12. The Supermarket - Seven Dollar Millionaire

THOUSAND DOLLAR WEEK 12: Sweeping Through The Supermarket Minefield

“Don’t shop till you drop. What you’ll drop is your dreams of financial security.” – The Seven Dollar Millionaire

Shops are minefields, designed by psychological experts to blow your savings. Pick a route through the store and keep more money in the bank.

If something is advertised near the door of a shop, or on the first page of a website, it’s a ‘loss leader’. These are the things that stores sell at low prices, maybe even at a loss, to lead us in to their store. Once we’re in the store, we’re in the minefield, and they can charge us more for other things we want, destroying our savings.
Plan your shop and shop your plan. Don’t walk the whole store, following the route the minefield makers laid out for you. Make a list before you go, get the things on it, and leave.
Vouchers, rebates, points – find them online or offline, take them with you and use them, but only for things you need.

Compare, compare, compare. Know the prices in other stores, and break your list into two, to get the things you need (and only the things you need) where they’re cheapest.
Don’t shop hungry, and don’t shop emotional. We all know we buy stuff we don’t want when we’re hungry, but did you know shops are designed to give us a short-term hit of emotion, happy if we buy things and sad if we don’t? Focus on your savings envelope being full, not your basket.
Shop alone. If you’re able to focus on saving, other people won’t, and that won’t help. This is warfare, not socializing.
Get out as soon as you can. You win when you leave with just the things you want, and more savings to build towards your millions.

Free Bonus:

How To Save The Planet Too!

You can help to save the planet while you’re saving money, if you shop the right way.

Do fresh-food shopping late in the day, and buy marked-down goods that are close to expiry. Baked goods and fruit might be half the price they were just a few hours before. Not only are you saving money, but you’re stopping that food being thrown away—helping the planet by reducing food waste.

Buy second-hand clothes or swap with friends. Less shopping equals less pollution as well as more saving.
Buy regular items in large packs. It’s cheaper, and there’s less plastic packaging to pollute the ocean. If it’s too big for you, share with a friend— and share the savings too.

FREE Planner Download

Download this week’s saving planner and spending tracker. Print this out and track your spending through the week. At the end of the week, you can then check how you spent your money, and plan better for next week.

Click HERE for a reminder on how to use your Budget Builder.

Learn More

The Seven Dollar Millionaire wrote a book for his teenage daughter (she invented his nickname!) to teach her how to save and invest money. Click the buttons below to find out more.