Market is a place that keeps a lot of temptation in it. If you don’t have control on your emerging desires you may end up spending beyond your budget limit. Sometimes, you would be buying things that are not of much usefulness. At other time an extra expensive item can be added to your cart. That’s why, it is important to have a conscious control whatever you shop. Here are a few tips that I have found effective in shopping of food to keep it in the budget.

Prepare a list of items mindfully

Making a list of the needed items always help in not missing the required food products. Not only this, but also it keeps you aware of what you don’t need. I always prepare a list before going to the market. This list is not generated relying on my memory but before jotting down the items I look into every place (such as refrigerator, the jars and storage boxes in kitchen) wherever I keep the food items. It makes me aware of how much a particular thing is left and how much more I need for the next month. This way, I avoid bringing extra that would be likely to rot because of excess.

Buy in bulk

I am not at all in favour of buying food items on daily basis. It never gives a feeling of fulfilment. I buy the grocery of the whole month together. The price of bulk from a whole sale market costs lesser than the retail prices. In some cases it is remarkably lesser.

Not everything should be bought in bulk

Buying the bulk quantities saves money and time but not always. Some products are meant to buy fresh. If you buy extra they would rot. For instance banana, strawberry, Spinach, fresh coriander, mint leaves etc. start rotting in a couple of days.

There are some other vegetables and fruits that may stay for relatively longer time such as potato, onion, garlic, tomato, apple, water melon I buy an amount of them enough for a week.

Be Mindful about prices

There are several places in the city where the similar products are sold. However, the similar products with the same quality standards might have different prices at different shops and stores. Instead of putting everything in the cart and paying the bill together, be consciously aware of the price of each product. If you find a big difference at two places, you may make a better choice. For instance, I buy my monthly grocery from a super store. There the price and quality of many items are reasonable but I found that there was a difference of 10 Rs. on per kilogram of sugar from another near by shop. It was more convenient for me to buy from the other shop (as it was nearer to my home). So I no longer buy sugar from that super market. Also, the meat is available in quite a lesser price in our nearer area so why would we bother to bring it from an expensive market.

Brands are not the sole guarantee of quality

I know brands are often good as they keep a quality check to maintain their rapport. However, it doesn’t mean if something is not branded it won’t be good. We can get an equally good quality product from some local seller in a much lesser price than the branded product. Brands sell their names more than their quality. That’s why if you are open to try new manufacturers, you are likely to save money.

Buy local

Once I picked a packet of snacks. It was from the same company I always bought but the wrapper looked a little different in colour and language. I realized it was an imported product from the same company that also manufactures the product in our country. I looked at the price in the shelf. It was 1$ while the same quantity of the product manufactured locally cost 0.1$. I had no point for buying the imported packet except to prove myself rich (I didn’t need to prove anyone so I didn’t buy 😉)

Buy a small quantity when you try something new

Trying new products and flavours is good. It adds to our experience. However, whenever you try something new, do not buy it in bulk. Instead, buy as less as you can. It is because if you bought the product in bulk and you didn’t like it for any reason, the money is wasted.

In a nutshell

To keep your food shopping within budget always prepare a list and better buy the things in bulk from whole sale markets. However, everything shouldn’t be bought in bulk. For instance , a product that you try for the first time and the food products that are likely to rot quickly. It is also of immense importance to be mindful about the prices at different accessible food markets. Moreover, being open to new products and be not very rigid about the brands may also help you save money.