Become a Super Savvy Survival Shopper

Have you ever had so little money after paying critical bills that there wasn’t enough left to buy food? This article describes four powerful rules for becoming a super savvy survival shopper. When your budget is dangerously tight, every decision you make magnifies the risk of falling deeper and deeper in a hole.  This makes it more critical than ever to get the absolute most for your dollar.

The rules you’ll find here provide a safe, proven system to step back from the brink.  They are gleaned from real life experience. By following them, you can learn to shop and eat with full satisfaction for almost no money at all.

Strive To Improve Quality

It is a basic principle of Zero-Based Living to always strive to improve your quality of life, no matter what you face. When you are at a point where it’s hard to afford the basics, this principle is often tested to its limits.  If this describes your plight, don’t give up.

Try using the four rules below, while paying extra attention to nutrition and taste.  You’ll be amazed at how even small changes to old habits can make a huge difference.

To be sure, good eating requires healthy ingredients, balanced meals, tasty recipes and a flair for style.  The extra effort and creativity necessary to achieve these things often feels beyond our capacity.  Thankfully, the truth is more forgiving.   Sometimes when things are at their worst, doing small things to take care of ourselves provides the most hope.  In the end, finding the energy we need comes down to treating ourselves with the same respect we’d give to one our best friends or loved ones.  When you think of eating on a strict budget, keep high standards, learn to enjoy the process of finding the best deal and be willing to experiment.  You won’t regret it.

Potent Rules For “Survival Mode” Shopping

The four rules below can be used when you enter the grocery store and you are particularly low on money. This is true “survival mode” shopping.  Whether or not your situation is this dire, adopting these rules to fit your budget will insure you get the most for your dollar.

It may also help to combine these survival ideas with other, more general principles for smart shopping, such as found in the article, “Six Highly Effective Habits For Saving Money On Groceries”.

1. The One Dollar Rule

As you walk through the store, scan the price tags.  You’re looking for any product that costs about a dollar.  Ignore everything else at first. “About a dollar” means any price from a penny to as high as $1.99. When you stick to buying in this range, your average item will cost about a buck. A lot of things are usually available for 99 cents.

Is it really possible to find good things to eat in a price range this low?  The good news is you can. Believe it or not, there are still some real value bargains such as eggs, wieners, TV dinners, tuna, spaghetti, and so on. The best stores consistently price some of their most appealing sale items with a 99 cent price tag.  They’ve discovered marketing this way is irresistible to shoppers.

Don’t forget that “buy one get one free” offers will also drop the per unit cost of a product.  Check around.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the variety of foods available to a savvy survival shopper.

At dollar stores, following this rule is easy—little or nothing is sold for over a dollar. You may be amazed at what foods you can find at dollar stores today, especially larger ones. Just be careful of outdated or poor quality items.

By sticking with the “One Dollar” rule, you will learn to know which foods are bargain foods and catch the best sale items, too.

2. The Many Servings Rule

When shopping, it’s important to know how many servings you expect to get out of any food you buy. Make sure to get the maximum number of servings possible. It doesn’t help much to pay “only 99 cents” for something, if you only get a single serving. You can MULTIPLY how far your money goes by buying cheap items that give you a large number of servings, such as a whole package of spaghetti, a bag of rice, or a dozen eggs.

It’s okay to break this rule on occasion.  We all need a treat from time to time, but do your best to stick to the “One Dollar” rule for most of your purchases. That way you’ll multiple the power of your dollar and stay on budget.

3. The Smart Splurge Rule

Sometimes real bargains are less obvious.  In fact, you can miss them altogether because the price tag may seem high at first.  Here’s an important tip:  Buying ANY more expensive food item you can afford is fine, as long as you can get an unusually large number of servings from it.  The key is to look at the cost per serving.  For example, a ten pound bag of potatoes might go for $2.99. At first glance, this is not within the One Dollar Rule, yet you can easily get 10 or 15 generous servings from it, so it’s still a great buy.  If you get 10 servings, your cost would be only 29 cents per serving ($2.99 divided by 10 = 29 cents).  That’s well within range.

Here is another example. You see a large, 6 pound package of fresh chicken legs for $5.88. Again, this price is not within the One Dollar Rule, but the package has about 18 or 20 chicken legs in it, enough for several servings. On the label, the unit price is 98 cents a pound, so each pound DOES obey the One Dollar Rule, especially if you stretch the meat by making casseroles, soups and other dishes.

You might bypass many excellent products if you ignore the Smart Splurge Rule. Some condiments and ingredients look expensive, until you realize how many servings you get. A large, two pound jar of chicken bouillon powder might cost you $3.99, but you can make dozens of servings of soup, chicken flavored rice, and so on. An enormous, 18 ounce jar of ground pepper might cost $8.99. Yet it might last a family for a whole year or two of daily cooking. That may make it a terrific deal.  The key is to know if you have enough cash on hand to buy a few things in quantity.

Buying in bulk is often the way to go for the best savings, but how do you know when you’re spending cash you shouldn’t?  One sure-fire method is to make a Running Cash Flow.  That way, you can always feel good about the buying decisions you make.

4.  The Tasty Cooking Rule

Collect a few super tasty, ultra easy recipes that use inexpensive foods. Foods that need to be cooked can cost FIVE TIMES LESS than prepared foods. That means enormous savings. If you don’t like to cook, chances are you still like foods that are truly delicious. The key is to find favorites you love that can be prepared in just minutes, with a minimum of pots, pans, or messes.

Think about the foods you can afford, and if there is any way you’ve ever eaten them that tasted especially delicious. If you still dream about the teriyaki burgers your mother used to make, ask how she did it. It might be as simple as adding a spice or two.  Or flip through recipe books that have color photos in them. Collect recipes that you can whip up in minutes—ones make your mouth water just thinking about them.

Often the key to great cooking is in the “extras” you add. Things like butter, diced onions, garlic powder, paprika, bouillon, salt, pepper, or a bit of sugar can really add zip to foods.  Once you know what makes foods taste good, the possibilities are endless. There’s no question frying up a chunk of meat is convenient, but with a little imagination you can turn it into a tasty treat, instead.  Try adding a bottled sauce, a couple of fresh mushrooms or a bit of onion, and cook some noodles to go with it.  Before you know it, you’ll discover the food you’re eating will add a little bounce to your step.

Learning to thrive as a survival shopper is a sure bet for digging yourself out of a hole.  It can also be a terrific way to repair the family budget, especially if an unexpected expense pops up on your radar.

For other money saving tips, be sure to check out the linked articles.

By Bill West

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