In a recent shopping trip, Teri Gault with thegrocerygame.com explained how great deals are possible, and it starts with the cheddar.
"When you first come into the store you usually bump into this great gourmet cheese section and they're great for parties, but for your everyday cheese, 8 ounces for $5.99," she said. She grabbed four for a toal of 2 pounds and ventured across the store to see what else she could find.
As it turned out, the two pounds of medium cheddar cheese from the gourmet cart costs $24. But 2 pounds of medium cheddar from a different department came out to $10 for a savings of $14.
In the produce aisle, 2 pounds of cut and peeled carrots are $3. But 2 pounds of whole carrots were about half the price at $1.59. And for those who appreciate staying-power, whole carrots usually last about four times longer in the refrigerator.
Gault then gave some lessons in bread. While she says her kids are crazy for sub sandwiches, she isn't always crazy about the $3.69 per package price tag.
"Here we just went to the other side of the store, half price, nice big fresh French loaf," she said.
And for half the price, you can cut the loaf into smaller, sub-sized portions.
Some shoppers think larger sizes are always cheaper than smaller sizes, but that's not so. One example is a large size of Dial hand soap, which costs about $6. But six of the smaller-sized dispensers equal the size of the large dispenser, and those also come out to $6. If you really think about using coupons, in this case you could by the six small dispensers for $4, and you'll get an extra one for free for a savings of $3.
Another shopping myth is that fresh produce beats frozen in terms of price, but Gault says that isn't always so. For example, a 12-ounce pack of fresh spinach goes for $8, but a 12-ounce frozen pack of spinach can be found for $1.
Using these tips, Gault saved $37 during the course of one shopping trip -- that's real money.
