I never used to bother with flyers, if I lived somewhere where I got them I’d just toss em in the recycle box cause what’s the point? Going through a bunch of flyers from a bunch of different stores, trying to figure out what you are going to buy and which store you are going to buy it at…like I’m going to go to multiple stores to buy all the items I need? Nope, not likely. I’m all about convenience, if I’m in Safeway and they are selling avocados and I want avocados, I’m gonna buy them at Safeway instead of going to a different store that is selling them for a dollar cheaper. Cause no way I want to use my time store hopping.
where I find my flyers at
Welllllll, let’s just say that has changed. I don’t always check flyers before I go shopping but lately I have been and not only that I’ve been making lists of what I am buying, at which store, and how much it says it will be in the flyer (I tend to look for the sale price on the shelf, makes the specific item I am looking for easier to find).
I shock myself every time I do it lol 😛
This evening after work I went grocery shopping and I gotta say, I get a little kick knowing that I saved money on this item or that item cause I bought it cheaper at the second store I went to rather than buying it at the first store. Weird huh? Luckily, I work right across the street from a Safeway and I pass by a Superstore on my way home so it makes it easy to go to the two stores. If only I passed a Wal-Mart Supercentre on my way home, I’d be covered for everything! lol
On weeks I shop with knowledge of what’s in the flyers I have to write a list, I always feel grown up when I am shopping with a grocery list, and yet, I don’t cook meals like a grown up, or at least I don’t think I do…
My mom can open a cupboard, glance at whatever is inside and boom! create a healthy meal. Just like that. No planning, no digging up a recipe, no googling for how to cook something, she just knows how. And has the creativity to see what various ingredients can become without freaking out and calling someone for help. I don’t know how she does it. I know every food item that is in my kitchen because I buy a lot of the same things and if I buy something not on my normal list it is because I have a recipe I am going to try or because someone has convinced me I really can cook item X. Only very recently have I tried buying items I didn’t already have a plan for and what do you know, I either ask my friend whose a chef, call my mom in a mild panic or google.
I didn’t start checking flyers because of an article I read but after I read it it made sense. This article was about how the poor and the rich shop differently. They didn’t mean which store the two demographics frequented or brands of items they purchased. What they meant were the shopping habits.
People love a good deal no matter how much money they have. Everyone feels better about buying an item they need when it is on sale cause saving any amount of money is always nice. Unfortunately, not every item is on sale every time a person goes shopping and we’ve all been in the situation where something goes on sale that we bought a week or so prior so we don’t need it now but by the time we run out and need to purchase it again it may no longer be on sale. Sucks right?
Well according to this article, if let’s say the jumbo size package of toilet paper is on sale but the smaller size isn’t, someone with money who is shopping will be all “oh hey, the jumbo pack is on sale, I’ll buy it now even though I don’t need it cause it’s a good deal and I’ll need it eventually” a person with less disposable income will think something like this “sure the jumbo pack is on sale and will last longer but I’m tight on money so I’m buying the smaller package cause it is cheaper”.
Unfortunately, the smaller package will run out sooner, which means it will have to be replaced sooner and in the long run will end up costing the consumer more. It would have been the more financially sound move to buy the larger package that is on sale buuuuut if you only have $40 to do your shopping you don’t want to spend $10 on toilet paper when you still need to buy enough food to feed you and your family for the next week or two. Is this making sense?
That article got me thinking. There are a lot of times when I buy the smaller sized item for multiple reasons, (1) there is only me and buying jumbo or large sized packages of things often doesn’t make sense (2) I live in a super small apartment and don’t have a storage space so if I stock up on something I literally have nowhere to put it and (3) I often find myself trying to stretch my money to be able to afford rent, bills and food so while the larger package might be a better deal I just can’t afford the deal.
Flyers help me find the deals and capitalize on them. Go flyers! lol. I check out the flyers online after I have a rough idea of what I need to buy. I make a list for the first store of not only items I know I need/want but items I am close to running out of that have gone on sale or items that intrigue me and are cheap enough I might be able to afford trying them. Then I do the same for the second store. Then I cross check them and see if there are any items that are on sale at both stores and which has the better deal. This helps me plan my shopping in terms of what I get where, it also helps me see where I am saving money, helps me stock up on non-perishable items and helps me be a smarter shopper in the long run. I knew I was starting to get low on toilet paper so I kept an eye out and what do you know, both stores had the same type on sale this week. If it is on sale this week it won’t be on sale next week and if I wait until next week then I’ll have to buy it no matter what, whether it’s on sale or not. So sure, I used money from this pay cheque to buy something I don’t technically need right now, I got it for cheaper than if I had waited till I needed it sooooo in the end I saved money.
Does any of this make any sense? Or are you all just going “omg it took you this long to figure this out? the rest of the world has known this for freakin ever!”
This isn’t a completely new mindset for me, but it’s the first time I have had it so solidly figured out in my head and actually plan my shopping based on it. Make fun of me if you will, I am enjoying my little bit of new knowledge, it’s making me feel a tad more grown up…now if only I could figure out how to cook like my mom! 😉
The Amazing Shrinking Woman 
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