by Jennifer E. Brown

Created on: April 28, 2009

Grocery shopping is one chore that most of us put off until the last minute. We have to wait until paydays, or until the kids are out or in school. When we're in the store, the overwhelming thought of the cart filling up with food is a dreading one. For myself, the thought of cost often comes to mind as I shop. Perhaps this is my college-lifestyle speaking, but there are ways out there to save money on perhaps the most important neccessity we can afford for ourselves in order to survive.

First, make a list before you shop. Here's what I do. I take a few sheets of paper and draw one line down the middle and one across the middle. Then, I start labeling-meat, dairy, cereal, snacks, produce, etc. Then, I look into my cupboards and see what I need to buy according to these catagories. Working at Walmart, I could tell you pretty much what they stock in all the aisies and where at most stores. This is probably why I sit down and go through each aisle in my mind, listing what may be in there and adding what I may need to my list. Take, for example, the cereal aisle. In this aisle, in most stores, you can find cereal, poptarts, fruit snacks, granola bars and energy bars. Excluding the energy bars, all these items are in my grocery list. Walmart makes a lot of money off of me in this aisle alone.

Next, buy a Sunday paper. I found out last Sunday that this became a good investmest. Being a Walmart cashier, I see my customers price matching and using coupons. Even though I have a Walmart discount, I still could be saving that much more. In fact, on TV today I saw a special on the news where this lady spent $152 on groceries. She had ad matchs and coupons which brought her bill down to $9. Wouldn't that be something you'd like to take advantage of? What can you do w/ an extra $144?

Each store has their own their markup rate that they sell to their consumer. The store may buy the product for $1.25, but in order to make a profit, they mark it up to $4. This happens everywhere, and Walmart is guilty of it more than anyone else. This is why you have to be smart of what you buy when you shop. One thing I've learned as a sales associate is this-the generic brand is made by the name brand themselves. If you're buying generic cheese, it's most likely made by Kraft or another cheese company. Honestly, I have been buying generic foods since I began Walmart, and I can't tell much of a taste difference. Why pay $3.96 when the generic is $1.59? You're saving $2.37 by buying the generic.

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