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The Best Questions to Ask Before Putting an Item in Your Cart
Grocery stores are really good at making you feel like you need things you never planned to buy. A sale sign catches your attention. A new flavor looks interesting. There's a display right in the middle of the aisle. And before you know it, something you didn't need...
How to Shop the Perimeter and Aisles With a Budget in Mind
There's a popular grocery-shopping rule that says you should stick to the perimeter of the store. That's where you'll usually find produce, meat, dairy and other fresh foods. The aisles, meanwhile, are where all the packaged food lives. It sounds simple: stay around...
How to Avoid Grocery Shopping Mistakes That Lead to Food Waste
Food waste doesn't always start in the kitchen. A lot of it starts at the grocery store. You buy too much because something is on sale. You grab the larger package because the unit price looks better. You buy ingredients for a meal you never end up making. Then a week...
How to Use Your Freezer to Get More Value From Grocery Purchases
Your freezer can do a lot more than hold ice cream and frozen vegetables. Used properly, it can help you take advantage of sales, save leftovers, prevent food from going bad and make groceries you already paid for stretch further. The trick is knowing what is actually...
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Store Brand vs. Name Brand: How to Compare the Real Value
The cheapest item on the shelf isn't always the best deal. And the item with the biggest discount sticker isn't necessarily the best deal either. When you're standing in the grocery aisle comparing a store brand with a name brand, the real question is pretty simple:...
How to Compare Grocery Prices Without Getting Fooled by Package Size
Grocery stores have gotten very good at making prices look cheaper than they really are. A package is $3.99. Another is $4.49. At first glance, the $3.99 option looks like the obvious choice. Then you notice one package has 12 ounces and the other has 20. Now the...
Private Label, Name Brand, or Discount Brand: What Should You Buy?
Walking down the grocery aisle, you can end up with three or four versions of basically the same product. There's the name brand you've seen forever. There's the store's private-label version. And then there's the really cheap option sitting on the bottom shelf. So...
When Paying More for a Name Brand Actually Makes Sense
Saving money on groceries doesn't mean you have to buy the cheapest version of everything. In fact, trying to do that can sometimes backfire. There are products where the store brand is just as good as the name brand. There are others where you can taste the...
How to Find the Best Store-Brand Substitutes for Everyday Staples
Switching to store brands is one of the easiest ways to cut a grocery bill without changing what you're eating. The problem is figuring out which products are worth switching. Some store-brand foods are nearly indistinguishable from the name brands sitting next to...
How to Compare Store Brands Across Different Grocery Stores
Shopping at different grocery stores can save you money, but there's one problem that makes comparisons harder than they look: Every store has its own version of "cheap." One store might have an inexpensive pasta that's actually a great buy. Another might have a...
How to Compare Frozen, Canned, and Fresh Versions of the Same Food
Fresh isn't always better. Frozen isn't always cheaper. And canned food isn't automatically the budget option. When you're standing in the grocery store looking at three versions of the same food, it's easy to assume you already know which one is the best choice....
Building a Grocery Cart With the Best Mix of Brands and Prices
You don't have to buy the cheapest version of everything to have a cheap grocery cart. In fact, that's probably not the best way to do it. A better grocery cart is a mix. Maybe the store-brand pasta goes in the cart because it's half the price and nobody cares about...