Five Little Grocery Shopping Tricks: Size Mattersby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 03 Oct 2008 12:07 PM
One thing I want to talk about now is the size of the grocery cart. The grocery cart has been steadily increasing in size by the decade. While you might think that this is a good thing, believe me it hasn't been done for your convenience. With a supersized cart, you will feel as though you are buying less or as though you aren't done shopping until you fill it up. So, instead of grabbing one can of beans you grab two or three. Or, you wander the aisle a bit to see if there is anything else you might want. After all, you have the room. To capture those people that go in for a few things and grab a basket (baskets can't hold much at all and discourage buying anything heavy), many stores have institutes little mini carts. In some stores, the baskets are being phased out all together. The minicarts resemble two baskets, one above the other, and can conveniently be wheeled. This lets you browse around a bit more without the weight of the basket, and surprise, it can hold at least twice as much stuff. If you are old enough to remember, grocery carts used to be about half of the size they are now. In fact, few of them were large enough to be able to fit a child in the front, let alone two children. You might think that the bigger carts reduce the need for trips to the store. After all, you can get what you need all at once. But research shows that bigger carts actually don't reduce the number of trips to the store, but they do increase the amount that is spent at each trip. Just something to keep in mind. Click here for more articles by Mary Ann Romans. Five Little Grocery Shopping Tricks: The Limit Sale Five Little Grocery Shopping Tricks: Shelf Placement The Secret to Grocery Print-Out Coupons Grocery Gift Cards Can Save You Money A Guide to Salvage Grocery Shopping How Much Did Groceries Cost in the 1980s?
Just look to the right of this blog and find the subscription center (it looks just like this picture, although you'll have to find the "real" one just above the category listing ). Click on "Subscribe via Email". You'll be instantly subscribed and the email address that you registered at Families.com with will receive an instant notification whenever we post a new Frugal Living Blog! Don't miss a thing - subscribe now! Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments StBridgit (322) 06 Oct 2008 10:39 AMHehe, I thought you were going to talk about the packaging size with this post! I often see things on "sale", which aren't really a good price at all when compared to the regular price for a larger size or, increasingly, the smaller size! I always check out the price per ounce or other base unit for the things I buy, and whereas the default seems to be that the larger size is better value, in fact I am noticing lately that when the smaller sizes are on sale, they are a better value than the larger sizes. It can really add up to a lot of savings if you pay attention to the real price per ounce or serving and choose the product accordingly.  Mary Ann Romans (26876) 06 Oct 2008 12:17 PMThat is so true. I even saw this on the discount rack, which has dented boxes, etc. The "sale" price was more than two smaller boxes at the regular price.  Dale Harcombe (10327) 06 Oct 2008 01:46 PMWe grocery shop once a month so a larger trolley is good for that. Mary Ann Romans (26876) 06 Oct 2008 02:08 PMDale, do you find yourself still making smaller trips during the rest of the month? I would love to hear some strategies, since it seems that we are always running our of milk or fresh fruit. Dale Harcombe (10327) 07 Oct 2008 10:00 PMYes for fruit and veg or fish. Fruit and veg has to be done weekly and I don't use fresh milk (we don't drink enough if it) only powdered skim. We find we spend less if we go shopping less, so try and keep it to a minuimum. When we go for fruit and veg we only get that, ( mostly) unless there is an emergency need or a special too good to pass up. Mary Ann Romans (26876) 08 Oct 2008 12:23 PMI've definitely curbed my bargain shopping lately. I'm less likely to try a prepackaged item, even if it is available for a good deal. Fruit and veggies, are getting expensive, too, so I try to stock up on ones that have longer shelf lives when on sale (such as apples kept in the fridge instead of bananas. Community Tags frugal food, frugal meals, food budget, grocery shopping Discuss this article
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