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Ways to Save Money Grocery Shopping

Of all the ways to save money grocery shopping, the one that comes to mind first for most people is probably using manufacturers’ coupons. Unfortunately, this is not only time consuming, but it rarely saves you much money. That’s because even with the coupon a given product is usually more than a perfectly adequate alternative. Unless you really want the particular brand represented by the coupon, there are better ways to cut your costs. Here are a few examples.

Bring a calculator and cash. If you need to budget for groceries, then bring only what your budget allows. If you have a debit or credit card with you it is too easy to go beyond what you planned to spend. If you have just the cash you want to spend, you’ll have no way to spend a penny more. The calculator is necessary, of course, so you don’t have to tell the cashier to take half of your things back. Just add things up as you go, and allow for sale’s tax if it is charged where you live.

Compare fresh and frozen. There are times when fresh fruits and vegetables are cheaper and times when the frozen version is the better buy. For example, if you are buying strawberries for “fruit smoothies” that you blend up in the morning, it really doesn’t matter whether you use frozen or fresh strawberries, but sometimes the frozen ones are a dollar less per pound. Now for the really good news. Frozen fruits and vegetables may have more vitamins according to some studies. This is because they are flash frozen shortly after picking, locking in the vitamins, while the fresh ones travel for days in hot and cold trucks, and then sit for days on the shelves.

Always eat before you shop. People joke about this, but it is absolutely the truth that we tend to buy more when we are hungry, and when we have more food to eat we tend to eat more. Not only that, but the type of foods we buy is affected. When we go grocery shopping on an empty stomach we often buy more snack foods that aren’t as healthy for us.

Check those unit price tags. Lately many grocery stores, including the largest, are playing with prices. You might assume that the larger sizes are a better buy, costing less per ounce, but it isn’t always the case. Quite often the “family size” actually costs more per ounce. Whether or not this is being done on purpose, it is common now, so check those tags to see which size is actually the better buy.

Follow the pricing patterns. Big grocery store chains regularly change prices of the most popular items for marketing purposes. For example, the 9.5 ounce box of Triscuit crackers in our local Wal-Mart is currently $2.99, the same price as the 13 ounce box. This may seem strange, but there is a reason for it that I’ll …

Saving Money on Grocery Shopping

* All grocery stores have to get rid of certain items by the end of the day so if you plan to buy things like a whole cooked chicken(Chicken specifically gets marked down 3 hrs after cooking), go at the end of the trading day and you will find your chicken marked down, usually by less than even half-price. You can get a similar benefit from going early morning.

Find out when your specific store does mark-downs – Usually 3pm and 5pm.

Note, some grocers do their mark-downs first thing in the morning (opening time)

If your grocer is open late, try between 9pm and midnight for mark downs.

** Fruit is cheapest at the end of the week, so go Friday and Saturday.

While I can’t verify this, some people say Wednesday mornings are good days for mark-downs as some grocers do mark-downs on Wed in preparation for the end of the week shipments.

Another day known to be the cheapest is Sunday evening.

The best advice I would give here, would be to get friendly with someone at your local grocer and find out when they do most of their mark-downs.

More grocery shopping saving tips:

Beware of marketing strategies – Super markets know how to catch your attention to try to sell you. If you are aware of these ploys, you can avoid them.

Check products below or above eye-level – This is one of those marketing strategies mentioned above. Manufacturers pay grocers for premium eye-level product placing. You are the one that ends up paying for this premium placing!

Make a list and stick to it. – If you go out with a list and only buy what’s on the list you will spend less than if you go to the store and buy what you think you need for the week.

Store and Plain Brands – Try plain brands or store brands, they are almost always as good as more expensive labelled brands and are even better sometimes. Why pay for pretty advertising on your cat food tin when the plain brand stuff is half the price?

Coupons, Rebates, and Frequent Shopper Programs – I’m not a coupon user and probably never will be but it’s a fact that added up over a year using these can end up saving you hundreds of dollars. A recent study showed on average a 10% saving over a year.

Check Sunday papers, contact manufacturers directly and ask them if they have coupons they could send you and ask to be placed on their mailing list, check store displays as they often have more coupons and go online where you can often find printable coupons not available by conventional means.

Trying shopping like a European – If money is really tight, a technique mentioned to us by a subscriber is this: Shop like a European – This means you buy the stuff you need for dinner each day. This helps in 2 ways: One, …

Nike Dunks – Constant Evolution For the Better

Nike Dunks are another brand of sneakers which Nike introduced and it became highly popular. Some other trainers like Nike Max 95, Nike Max 97 and Nike Max 90 are also well-known. In the year 1985, this brand of shoes was introduced. They came in different styles and colors. These sneakers and shoes gained popularity amongst the university basketball players and college children.

Nike Dunks evolved after going through many stages. Previously, they were known only as basketball shoes. Later, they catered to the fashion industry and made a fashion statement in the fashion and designer world. Even though they gained popularity as a fashion accessory, the designs of these shoes made it amply clear that they were best suited only for basketball games of high intensity. The characteristic of these shoes were that the soul of these shoes was not only wider, but also nearer to the ground. This automatically reduced the weight of these shoes and which helped in accelerated performance of the players. The paneling structure was redesigned in such a manner that it proved to be highly effective in both pivoting and blocking.

The Nike Dunks were specifically introduced in different attractive colors which matched the uniforms of the basketball team. Nike took up the job of sponsoring the average basketball teams. They redesigned the new shoe line and made these modifications. It caught the attention of the public and there was growing demand and popularity for these type of shoes.

Both the varieties of Air Max 90s and 95s were manufactured in bulk due to its increasing demand. Both these varieties of shoes were produced in huge quantities as compared to the Air Jordans. The above mentioned varieties were specially designed keeping the fashion trends and styles in mind. Fashion conscious shoppers go in for these stylish shoes. They can be purchased by placing an order online. You could visit the shop online and place your order and it would be delivered at your doorstep. If you are one of those online buyers, you need to keep your eyes wide open for any auctions, where you would get heavy discounts. These shoes can be purchased at a good discount. The auction site also states the prices of the highest and lowest bid for these shoes. Some shoes have been sold at even $ 1000 which has been the highest rate uptill now.

When placing the order for these shoes and sneakers, you need to select on the color, design and style and also mention the shoe size. Once you pay the money online, the shoes are delivered at your doorstep within the time frame mentioned.…

Weight Loss Grocery Shopping Guide Notes

Grocery shopping is a chore if you are trying to lose weight. Flattening your stomach need more than just exercise. With exercise, diet plays an important role as well. What you eat and don’t eat has a powerful effect on your health, including your weight. Without knowing it, you may be eating many foods that fuel for your fat, while neglecting the powerful foods and nutrients that can help you to stay in shape and healthy as well. If you change your diet and behaviours, you can minimize your weight gain and possibly even stop in its tracks.

Here are some suggestions for Weight loss Grocery shopping:

The worst place to go to in super market is in the aisles. The aisles of any grocery stores are filled with foods in boxes. Which are processed and chemical loaded fatty foods. Processed foods are always full with refined sugar, hydrogenated oils, sodium and most of the time simple carbohydrate.

Keep focus of your shopping trip on the produce and deli section. Except if you need to pick up some specific items such as organic brown rice, sugar, salt, whole grains or legumes.

Be careful about the statements are printed on the packages, such as fat free, low calorie. Most of the time fat free foods have hidden calories in the form of sugar.

Look for the word whole wheat on the label while buying bread. Whole wheat and whole grain are the best. If instead of the word whole, the word whole grains is written then it is not necessary that the whole wheat is the main ingredient. If enriched wheat or multigrain or whole grain is written on the label that means white flour is still there.

Look for the bread with 100 calorie per slice or less and made with whole wheat.

Look for cereals which are whole grain such as all bran and oat and no added sugar should be there. And fiber content should be 5-7 grams and fat not more than 2.5 grams. You can add fresh fruits to make your cereal sweet.

Don’t buy granola bar or cereal. They might sound healthy but most of the time high in fat and refined sugar loaded.

For buying crackers look for whole wheat, low fat and low sodium or no sodium and at least 2 gram fiber or more per serving.

For oil canola or extra virgin olive oil is the best choice.

For fruits you can buy any. All fruits are healthy but if you are on weight loss diet, then avoid Grapes and banana. Both of them have more sugar than any other food, though they are natural sugars but still you have to watch them. Best choices are grape fruits, oranges, blue berry, black berry, raspberry, and strawberry. All these fruits are full of Vitamin C. Vitamin C enhances fat burning process.

Avoid buying juices, though they are loaded with sugar.…

A Guide to Incredible Bhubaneshwar

With more than 600 temples that give a glimpse of its rich 3000 years old heritage, Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa India is an epitome of the truest fusion of dream and reality. Besides being a melting pot of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, what is unique about Bhubaneshwar is that it holds a supreme position in the field of art, culture and music. Bhubaneshwar’s Patachitra paintings, handlooms and fabulous handicrafts give it a favorable and matchless identity. When spoken about Bhubaneshwar handicrafts, the outstanding brass work, silver work, terracotta art objects and applique work, besides its unique handloom, needs particular mention.

Above and beyond celebrating the significant festivals like Dusshera, Durga Puja, Diwali and Holi, what is also distinctive about Bhubaneshwar is the people’s fervor for celebration. Apart from the temples and architecture the most interesting attractions near Bhubaneshwar is Nandan Kanan, the largest lion safari park in the country and an exciting place for wild life lovers.

Once your sight seeing is over you can take pleasure in doing some shopping in Bhubaneshwar. With an abundance of local markets flooded with traditional gift items, your shopping splurge can be well met in Bhubaneshwar. The best buys in the centers of shopping in Bhubaneshwar include patta paintings, sea shell work, stone and woodcarving, silk fabrics and silver filigree, also known as the tarakashi work. Applique work (chandua) on garments and weaving work, especially ‘ikat’ fabrics created by thousands of weavers of Orissa, has individuality of their own and are unparalleled in the world. Thus, with so much of options to buy, shopping in Bhubaneshwar is truly a rewarding experience.

Many of the hotels and restaurants in Bhubaneshwar offer an admirable assortment of Indian and Continental cuisine, and Chinese food as well. Traditional Orissan cuisines in most of the restaurants in Bhubaneshwar are served in several small dishes arranged together on a large thali (platter). Rice and fish are the staple fare in restaurants in Bhubaneshwar besides Maccha-besara, Aambila, Chenchada, all non-veggies. Chhena jilabi, Pitha, Kakara, etc. are the other delicacies that one can try.…