Smart Shopping

Smart shopping is about buying fresh vegetables that are in season, in the quantity you need for the meal you are going to prepare, within a few days you are going to prepare it. That ensures you not only get the best freshness and most nutrition, but that you also get the best value for your dollar.

Smart shopping is also about buying and making your own things like smoothies as an example. For the price of 1 1/2 smoothies you can get about 12 homemade smoothies just by buying a bag of frozen fruit. Best of all, you can control the ingredients, like sugar. A homemade smoothie with a cost of about .75 a piece is far less than what they charge at the local smoothie shop for $5.00+ a piece. Of course there is nothing wrong with going out to purchase a single smoothie, but I can create a whole meal for one on $5.00.

Smart shopping is, above all, about being aware of cost. Pricing is a key factor when deciding what to purchase and where to purchase. If you know that certain stores are notorious for their markups than it pays to shop at multiple locations.

Make sure that you don’t let your “elite-ism” keep you from shopping at stores that you wouldn’t otherwise patronage. These is nothing wrong with these establishments. They sell the same products as the more expensive stores and the savings can be tremendous.

In these tough economic times, saving money is vitally important. So be smart when you shop. Take a notebook with you and jot down the prices of various products and different locations and you’ll see the difference from location to location.

Also, be sure to look at the flyers that are delivered to your door weekly and use your coupons. These marketing materials are printed for your benefit and there is nothing wrong with using them.

Be a smart shopper.