Survival Guide
Supermarkets are designed to make you spend as much money as possible, often on high-margin products loaded with cheap ingredients and empty calories. Adopt these 7 Habits of Highly Effective Shoppers and you'll be well on your way to being a master of the modern-day market.
1. Make Cash King
A 2010 study published in the Journal of Consumer Research tracked the grocery-shopping habits of 1,000 households over 6 months and found that shoppers who paid with cash bought fewer processed foods and more nutritious items than those who opted to use credit. The credit users not only bought more junk, they also spent an average of 59 to 78 percent more on their grocery bills. The explanation: Credit and debit cards are more abstract forms of payment, so you don't use them as carefully as you do cash. Plan to drop by the ATM before your next supermarket trip.
2. Snack Before Spending
It's a no-brainer that an empty belly leads to increased food cravings, but hunger may also affect your decision-making skills more generally. In a 2010 study, researchers at University College London discovered that hungry participants made riskier gambling decisions than those who were satiated, leading the investigators to argue that the hormones your body releases when you're hungry influence your ability to think rationally. The bottom line: An empty stomach is the enemy of rational shopping. Plan your market trips to fall right after meals, or fortify yourself by eating a handful of fiber-rich nuts just before shopping.
3. Enable your grocery GPS
If your destination is a healthy body and an affordable grocery tab, you need directions. The supermarket is a highly complex thoroughfare, and every turn brings you closer to or further from the body you want. Creating a grocery list helps you stay focused on what you want to buy, leaving you less susceptible to marketing tactics and impulse purchases.
4. Shop on Wednesdays
Most people leave their grocery shopping for Saturday or Sunday mornings, when the supermarket looks more like a ravaged battlefield than a center of commerce. Consider making midweek evening runs, instead. According to Progressive Grocer, only 11 percent of Americans shop on Wednesdays, and on any given day, only 4 percent shop after 9:00 p.m. So if you're shopping at, say, 9:00 p.m. on a Wednesday, you're able to get in and out quickly, which means you'll spend less time fighting impulse items in both the aisles and at the checkout line.
5. Take your cart for a stroll
Pushing a shopping cart instead of carrying a basket may help you make smarter supermarket choices. A study published in the Journal of Marketing Research found that, all other things being equal, the strain of carrying a basket made shoppers more likely to reach for quick-grab impulse items—like the crackers and chips concentrated at eye level in the aisle. If you're lugging around a heavy basket, you're not taking the time to read labels and reach for more nutritious foods.
6. Bring your reading glasses
With the exception of alcohol, every packaged food and beverage in the supermarket has an ingredients statement. By law, the more of an ingredient a product contains according to weight, the higher it appears on that list, so effective shoppers learn to ignore front-of-label claims and read ingredients statements instead. Claims like "made with whole grain" and "reduced fat" can fool you into thinking you're making healthy choices, but if your "reduced fat" food lists sugar as the first—or second or third—ingredient, then it's not doing you any favors. A good general rule for label scanning: The fewer the ingredients, and the easier those ingredients are to pronounce, the better.
6. Bring your reading glasses
With the exception of alcohol, every packaged food and beverage in the supermarket has an ingredients statement. By law, the more of an ingredient a product contains according to weight, the higher it appears on that list, so effective shoppers learn to ignore front-of-label claims and read ingredients statements instead. Claims like "made with whole grain" and "reduced fat" can fool you into thinking you're making healthy choices, but if your "reduced fat" food lists sugar as the first—or second or third—ingredient, then it's not doing you any favors. A good general rule for label scanning: The fewer the ingredients, and the easier those ingredients are to pronounce, the better.
Source: WomensHealthBase
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