How to Get Out of a Supermarket Without Overspending

This is not the first time that we’ve visited the subject of how to get out of the supermarket with at least some money left in your bank account. Still, who doesn’t need an occasional reminder—a mental tune-up—to remain vigilant and razor-sharp when it comes to making our food dollars stretch until they scream.

 

Don’t go in hungry

You believe that you can simply dash in to pick up the infamous few things. But if you’re starving, you’re a dead aim for a couple of steaks and a load of snacks. You know what I’m talking about. This is because of Rule #1: Anything can happen when you are hungry.

Don’t try to remember

Sure, playing Brain Age on your kid’s Nintendo Switch has revitalized your dead brain cells, rendering you the mental acuity of a youngster—but don’t push it. Without a list of the exact items you’ve come to purchase, who knows what could happen?

It’s normal for our brains to slip into neutral in the face of fabulous food. A written list is the crutch you need desperately to make sure you do not slip and fall, so to speak.

Don’t take your plastic or checkbook

Cash—currency, clams, folding money, smackers, greenbacks—this is how you should be paying for your supermarket purchases.

What? Not convenient, you say? Well, of course not, silly. That’s the point. Convenience is the reason you’ve been dropping the equivalent of a mortgage payment for food every month. Making the process a bit less convenient is an easy way to slow that mindless drain on your income.

Not safe? Get a grip. That bevy of credit cards you carry with you and that $1,000 smartphone aren’t exactly chump change. Are you worried sick about getting rolled in the Walmart parking lot to grab those items?

Keep your cash in a safe place at home and take just the amount that you intend to the grocery store. Then avoid putting a sign on your back, “Carrying Cash!”

Don’t grab a shopping cart

Most of them have wobbly wheels anyway, so just walk on by when all you need are those few items. Surely you can carry the “few things” you need. Or get one of the hand-held baskets. The point here is that you won’t be buying more than you can carry.

Don’t dawdle

This is not the place you want to hang out just to soak in all the great sights and smells from the bakery, deli and rotisserie chickens. If you weren’t hungry when you arrived, you will be soon.

Get what you need and get out of there. For every ten minutes you delay, plan on spending about another $40.

Don’t deprive yourself

Work some “flex spend” into your budget. We all want to try new things, and in the candy land of choice known as the grocery store, this can lead to expensive last-minute choices.

In my experience, the best way to combat this is not to fight it. Decide to allow yourself a little flexibility—say, a five-dollar allowance or a single impulse item each week. That’s the way to avoid the feeling that you’re drowning in deprivation. You’ll be less likely to go overboard.

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Originally published at everydaycheapskate.com.