These days my trips to Walmart have one purpose only: buy Yobaby yogurt. It is the only store in my town that sells it. Not too long ago I did the bulk of my grocery shopping there. That was until I learned how to shop at my grocery store. Here are the three main reasons I save more money by shopping at my grocery store than at Walmart:
Loss Leaders
Through the sale of loss leaders grocery stores get you to walk through their doors. At Walmart its “Everyday Low Price” means there are no rock bottom priced items to attract your business. By shopping your grocery store’s sales circular and stockpiling loss leaders you can save more money than at Walmart.
Register Promotions
Even if your grocery store doesn’t double coupons chances are it offers other promotions. For example, my local store currently has an offer where if you buy 6 boxes of cereal at regular price you get $10 off your order at checkout and a coupon for free gallon of milk. Other register promotions grocery stores have include buy X number of items or spend $X and get a coupon for $X off your next order. With the right coupons you can turn promotions like these into lots of cheap or even free food items. Also if you use coupons you love getting those coupons that print out at check out. They are usually based on previous purchases so chances are they will be useful to you.
Loyalty Reward Programs
Almost every grocery store offer additional savings to members who sign up for store savings card. In addition, grocery stores also offer additional incentives such as gas rewards when you accumulate a certain level of spending on your account.
You also may have read my post comparing warehouse shopping versus drugstore shopping. So you know that most health and beauty items and also paper goods can be found cheaper at Walgreens or CVS. All you need are a few tools, a little bit of effort and the right disposition to start saving big by shopping smartly.
