22 May The 6 Big Mistakes You’re Making at the Grocery Store
1. You buy items found at eye level on the shelf.
The big supermarket chains are smart. Usually, products found at eye level on their shelves have the highest margins for them so they place them right in your line of sight. To find a healthier, sugar-free alternative, always look down on the lower shelves or right at the top.
2. You write off home brands as lower quality.
Did you know that the wholesalers supplying home brands, generally supply many other brands in that category too? Home brands can be cheaper due to a lack of marketing spend and smaller packaging overheads, but this doesn’t mean that their quality is any less than a ‘name brand’.
3. You buy low-fat alternatives.
Our bodies need healthy fats, and low-fat alternatives are very often high in sugar content. Your body will then store this excess sugar as fat if you don’t need it.
4. You fail to menu plan or shop with a list.
Shopping without a list, or failing to plan your weekly meals will leave you feeling disorganised around your food, which is the most important aspect of your health that you can control. Plan your meals in advance and shop with a list to reduce spending more than you need and avoid unnecessary waste.
5. You fail to plan your weekly shop.
If you don’t plan to get to the right places for what you need, you can spend way more than you should have to on certain things. For example, plan to get to the local farmer’s market for to purchase cheaper organic fruit and vegetables and go to the larger supermarkets for basic, so you don’t end up paying a fortune for toilet paper at the service station.
6. You buy small.
A 1kg tub of yoghurt is on average 20% cheaper than buying five 200g containers of the same thing. Buy in larger quantities and you can dispense into smaller containers for your smaller, take-away serves. Better for the planet, and your purse!
