Preparation

The first thing you need to do is prepare yourself for this grocery journey. Pick out which store you want to go to and familiarize yourself with their current ads. Whether it’s HyVee, Fareway, Aldi, Target, Wal-Mart, or wherever you go to pick up your grub, you need to know what the cheapest options are.

It’s a good idea to save your receipts and figure out the items that you spend the most on. You’ll reconsider buying name brand cereal once you see how much it adds up, and you can cut back on the unnecessary spending.

Plan your meals out for the week. You can base this on the weekly sales, but it’s most important to only buy the things you need.

Make a list. List-making is a tedious but extremely important way to watch your spending and not get side-tracked by the expensive cheese display.

Take inventory. Look through your freezer, cabinets, fridge and pantry for hidden gems that you might have squirreled away and forgotten about. The longer you can go between trips to the store, the better.

Shopping While Hungry And Why It Will Screw You Over

It is commonly said not to shop while you are hungry, but most people just don’t get it. YOU WILL BUY THE ENTIRE STORE.

Don’t Be A Dick: Shopping Cart Etiquette

One of the worst things about going grocery shopping is the interaction with people. Worse than that is interaction with stupid people. You will only have a pleasant experience with the combined effort of every single person in the store.

If you’re ambling slowly down the middle of an aisle, taking up as much space as possible, with no regard for the smart shoppers behind you, you should expect to get punched in the back of the head. Always look both ways before turning out of an aisle to avoid traffic accidents or cutting someone off. Don’t be awkward. It’s okay to say “excuse me” or “I’m sorry” if you’re in someone’s way or they’re in yours.

On Being A Label Whore

There are times when it is okay to sell out to the big name brands; everyone knows that soda never tastes the same when it is off-brand. However, store-brand fruits, veggies, dairy, cereal and breads are a good place to start. You probably won’t be able to taste the difference, and the extra money you saved might be worth it.

If you’re determined to have your name brand ice cream, don’t feel bad about it. We all have our vices, and we all make sacrifices for what we love.

Bargains For The Sake Of Being A Bargain

Earlier we talked about basing your meals off of the weekly ad. This does not mean going out and buying 30 boxes of mac n’ cheese just because they are a dollar off. It also does not mean that you should buy 12 cartons of eggs “because they were a bargain.” If you’re not going to be able to eat it, don’t buy it. The money you “saved” will not match up to the money you spent on wasted food, whether it goes bad or just sits in your cabinet until you move out.

Convenience vs. Cost

As students, we all know that there is an algorithm for eating. Healthy, quick and cheap: pick two. As an exercise, let us compare the cost of ground beef to pre-formed burger patties. Sixteen ounces of 85/15 ground beef at HyVee costs $2.48. Their “gourmet steakhouse burgers,” which are six ounces each, cost $2 apiece. That comes down to 16 cents per ounce with the ground beef opposed to 33 cents with the burger already prepared.

As a student, you have more time than money, and although math hurts, take the time to weigh out your options. Is having someone else form your burger worth twice the price? We leave this decision, and the rest of these wise shopping habits, up to you.