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Ten ideas to save on shopping
Looking up and down makes sense when shopping.
© George Rudy / Shutterstock
With a little planning and a few simple tricks, you can easily cut the cost of shopping.
Corona crisis, climate change, inflation – shopping in the supermarket or discount store is becoming more and more expensive for various reasons. You can still save with the following tips.
Eat before shopping
If you go shopping hungry, your mouth will water with all the possibilities that are presented to you in the supermarket aisles. Therefore, eat at least a little something before you go shopping. Even two slices of toast can work wonders in your wallet.
Never go shopping haphazardly
Or use your hunger in the kitchen to prepare the menu for the next few days. What do you feel like doing, what does the pantry provide, what else do you need to cook delicious dishes from it? Plan a weekly menu, write down what you need and shop accordingly. Deviating from the shopping list is of course strictly forbidden in the supermarket.
Check offers
Those brightly colored brochures that regularly flutter in your mailbox can actually help you save. Especially when there are products among them that you would otherwise refrain from. However, caution is also advised with special offers. Often offers are branded products. No-name products can still be cheaper in comparison.
Try home products
Instead of using the branded products already mentioned, try your way through the house products in your supermarket one by one. In many cases, these are not worse, just less pretty – because the money was saved on marketing.
Best before
Speaking of offers: goods that are about to expire are often reduced. The glowing price sticker shouldn’t prevent you from buying it, as the products are usually still edible when the packs are closed.
Bring movement in
While the most expensive products are usually at eye level, the cheaper products are often on the bottom or top shelf. You will quickly find out at the checkout that stretching and bending is worthwhile.
Go with the seasons
It makes you creative, provides variety in the menu, is good for the environment and relieves the wallet: It is best to only buy fruit and vegetables when it is harvest time. The best thing to do is to hang a seasonal calendar in the kitchenwith which you can easily plan.
Basket instead of shopping trolley
If it is not the big weekly shopping for the whole family, but only a short purchase, then it is better not to reach for the shopping cart, but for the basket. So you are directly forced to limit yourself.
Compare basic prices
In order to avoid sham packaging and marketing tricks, it is worth comparing the basic prices. Here the price is given per kilogram, so it does not depend on the number of grams in the pack, which makes it difficult to compare prices between several products. A look at the lists of the consumer advice center helps to avoid falling for sham packages. It is listed here regularlywhich products have hidden more expensive by minimizing the content for the same price.
Plan with the freezer
The freezer is the friend of every saver! Do you often lose fresh fruit and vegetables and are therefore no longer bought? Grab your frozen vegetables and fruits! The big pack of bread is cheaper than a smaller pack? Freeze Half! The 2-kilo potato net is too much for a potato soup for two? Make the big pot of soup anyway – and freeze what’s left over. And best of all: once the freezer is filled with lots of homemade dishes, you practically have a small restaurant at home.