what I want. I go in, get it, go through the self checkout or 10 items or less line and get on with my life. My wife on the other hand would go up and down each (and every) aisle. With a cart of oh-doesn't-that-look-good items.

I don't know that either method is the best. We ate better using her way. So like I usually do in those cases, I decided to find out. Turning to my friend www.google.com, I put in how to grocery shop better. I found out some very interesting things. Tricks that stores use to get you to buy more. Things like more expensive items at eye level, things on end caps are not always on sale. Impulse items at the checkout line. So here are my thoughts on shopping better.

Shop early or late. The idea is to shop when there are fewer people shopping. If you shop at 5:30pm on a Friday, you’re going to run into a lot of people who just stopped in for "one thing", usually with their kids who've been in day care all day. More people means less items on the shelve so you're more likely to just grump what's left, or just what's closer. If you shop really early or late, you'll have less people, but you sometimes have to put up with shelve stockers. But that can work out too because what they're putting up is usually fresher or at least has a longer expiration date.

Shop around the perimeter of the store. It's along the wall you'll find all the fresh items. Shop the perimeter of the store first for the bulk of your buys, THEN dip into the aisles for staples that you need. Most fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy products, meats, and natural foods are usually located on the outer aisles. Often these foods contain the most nutrients and the least amount of preservatives and added chemicals. Inside the aisles you'll find the pre-made, pre-boxed, hormone-grown, nutrient-leeched, preservative-full items. Shop on the edge! Don't get canned corn, get fresh corn. Don't buy pre-sliced, pre-packaged lunch meat, go to the deli and get it fresh(er).

Can't buy fresh? Then get frozen. Items are usually flash frozen at their peak, within hours of being picked. Think about this, some fruits come from as far away as 1500 miles or more, think how early they have to pick them so they'll be "fresh" when they get to your store.

Look at the ingredients. Ask yourself a simple question when looking at food to buy. Is this food processed in any way? The easiest way to find out is to look at the ingredients. The lower the number, the better! I try not to buy anything that has sugar within the first five ingredients. I was looking for a cold cereal and the first one I picked up, all FIVE first ingredients listed was some form of sugar!

Don't shop on an empty stomach. I know you've heard this one before, but it really works. You won't be tempted to buy food you don't need, or that isn't healthy for you.

Think of your store as a department store. So that the dairy, produce, meat, and so on) is a separate store within the supermarket. You wouldn't shop at every store at a mall the same way, would you? You know better than to idly browse through a jewelry store, don't you? So apply the same approach to the grocery store. Target the sections that are safe to browse through--the produce section, primarily--and steer clear of the dangerous sections (the candy, ice cream, and potato chip aisles).

Don't use a shopping cart. Boy do the stores really have it in for you. They give you this big old cart which makes it so easy to just toss stuff into it. Don't do it, if you have to use one of the carry baskets you'll be forced to make the choice of what is really worth carrying.

Shop more often. Trying to live and eat better is rough. This one may have to be put aside for a while. Here in Florida I paid $3.20 a gallon for gas this morning and a new report shows that it could easily go to $3.50 and $3.80 with the next 6 months. Unless the store is on your way home or within walking or biking distance you might have to consolidate your trips to one or two.

Avoid convenience items. Don't purchase items that are convenience items, such as prepared vegetables or pre-made sandwiches. These items are more costly, and you are better off buying your own ingredients and making them yourself.

Check the entire shelf. Grocery stores will often place the higher priced items at eye-level. Again, consumers choose more items to buy from eye level. So look at the top and bottom of the shelf for potential better bargains.

Buy generic products. Now maybe not every thing you buy should be generic, but most generic or store brand items can save you a dollar or more! It really adds up. And do you really think that they have one factory for Green Giant green beans and another for Winn Dixie brand? Of course not! Yes, the Green Giant brand may have fewer broken beans in it, but who cares? It's all going to become poop anyway. My wife would never buy generic, of course this was also the same women who thought that any movie older than three months was crap.

Ok, ok that's enough for now. (climbing down off of my soapbox)