May
8
HEALTH AND WEALTH; The shopping list
Filed Under Eating Healthy, Money
This week, we’ve been talking about saving money while getting healthier. We covered a very simple alternative yesterday, walking or biking instead of driving. Today, we’re going to get a bit more complex and talk about your food shopping habits.
The Problem
If you’re like me, you go food shopping for one of two reasons. Most of the time, you run out of something crucial, like laundry detergent, so you go to the supermarket to pick up that item. The rest of the time, you go food shopping because you notice that your fridge is empty and your cabinets contain nothing but dust. So you decide to go to the supermarket and restock on food. Either way, you get to the supermarket, you load up on the items you need but you also pick up other items you don’t really need. You pick up that extra bag of peanuts because it looked good. You add a bit of cheese to your cart because you remembered how much you like pepper jack. Eventually, you get to the checkout with a cart full of goods, telling yourself “well, this should keep me fed for a month!” Two weeks later, you’re back at the supermarket.
So what are you doing wrong? What’s going on here that’s affecting both your thighs and your wallet?
First, supermarkets are designed to make us buy more. There are a variety of ways they do this. For example, the put the necessities like bread way in the back. That way you need to walk past all the other isles just to get to them giving the supermarket plenty of opportunity to entice you into extra shopping. They also put cheap impulse items at convenient locations like the checkout or the end of the isle. That way you walk by, spot what looks like a good deal and pick it up. So there’s your first mistake, you’re buying items you don’t need.
Second, you’re buying items you won’t use before they spoil. I tend to do this with fruit and cheeses. They all look so enticing so I buy a lot, telling myself that I’ll eat them all before they spoil. That never happens. I always end up throwing spoiled things away because I forgot to eat them.
Third, you’re buying too many snacks and unhealthy items. Again, the supermarket knows what it’s doing. It designs things so you buy them and the easiest things to sell on impulse are snacks and other unhealthy additions to your diet. That’s why all those candy bars are there at the checkout. Because they know you’re going to spend a few minutes standing there and what better time to sell you on some chocolate?
Finally, you’re simply buying too much. When you go into the supermarket planning to restock the kitchen, you usually end up with a lot more food than you need. I know that I do this on a regular basis. I always justify it by telling myself that this food will last a long time. Instead of buying for two weeks, I just bought for four, and that’s good, right? I saved money by buying in bulk. Well, not exactly.
Those of you who shop at places like Costco, pay attention to this part. When you buy large quantities of food, you tend to eat large quantities. So if you buy four weeks worth of food, you’ll probably eat them in two to three weeks. Why do we do this? Well, because that’s how our brains work. We see a lot of food and assume we should eat it now. It’s just instinct going back to the days when we didn’t have so much food available. Our bodies tell us to gorge now while this time of plenty lasts so when the famine comes, we’re prepared. Of course, the famine never comes because we just go back to the supermarket to buy more food.
The Solution
So how do we fix this?
Simple, shop weekly, come up a with a shopping plan, schedule a limited amount of time, bring limited carrying capacity and research.
Shop Weekly - Ideally, you shop on a daily basis, always picking up what you need for that day. However, that’s pretty unrealistic. No one has the time to go shopping every day, at least no one I know and certainly not me. What I’ve found instead to be the best shopping interval, is one week. One week is enough time to know what you need in advance. It’s enough time to plan for, but not too much so you end up with huge quantities of food. It’s also a good interval for vegetables and fruit to allow you to eat them before the spoil.
Shopping plan - This is a must. Do NOT enter the supermarket without a shopping plan. Note that I say plan and not list. A list is just that, a list of stuff to buy. A plan is more detailed. A plan is what you make when you really think about what you’re going to eat. Take a look and your next week’s schedule. Are you going to be home a lot? Are you going out a lot? How often will you be eating at home? How many meals should you plan for? Based on this, come up with a plan for how much food you’ll need. Come up with the ingredients for that food if you plan on making it yourself. Now that’s a plan. When you get to the supermarket, STICK TO YOUR PLAN! It doesn’t matter how good that sale looks or how cheap that box of cereal is, stick to the plan! Buy what you need, not what the supermarket wants you to buy.
Schedule your shopping time - Know when you’re going shopping and know when you have to leave. You want to schedule a limited amount of time for your food shopping. This reduces the chance of you buying stuff that’s not on your plan. When you know you have to be somewhere soon, you tend to stick to your plan. You’ll be in and out of the supermarket quickly and efficiently.
Limited carrying capacity - This tip isn’t going to work for everyone but it works for me, so I’ll mention it. Yesterday I talked about walking or biking to the supermarket. This is a great way to limit your buying. Again, you’re unlikely to deviate from your plan when you can’t carry a lot. How likely are you to add that extra bag of chips when you have to walk home carrying it? Plus you get a nice workout from the walk or ride.
Research - Last but not least, look at what you’re buying and make the right choice. For example, I like fajitas. They’re one of my favorite ways to make a healthy lunch. Take a fajita, pile some veggies, maybe a bit of cheese or hummus, and you have a great meal. When I go to the supermarket, I have my choice of fajitas. I can pick the ones that are easily available, right there on the end isle. They’re on sale so they must be good, right? Well, if I do a little research, I can find the low fat fajitas that are 90 calories instead of 190 calories, and they’re the same price. Remember, the supermarket sets up its displays to get you to buy what the supermarket wants, not what you want. So do your research.
Those ingredient and calorie boxes on the food are there for a reason. Read them as you shop. Look for items with a low amount of calories and a low amount of fat. Make sure you’re not consuming too much salt. Don’t buy the cereal with 10 times more sugar in it even if it does have a pretty box.
Remember, make a shopping plan, set a limited amount of time, have a limited carrying capacity and STICK TO YOUR PLAN! Don’t let the supermarket set your shopping schedule.
I’m going to include a link to one of my favorite blogs, The Simple Dollar. They have an excellent post on what to do and not to do at the supermarket if you’re concerned with money. Just keep in mind that your health and your wallet are connected. Be a smart shopper and improve your fitness while you save money.
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