Collegiettes know that being an adult and being a student is pretty hard, and one of the hardest parts of being away from home is learning how to navigate the grocery store. Unless you have unlimited time and income, check out these grocery store hacks!
Before you even go to the grocery store:
Plan your meals for the week: this may seem more difficult than it actually is, as many students don’t do it. Write down what you plan to eat for the forthcoming week for breakfast, lunch, dinner and any snacks you know you’ll crave.
Make a list. Now that you have a plan of meals, make a list of the ingredients you’ll need. If this list seems too long, try to make some things on the list “double dip” into different meals. Rice is a good example of how to do this, because it can be bought cheaply in bulk, is easy to make, and can be paired well with different meals.
Arrange the list in order of the grocery store. This is my favorite way to make a grocery trip short and sweet. I rewrite my list in order or use a website like Cozi (type your grocery list, drag and drop the items in order and download the app for iPhone or use the web browser on Android to have your digital list in the store) to put the items on my list in order of how my local grocery store is laid out. If you’re unfamiliar with the layout, you can at least put produce items, meats, and dairy in groups. This will at least keep you from running back and forth from one section of the store to the other.
Clip coupons- either paper or online, most stores or brands offer coupons. Youn’t have to go extreme couponing and try to get the stores to pay you, but if you regularly buy Cheerios to have for breakfast, why not clip the coupon for a dollar off two boxes? Just make sure to organize your coupons before you go to the store so you don’t spend ten minutes doing it at the register.
Day of:
Eat before you shop! This really can’t be stressed enough. Going shopping while hungry will make you the owner of way more food than you’ll even eat, make you disorganized and will encourage you to eat at any in-store deli you might have access to, which are not only expensive, but usually aren’t very healthy either.
Bring your reusable bags. Not only is this helpful to the environment, but many store will give a discount of 10 cents or more per reusable bag you bring in, which doesn’t seem like much, but can really add up.
In the store:
Don’t be afraid to go generic. A lot of people shy away from store brand options, which is a pretty massive waste of money considering often times, store brand items are so similar to name brand items, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
Start in the produce section. If you load up your cart with produce items in the very beginning of your trip, you’ll not only feel better about yourself for making healthy choices, but you’ll be less likely to load up on junk food later in the trip.
Look up and down. The most expensive items in the aisles are right at eye level, with less expensive options lower on the shelves and higher up, so scan up and down the shelves before you pick the item at eye level, because you’re likely to find a less expensive option if you look a little more.
Don’t impulse shop. If it’s not on your list and it’s not a necessity, don’t buy it. Even if the Milano cookies are on sale, don’t buy them if they aren’t on your list. The list exists for a reason.