Plan Your Grocery List to Avoid Impulse Purchases

MJ Suttor

It is 5:00 on a Monday night. After a stressful day at the workplace, the realization hits. "What's for supper?" Thinking that a quick trip through the grocery aisle would lead to a healthier meal, you pull into the nearest supermarket and let the indulgence begin! Suddenly a whole lot of food items look really, really good. Before long the cart is full and the wallet is empty.

There are several key steps to take to avoid impulse purchases at the grocery store:

1. Before planning the grocery list for the week, take a look at the calendar. Think about the nights that may be more hectic and try to think of easier meals for those nights.

2. Look through the grocery advertisements for the week. Quite often impulse buys are dictated by the specials. Now some of these specials are great food items to add to the diet, while others are just junk food. If you are aware of the good food deals for the week and you incorporate these items into the menu, they will become part of the plan instead.

3. Pour over the recipe books. This is the time to make decisions about the foods that will be offered at the table and taken for lunches. The worst decision is to go into the store without looking at the recipe books first. Otherwise it is easy to purchase duplicate items that are already on the shelf and to come home without what is really needed - which will cause another needless trip to the store.

4. Think about the arrangement of the store. Preferably the shopper will only shop the perimeter of the aisles. These are the aisles that will offer the best fresh foods including, dairy, produce, meats, and bakery items. Usually the unhealthy foods are in the middle section of the store. Make the list to go in the order of the perimeter of the store. Then only venture to the middle aisles if there is a specific item that is needed.

5. Think about the size and quantity of the items that are desired. It doesn't matter how good the deal is if you aren't going to use the product. For example, just because there is a great sale on lettuce doesn't mean it is a good idea to purchase five heads. Beware of giant containers of food items. If it is something that will become stale before it is all used up, it is a better bargain to buy the smaller container.

6. Think about the kids, but do not indulge too much. If kids are in the house, they tend to request junk foods. Now the best choice is to allow the child to select one "junk" item to put on the grocery list. That will be the only one that is purchased on this grocery trip. It reduces the impulse to buy too many items and the amount of begging the child will do in the store.

7. Think about your own indulgences. Just like kids, adults like a few indulgences too. The key is to allow one treat. Skip the chips and candy. Think instead about choosing a little higher quality yogurt or a more expensive bread instead of junk food items. That can be your indulgence instead of a whammy of items. Think about how much money is spent on items that aren't so good. For the price of couple of boxes of toaster pastries, that fresh pineapple would be a much better indulgence.

Avoiding impulse purchases can be a challenge. Taking the first step of making a list and sticking to it will help you to be well on the way to stopping this wallet and diet thief from making a grim appearance on your next shopping trip.

04/04/08  By MJ Suttor