AMES, Iowa -- Amid reports that U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week to the highest level since early April -- showing signs of a weak labor market and fragile economic recovery -- Americans might be looking to do more with less for a little while longer.
Since everyone needs to eat, many people may be shopping for the most economical way to make the most of their grocery store visits. And Tahira Hira, a professor of personal finance and consumer economics in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Iowa State University, has some ideas on how they can do just that.
The chair of the New York Stock Exchange Euronext Financial Literacy Advisory committee, Hira provided these 10 money-saving tips for your next shopping trip to the grocery store.
1. Eat before you go grocery shopping
2. Prepare a grocery list and stick to it
3. Buy store (generic) brands
4. Buy only grocery (food) items from grocery store
5. Buy groceries from a grocery store, rather than quick
shops/mini-markets
6. Avoid buying prepared foods
7. Buy only what you need and will use
8. Don't let coupons determine what you should buy and how
much
9. Shop once a week
10. Compare prices
