Comparison Shop for Best Deals

Save a few cents each week and soon you’ll have dollars. Comparison shopping can help save money and one of the easiest places to start is with food shopping.

The first step is to make a list of needed items. This is easier if you write down menus for each day of the week. With weekly menus you can shop for the entire week instead of making daily stops at the grocery store. You don’t have to worry about what’s for dinner on the way home from work. Your kitchen will be stocked with the food you need to serve a meal.

After you’ve decided on menus, check your cabinets and freezer for items you may already have. Then finalize the list of items you need from the grocery store.

After you have a grocery list, check the weekly advertisements and compare prices of like items. The advice used to be to shop one store that had the most items you needed on special. There are many more grocery store choices now and many of these are located close together so it is easier to shop the specials at more than one location.

Unit prices for food are helpful in comparison shopping. The price per ounce or pound is displayed on the store shelves below the food. The unit price tells how much the food costs per ounce or per pound. Sometimes the unit price on one package will be based on ounces and the unit price on another will be based on pounds. You need to do the math to convert them to the same unit.

It may be less expensive to buy food in quantity. Compare prices carefully. Often bulk items or items packed in quantity are no cheaper than single items. If you have the storage space and find a true bargain, stock up. For example, canned tomatoes can be used in many different dishes such as soups, chili and spaghetti, so buy several cans when the price is right.

For most canned and frozen items there is little difference in quality, taste and appearance between brand name and store brand. Some of these items are processed in the same facility for more than one company. Read the labels to make sure you’re getting the same amount of the product. In some cases, one brand may appear to be less expensive, but the quantity is less also. By comparing prices you can get the best buy.