Expert Shopping List Tips

Expert Shopping List Tips

 by Amy Bergin

Best practices surrounding consumer coupon usage starts with the shopping list. Have you noticed on TLC's "Extreme Couponing" how each shopper has a meticulous shopping list, and they do not deviate from it? This simple but often overlooked practice can mean the difference between success and failure with savings when shopping at the grocery store. Let's take a look at what it means to build a meticulous list and not deviate from it!

The adjective meticulous means taking or showing extreme care about minute details; this means being precise and thorough. If you think about it, the goal of an extreme couponer is to spend as little money as possible if at all, so this requires having lots of information on product cost, sales and coupon offers before going to the store. Every single item that makes the list of an extreme couponer has been thoroughly researched to ensure that the lowest price or FREE is achieved. Once this is done, then the crazy thing an extreme couponer will do is find, clip and redeem 100's of the same coupon, then repeat. While buying 100's of the same item is not practical, it does serve any shopper well to do the math at home in a safe environment and create a list or spreadsheet that tells you what will happen at checkout. Stocking up on 3-4 of the same item is reasonable and within the boundaries of good couponing practices. These days there are websites like SavingsAngel.com that give you all the information needed to know your total costs in advance and exactly what coupon to use for maximum savings. If scouring tables of price information is not your thing, then keep a price book of your own and look at store sale circulars at home to find great deals. Practicing this preparation at home is a crucial step in creating a shopping list that will yield big savings.

The verb deviate means to depart or swerve from a procedure or course of action. Have you ever created a grocery shopping list and get into the sights, sounds and smells of the store and then not really follow it? Then when you get home you realize you forgot to get the very thing you went to the store for! This would never, I mean never happen to an extreme couponer since the end result of this means spending money and likely more than intended. Why? Because what extreme couponers do well is stay focused. Their shopping list carries a ton of meaning and money due to its careful construction. Shopping lists can be in our head or on paper or both; however, the important thing is to have your shopping list be meaningful and guide your selections. Deciding in advance what to buy will help you stay focused (not deviate) when you get in the store. The store environment is strategically set up on several levels to get customers to spend money, which is okay; it's the nature of business. However, smart consumers are not as easily influenced by all this and make spending choices based on careful consideration. They strive to stay on course and not deviate from the overall spending plan; however, if they do, they do it more deliberately since an unexpected, really good buy might be spotted and can be a fun surprise!

So sharpen your pencil or whip out your Couponizer pen and get going with creating a meticulous shopping list today! Then go shopping and stay focused or do not deviate unless deliberately so you check out with confidence and reap the intended savings.

Amy Bergin, mother of three children, creator of THE COUPONIZER®. The #1 best selling coupon organizing and shopping system in the US and Canada. To find out more visit her website at www.thecouponizer.com.