Stop these 10 Food Shopping Mistakes NOW!

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-Video Credits-
Creator and Host - Mike G
Producer - McGraw W @McGraw_Wolfman
Co-Editor - Christopher Pressler
Blog Writer - Alex C @threhungrybellies

[roo]

my mom number one rule: dont read the individual price, read the price by kilogram, litler etc, then compare, is surprising when u do

[johncconnolly]

"Don't shop when you're hungry" should be on this list. As a single person, it is a challenge to shop and cook for one. Freezing stuff you cook or using a vacuum sealer help, but shopping remains the difficult part. Mike makes a good point, for me at least, by buying say one lemon or apple, instead of a bunch. I think carving out an hour each week to grocery shop allows you to buy less per trip, and as a result, saves space and waste.

[trystanklassen]

My biggest pro-tip is for spices, see if you are able to go to a Asian or Indian market in your area. Indian cooking in particular uses a lot of spices in large quantities so you are likely to find larger bags of whole spices there for a lot less than what you would find at the regular grocery store! Plus whole spices keep their flavour for much longer :)

[LucyLynette]

Another tip I haven't seen in the comments (sorry if I missed it): Don;t be afraid to meal plan on the spot. If you see a good deal on on something you know you can make use of, but don't have on this week's list, pull off to the side for a minute to figure out how to best use that item and adjust your shopping list accordingly. It's worth a minute's thought to be sure you don't walk away from a good deal just because it wasn't in the original plan.

[kiracummins]

Two things that I did when I moved to the city. I instituted the once/week rule. I shop once a week. If I run out of something, or am missing an ingredient, I do without until next week. It saves me money and stress not to have to go more often. The other thing I did was find my local farmer's market. Here, they're year-round. I've been going weekly for over a decade now, and my farmers know me. I can talk to them about the crop, and the state of their chickens, the effect of a heat wave or drought, and have a better knowledge base to work from. If they have a new item they're trying out, or if they butcher something that they don't normally offer, they know me and offer it to me because I'll be honest with my feedback. It also keeps me eating with the seasons, which saves me money, and keeps my money local as much as I can. I still go to the grocery store, since the farmers market doesn't have everything, but I really like supporting those local farmers and having those chats with them. My market is Saturday mornings, so I get there bright and early to avoid the crowds, and I get all the produce I can, sometimes a loaf of bread, sack of bagels, pack of tamales, or even a pie from local producers. Then with that fresh in my mind, I hit the grocery store and fill in the gaps in my shopping list.

[bitbyterjr]

A bit of wisdom about shopping from my Grandmother that I took to heart. "If you're in a rush, you're doing it wrong". This has saved me a lot of aggravation over the years and takes a lot of stress out of the process you can often observe in other people in the grocery store.

[greenidentity]

My tip would be to not buy produce that goes bad quickly unless you have a specific recipe you’ll use it in very soon. I used to throw away so much lettuce and greens because I’d just buy it thinking I’d eat salads every day for a week. But now I know myself better than that 😆
My follow up tip to that would be - DON’T be afraid to buy frozen fruit and veggies! I buy giant bags of frozen broccoli and mixed vegetables! I also like to buy frozen strawberries and then thaw them in a container- they get a little melty and syrupy and I mix them in with Greek yogurt or on top of some ice cream 😎

[mikadotakimura]

Here’s my tip.
For plain stuff like flour, canola oil, sugar, etc., stick to the store brand. Its essentially the same quality for a much cheaper price.
I like to go to the meat section first. Theyre more expensive so finding out whats on sale and planning your meals around that saves you money. But if ur focus is freshness & quality of ingredients, then the route this video goes is a solid one.

[gennakale]

Two big tips I'd like to add: find a store that makes you happy to shop at. My anxiety at Walmart is always out of 10 within 5 minutes of being in the store. I opt in to Aldi or Harris teeter depending on how much I'm looking to spend, because they are usually much more chill. Second piece of advice, go as early as possible and if not early, late. It absolutely sucks going to the grocery store during the day during high traffic times. Being able to take my time and look around without having people everywhere around me waiting on me helps so much.

[nicolette]

My tip would be to shop for dairy and meat at the end as you need to refrigerate these and you do not want to have them in your cart for half an hour and then still have to go home. Also if you have a full cart, put the easily bruised produce on top. If you take frozen fruits to put in your dairy, you can take sugarfree yoghurt, skyr or else and still have a very good taste without sugar 😊

[nerdturf]

I cook from scratch and the truth of "Spend more now less later" Is really true, My first two grocery bills starting out with my own kitchen ingredients and cooking from scratch set me back $800. For my first two weeks. After that though I can cook on $200 a month or less. Really helpful and if you can't afford to go grocery shopping you can delve into whatever you have canned or make up recipes with the remaining ingredients you have in your counter.

Pricy start but a key tool in being middle class.

[pholliez]

I’m the grocery shopper for a family of 4. I’ve made a shared digital note that lists ALL of our normal items with tick boxes next to them. Everyone in the house can tick the box next to an item we need and add in new items. As items go in the cart I untick the box. This is particularly helpful with uncommunicative teenagers! It works better for us than the paper list that used to hang on the ‘fridge because I never forget my phone. It’s also helpful when doing a quick stock take as the list prompts me to check things like toothpaste and shampoo.

If you want to really geek out (like me), set up the list in the order of your usual store.

[TheCatWitch]

Key advice for smart grocery shopping: Never EVER shop when hungry or with an empty stomach. Hunger leads to a lot of impulse shopping of items you’re craving in the moment. Another advice: always include a rotisserie chicken in your shopping list. It’s a versatile item that’s useful for many types of meals, from a quick salad to a chicken pot pie and good bones for stock.

[tabby]

That guy at the end was so cute 😂 you could tell that him meeting you was the best part of his day.

[taisnicoletti]

I'm too lazy to make an inventory, but I take special pleasure in consuming almost all the (fresh) items in my fridge before I go shopping again, it becomes a type of challenge sometimes.

[edjarrett]

I think the biggest takeaway was keeping your pantry stocked incrementally. I’m getting better on the pantry stocking. It grows as your depth of foods develops. It’s not big things, but the small things like spices, spices and oils. Great video.

[hollydueck]

As someone who was raised without a proper eating routine, you are an essential resource for me! Thank you for being so informative and explaining the things that some people think is common knowledge

[jackydoggie]

One of the biggest things I’ve learned is to make plans to USE everything I buy. If you buy a special sauce or spice blend and only use it once, it’s costing a lot more in the long run than it would if you use the whole jar up. Part of that is to think hard about how to make delicious and desirable things using items I already have before buying a bunch of new and different things. I made an amazing cake the other day that was totally new and exciting to me, but it used up ingredients I already had on hand. Honestly, that was part of what made it exciting!

[debbybrady]

I painted half of my laundry room door with black chalk paint. We make our list as we find we need something, then I take a photo to use at the store. Very useful.

[wes]

Paying attention to Unit Pricing is super-important. A product might be $5.99 and and competitor might seemingly offer the same at $4.99, but if you pay attention to the $/unit, you might find that the $5.99 item actually gives you more product for the money. This is especially true in Dairy, specifically Ice Cream, where some products are labeled by weight, where others are labeled by volume, which aren't the same at all. Halo Top comes to mind, they like to market on being lower calories, but if you do the math, what they are really selling you is aerated Ice Cream, while Ben and Jerrys are selling you the real stuff, but they are roughly the same cost. ( I used to work for a global grocery chain on a team that managed the pricing to customers.)