Comparison Shop & Slash Grocery Bills!

Comarison Shop andSlash 30% From Your Bill BEFORE COUPON DISCOUNTS!

Resolve to Comparison Shop in 2012!

“A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore” – Yogi Berra

Back in the 1950′s, New York Yankee Catcher Yogi Berra probably didn’t even consider that his off handed remark above would actually resonate with truth throughout the decades in both good times and in bad. ”A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore,” was actually Yogi’s simple way of reminding us that even in the 1950′s we weren’t getting as much for our money as we did in the 1940′s. Even back in the 1950′s my mom was an amazing Comparison shopper. As a child of the depression  in the 1930′s she could feed her family of 7 with the shiny quarter my grandmother would hand her, & comparison shop her way home with pork chops, potatoes, a vegetable and her coveted apple slices. However, everything is relative and in the millennium comparison shopping takes real skills!

Here we are at the end of 2011 standing nose to nose with recession and Yogi’s words couldn’t be more true.  Today there are thousands of ways to comparison shop on millions of items, but in 2011 traditional comparison shopping just isn’t good enough.  Today you have to be a supermarket detective more than ever!………

Comparison shop & compare more than price: Compare Package, Size, Shape, Height & Weight!

How many ways to comparison shop?  Let me count the ways!  My comparison shopping begins before I leave the house by doing the basics; make a list, peruse the sale flyers, get coupons organized, and basically get prepared to save both time and money. Here are a few basic tips:

1.) Comparison Shop Online (Check out the differences between Jewel Foods, Kroger, Dominicks, Marrianos, Safeway, Albertson, Piggly Wiggly, Target, K-Mart, Walmart,  etc. right at your computer screen

2.) Comparison Shop Store Flyers

3.) Comparison Shop Coupon Policies (more lenient, more savings)

4.) Comparison shop in store specials

5.) Comparison Shop Name Brands versus House Brands and Generics

Comparison Shop With a Magnifying Glass & an Attitude!

Of course, we expect to comparison shop when we get into the store.  We eyeball the shelves automatically checking to see if the advertised specials are really the best deal.  We compare pounds, ounces, liquid sizes, dry sizes and cornflakes boxes.  However, because a lot of us are brand loyal and are so used to purchasing a particular brand or two of the same staple item like peanut butter, condiments such as relish and ketchup, cornflakes, bread, and the list goes on.  When purchasing an unfamiliar brand or deciding between the “large economy size” and a smaller size of course we check for size, ounces etc. However, 2012 will be the year of comparison shopping with a magnifying glass and an attitude!

Beware of manufacturers that have become packaging magicians!  Did you know that a package of cereal or a jar of peanut butter can magically hold less  without you even being aware of it!  When comparing the small, medium and large sizes of a product and mentally deciding which size allows you the greatest savings when you use a coupon, etc., carefully write down how many pounds or ounces you are comparing and save it for your records.  Chances are that the old trusty large economy size of a product has gone for 24 ounces to 18 ounces without anyone even noticing!  Manufacturers have been known to subtly change the size or shape of a product (making the cereal box just enough thinner to hold an ounce less of cereal without being detected unless you read the label; remember when the peanut butter jar you scrapped with a spatula to get the last lick had a flat bottom?  Not any more–the peanut butter jar may appear to be the same size, but suddenly when you get to the bottom you notice that the jar is no longer flat–some jars are made with indentations so large that they look like they were formed around someone’s thumb!

What do manufacturers gain from this?  Well, if their product sells for 25 cents per ounce and they can reduce the product in the package by one ounce and go undetected, then of course we think we are still getting the same value but we may unknowingly be paying more per ounce for less product.  How does this help the manufacturer?  Well, even a slight change in the number of cookies in a package or reducing the ketchup or peanut butter by only an ounce and selling the package for the same price as the previous size can save the manufacturer of a mass produced product millions of dollar a year.  If a thousand boxes of cereal each contain ten cents less flakes but we pay the same price that we did for the old size the manufacturer saves $100 per thousand boxes. Do the math, if they appreciate this savings on a million boxes?

I’m not trying to imply that cereal manufacturers or the makers of our beloved peanut butter are trying to defraud us a last bite-however, this is just my “heads up for 2012″ to encourage shoppers to bring along a magnifier to check the fine print and make sure you are getting the same number of ounces per package that you thought you were in 2011.  Be a millennium comparison shopping detective and do a little CSI as you scan the shelves.  Drop me a note and let me know which products you use that previously had flat bottoms and now they seem to have a “bubble bottom!” (Bubble bottom meaning the bottom of the package is INVERTED so there is less product in the package!

Yogi Berra would be proud if we can actually make those nickels worth a dime again! Check out my other Comparison Shopping Tips Here!

We are all in this together.  If you have money saving suggestions  (or problems to solve) please share them with me so I can share with others.  If you have something to report or want to share your money saving tips, drop me an e-mail at http://extreme-couponing-tips.com. if your letter is chosen for $uper $aver of the day you will receive a free copy of The Coupon Encyclopedia or How to Save $1000 a Year at the Supermarket!