When to save and when to splurge at the grocery store
Whenever I go shopping, I find myself with an interesting mix of items in my cart. There鈥檚 quite a few generics, quite a few 鈥渓ow cost鈥� name brands, and still some more rather upscale items (like organic fresh foods). Organic baking soda gets tossed in right next to the free range eggs, for example.
Why exactly do I skimp so hard on some items but spend so much more on the others? How is that frugal in any way?
Here鈥檚 the thing: it鈥檚 all about the value I get from the item, which may or may not be the same as the value you get from the item. And that may be different than the value someone else gets from that item.
Take the generic baking soda. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, whether you buy it with an Arm and Hammer logo or with a generic source. There is no extra value, from my perspective, from buying name-brand baking soda. I鈥檓 happy to save $0.25 on a box here.
Then we go to the milk aisle, where I鈥檓 likely to pick organic milk that is completely free of artificial hormones. To me, the extra dollar or two per gallon that I pay for this is well worth it, as it greatly reduces my children鈥檚 exposure to rBS and rBGH, which can alter their development and trigger puberty earlier (among other effects), and the cows do not consume feed treated with pesticides, which shows up in small amounts in non-organic milk. This has a value to me that鈥檚 worth paying extra for. This may or may not be your value.
As we walk down the aisle with the garbage bags, I don鈥檛 choose the generic, nor do I choose the expensive one. I choose whatever bag is recommended as a 鈥渂est buy鈥� from the most recent Consumer Reports rundown of trash bags that I鈥檝e read. Why? Because a ripped garbage bag is a big mess that I don鈥檛 want to deal with 鈥� and generics often rip 鈥� but the expensive bags don鈥檛 really add anything extra.
Naturally, with all of these choices, I tend to stock up when they鈥檙e on sale or I have a coupon.
What process led me to these choices? It鈥檚 a pretty simple one.
First, I make my buying decisions outside of the store. If you鈥檙e trying to decide which one to get when you鈥檙e standing in the store, the psychology of store marketing is going to be at work. Carefully designed packaging and familiar name brands will play a big role in determining what you buy.
If something鈥檚 on my list, I usually know the exact brand I鈥檓 going to buy before I walk into the store. That way, I鈥檓 not spending time standing there idly trying to decide between several options, because that鈥檚 when marketing takes effect.
Second, if I don鈥檛 know exactly what I鈥檓 going to buy, I research it. Consumer Reports is one of my first stops, but I tend to use a lot of different sources. I want to know the ins and outs of everything that I buy, even down to the $0.99 stuff.
Third, if I can鈥檛 explain why I would specifically need a higher-cost version, I buy the generic. With the baking soda, I can鈥檛 see a reason to spend extra money to get an Arm and Hammer logo. With the garbage bags, I鈥檓 buying the 鈥渂est buy鈥� bags because I do not want the bags to rip 鈥� it鈥檚 not a mess I want to deal with. With the milk, I鈥檓 buying the organic milk for the family health reasons stated above.
This holds true for every item on my list. If I know what value I want from the item and I鈥檝e done a bit of research, I know what version I鈥檒l be buying. I don鈥檛 have to look at nine different kinds of diapers or twenty six boxes of cereal to decide which one I want. I鈥檝e already done much of the shopping outside of the store.
This has another big benefit: this, along with a shopping list, drastically reduces the time spent inside a store. I basically move most of my grocery store time out of the store to my home, where I can make my own list and do my own research without all of the marketing distractions in the store.
The end result? I don鈥檛 go into a store until I know exactly what I鈥檓 going to buy there. That makes it easy to go through the store very quickly. I fill my cart with the stuff I want that delivers what I want and maximizes the value I get for the money I spend. Even better, my time for impulse buys is almost eliminated.
That鈥檚 how we鈥檙e rolling through the grocery store this morning. How about you?
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