People spend a ton of time at grocery stores. After all, it is where people get their food and other essential supplies.
However, the amount of time people spend and the things they buy is excessive. This in turn leads to wasted time and money - resources better spent elsewhere. Grocery stores fill the shelves with numerous options, making it relatively easy to be overwhelmed, rendering shoppers to overbuy and overspend.
In order to not fall into this pit, here are some tips to help you eat right and spend less while spending fewer minutes inside the grocery store, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:
- Buy in bulk when items are in sale. One of the best practices in grocery shopping is to buy in bulk whenever there's a sale. However, the only items you should buy are those which last a long time, notably, non-perishables. These includ canned and bottled food, dried fruits, peas, whole grain pastas and cereals. If you want to buy fresh food, be sure that you can realistically consume them beforehand.
- Don't shop when you're hungry. Shopping when hungry results to you buying more food, this is so according to a study. Furthermore, you are also likely to make impuse purchases on less nutritious items, such as junk food.
- Make a shopping list and stick to it. Shopping lists are highly important - this ensures you will not make the wrong purchases and it also makes the problem of forgetting what to buy nonexistent. Also, remember to write it down, not just store it on your head.
- Buy frozen fruit or vegetables. This will enable you to take out the portions you need and doing so won't make you worry too much about spoilage. If you're planning to buy fresh, be sure to pick out items that last longer.
Other tips include getting smaller meat servings from the butcher if you're planning to buy only for yourself, check out grocery store specials, and take advantage of coupons and discounts.
