How to Estimate What Your Grocery Bill Will Be
Groceries are something that every consumer must purchase on a regular basis to maintain basic survival. Unfortunately, the cost of eating healthy can be quite expensive if you're not careful about your shopping and spending habits. The good news is that with a bit of research, you can save on your food expenses and estimate what your grocery bill will be before you even enter the store.
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Instructions
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Make a list of the items you need. Walking into a grocery store without the slightest clue of what you are buying makes it impossible to establish even the roughest estimate of what you may spend at the checkout counter. Compose a list of all of the items required to prepare your meals, snacks and beverages.
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Browse your neighborhood sales papers. Collect all current copies of sales papers and circulars for the grocery stores you frequently patronize. Look for the items included in your list and make note of the prices -- sale and regular -- to start your estimate. Multiply the price of each item by how many units you plan to purchase and enter the amounts next to each item on your list.
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Redeem coupons to save extra money on food items. Clip coupons to redeem at the store. Some circulars will include coupons redeemable in the store for discounts and price reductions. Locate coupons for items on your list and add up the total amount of savings you will receive by redeeming them. Note the total coupon savings amount at the bottom of your grocery list. Clip them and bring them with you to save money on your total grocery bill.
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Shop at wholesale food outlet stores. Many bulk and wholesale grocery chains -- such as Costco and Aldi -- offer significant savings on regularly priced grocery items such as meats, dairy, canned, frozen, fresh and dry goods. Though such stores do occasionally run sales and specials, because items are already sold at a discount, prices typically do not fluctuate often which makes it easier to estimate your grocery bill.
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Make note of the costs of regularly priced items. Whether you shop at a discount grocer or an everyday food chain, spend an hour or so jotting down regular prices of your most frequently purchased food items. By keeping a list of typical prices handy, you can more easily estimate how much you might spend on each trip to the grocery. As a bonus, you'll be able to determine your savings when such items go on sale.
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Purchase canned and frozen produce instead of fresh. If you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, it can sometimes be difficult to estimate what your total grocery bill will be because seasonal produce items frequently increase and decrease in market price. Buying frozen and canned goods helps provide a more consistent pricing schedule that makes for more accurate estimating.
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A pocket calculator can help you estimate your bill in and out of the grocery store. Calculate your estimates based on the price list you've created on your shopping list. Add up the price of each item you've entered on your shopping list to establish a subtotal. From this sum, subtract the total amount of coupons you plan to redeem in the store. Now multiply this amount by the amount of sales tax required in your city or state to establish a rough estimate of what your grocery bill will be.
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Bring a calculator to the grocery store with you. Even if you have researched your local grocers' sales papers and established an accurate estimate of how much you are going to spend, you never know what unanticipated items may make their way into your shopping cart once you have browsed the store. Carry a calculator with you to add in any extra goodies you may find on your shopping excursion to avoid any unexpected extra expenses at the checkout counter.
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