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May 1, 2008 10:13 pm US/Mountain
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Colorado Dietician Shares Grocery Saving Tips
Good Question: How Do I Cut My Grocery Bill?
Written for cbs4denver.com by Alan Gionet
In order to answer the economic Good Question "How do I cut my grocery bill?" CBS4's Alan Gionet took a trip to the grocery store with dietician Bonnie Jortberg, who had several interesting tips you likely haven't considered. DENVER (CBS4) -- "It's a lot harder than it used to be," said one woman outside the King Soopers in Stapleton.
Two people said it was their second store of the day as they spent expensive gas hunting for cheaper food prices.
"I have to carry my calculator because I think they're cheating me," said a shopper.
But every time she checks, they're not.
Dietician Bonnie Jortberg believes there are ways many people can shop smarter.
"Well I think there's 3 things you can start with," says Jortberg. "Do some meal planning ahead of time. So plan out your menus, what you want to plan out for the week, those kinds of things and from those menu plans come up with a grocery list.
"If you know what you need to buy when you go to the grocery store you don't have a tendency to buy a lot of extraneous things that might be more costly. And the third and most important thing is don't go grocery shopping when you're hungry."
A lot of people are already working on those things.
How about the kids? Are they costing you?
"You know what, it's funny there's some data that shows if you shop without your kids you could spend less money."
Stores know where to put the costly items when it comes to your shopping alone or with your children.
"Go down the aisles that are more adult oriented then you can see the more expensive items more at eye level. Then you go down the kid aisle then most of the sugary kids' cereals are lower down where it's more eye level for the kids. So there's some very, very clever marketing going on."
Jortberg says it's time to cut out the things you don't need, like the potato chips. But you might turn to potatoes as a staple food with corn and wheat way up.
She shuns pre-packaged meals unless it's once and a while and you simply don't have the time.
"It costs you in terms of how much money you spend but it can cost you a little bit in terms of your nutrition as well. Because a lot of your pre-packaged food, they add fat, they add sodium, they add a lot of preservatives."
She likes the fact that pre-packaged vegetables have actually attracted some people to eat more of what they really need, but let's face it, can you bag your own individually portioned carrots?
"So this package over here that has four little bags is $1.79 where this bag right here where you can probably get maybe not twice as much but a third as much more carrots is actually a $1.29."
She says go generic. In blindfold tests she says many people can't tell the difference from the name brand.
Look for fruits and vegetables in season and if you're the better shopper in your family you'd better take on the job.
Jortberg says when her husband goes, "He has good intentions but he buys all the things that I wouldn't buy, the Skittles and the chips and candies and those types of things."
Web Extra Video
- cbs4denver.com's Michael Choy asked several shoppers in Denver on Wednesday what they've been doing to save money on groceries. See all the interviews.
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