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Have you calculated how much of your overall spending goes toward drink and food? According to Esri, a business that specializes in location intelligence, the most recent expenditure statistics available, Americans spend an average of $5,174 on food in a given year, or $431 on average every month.
We enlisted the help of shopping experts to determine the most effective tips to lower those virtual price tags since we wanted to be sure that we would be able to save money while shopping online as well as time.
Here are 8 Killer Tips for Saving Money While Grocery Shopping And Online Shopping
1. Make A Plan For Your Shopping List
Make wish lists and wait until sale situations, such as long weekend promotions (think Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Presidents’ Day, etc.), or Black Friday and Cyber Monday, rather than buying something as soon as you have the idea to buy it.
According to McGrath, an expert at RetailMeNot “that keeps your shopping list structured, so you can notice when the goods you want drop in price.”
2. Before Purchasing, Compare Pricing
Finding lower prices saves you time and gives you more money for shopping. Consumer and money-saving expert Andrea Woroch advises, “Never buy anything online or at a store without comparing prices.” “You never know if a different store is giving a lower price, if they have a discount, or if there’s a coupon.”
She claims that by conducting an online search using the product name and style number, online customers may easily compare pricing. “You can also receive an instant price comparison by using a browser feature like PriceBlink,” she continues.
“This tool will alert you with a pop-up if they discover the item you’re shopping at another site for less. This is useful since you might find it at a store you hadn’t originally thought to check.
3. Join Loyalty Programs And Newsletters
It helps to sign up for these programs to receive updates on offers, future flash sales, and new products since most loyalty programs are free to join.
In addition, McGrath adds, “retailers frequently provide a unique discount code to new members. When making your first purchase from a store, sign up for the newsletter a day or two beforehand to ensure you receive the promotional code.
4. Review Past Prices And Create Deal Alerts.
To determine whether a deal you’re considering is a reasonable discount price, Woroch also advises looking at pricing history. She suggests visiting websites that offer historical pricing information, including CamelCamelCamel.com and PayPal Honey, to help you make wise purchasing decisions.
Retailers may attempt to mislead you into believing a certain promotion is the best offer available, but Woroch says the price history will reveal the real picture. “And it pays to wait if you see that something was recently sold for cheaper,” she says.
Another tip is to use Paypal Honey’s DropList feature, which notifies you if the price of an item falls below a predetermined level, to ensure that you don’t miss out on any deals.
5. Install A Free Browser Extension
PayPal Honey, as was already said, is a fantastic resource for finding coupons and securing cash-back offers. According to Greg Lisiewski, vice president of PayPal Shopping, “it saves you hours of searching for discounts and testing codes.”
It’s similar to having a personal shopper uncover the best deals on whatever item you’re trying to purchase.
Lisiewski explains that because there are so many promotions going on and there are so many emails regarding coupons, it may be difficult to keep track.
As a result, extensions like PayPal Honey save time and effort by automatically validating the discount codes for you at checkout.
And, let’s be honest, this also prevents the annoyance of having to spend time manually finding and entering codes that don’t work, he continues. “An additional benefit: Occasionally, discounts or cash-back offers are offered that are only available through extensions, giving you even more money back in your pocket.”
Another choice is to install the RetailMeNot Deal Finder extension and join their cash-back program. According to Kristin McGrath, a specialist at RetailMeNot, “that way, you’re not leaving any savings on the table.”
Deal Finder “finds and automatically applies the best promo codes and cashback offers to your order while you browse, and the cashback program enables you to get a portion of your purchase back—a wonderful way to save, even if the company itself is not running a promotion or offering a discount code.”
According to McGrath, popular companies in fashion, accessories, home, kitchen, electronics, and more offer up to 15% cash back, which is instantly put into your wallet for future purchases. This boosts your savings.
Similar to Rakuten, you can use discount codes in combination with CashBack deals from RetailMeNot to optimize your savings while also gaining rewards. She claims that RetailMeNot has given its Cash Back members $55 million to date and is still going.
6. Request A Retroactive Discount If You Can
Once you make a purchase, the price comparisons don’t have to end. When purchasing items that later go on sale, Woroch encourages customers to examine the store’s policy on pricing changes because some may allow them up to two weeks to receive a refund for the difference.
To request a pricing adjustment, she advises calling customer care or using the online chat tool.
7. Maximize Your Cash-Back On Each Purchase
Ensure that your credit cards are benefiting you by enabling you to collect worthwhile points that you may use to save money for a significant purchase or a trip.
A flat-rate cash-back card is currently one of the best options because it eliminates the need to track categories or spending limits while enabling you to earn more across a variety of purchases and retailers or merchants, according to Woroch.
“While there are many types of rewards that may give you more back for airline purchases or groceries, one of the best options right now is a flat-rate cash-back card,” Woroch adds.
Take it a step further because there are cash-back tools available that can help you get more money back on each transaction. As an example, Woroch suggests CouponCabin.com, which provides cash back for thousands of online stores across a range of product categories, including grocery, apparel, electronics, baby products, and appliances.
8. It Is Important To Clip Coupons.
To improve your savings, join the loyalty program at the store of your choice and clip coupons for even greater discounts. When the weekly circular arrives in the mail, keep an eye out for it and skim through the pages to identify the deals you’re interested in. If there are any coupons, print them out and put them away for when you go shopping again.
There are already effective, user-friendly digital alternatives. Downloading the app for your favorite grocery, looking through the list of current sales, and adding digital coupons to your digital loyalty card can all help you save money. At checkout, the discount will then be applied automatically.
