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Ways to beat inflation NOW!

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I have seen many articles with a similar title and they all talk about paying down your debt and other financial advice. This is not  what I am talking about is I see the costs of many commonly purchased items increasing in price – almost weekly. One of the main items that I see increasing in price is FOOD. There is a lot of data available showing that food is increasing in price. If you – like me – are not getting regular pay raises every month then these food price increases surmount to a pay decrease.

The purpose of this post is to show you some simple and very easy methods to increase your buying power during this inflationary time. These techniques can be used pretty much on anything you can buy at the grocery store. You can also use them at the grocery centers at Wal-Mart and in some wholesale clubs such as Costco and BJ’s.

Shop the Sales/Buy in Quantity:

Grocery stores often place items on sale every 3 weeks or so – consistently. At my local Bi-Lo grocery store chain – I can count on Chicken Breast, which normally sells for $4.49 a pound – going on sale for 1/2 price every 2-3 weeks. My point is there is little need to buy ANYTHING at regular price. When it goes on sale - buy it! Don’t just buy 1 or 2 – buy 12. This gives you the ability to not only buy when stuff is on sale (cheaper), but gets you more for your dollar. This is like getting a pay raise!

Let’s look at a few examples:

1. Campbell’s Soup – Often goes in sale for .50 cents a can in the fall. Regular price is typically .99 cents a can. This represents a 50% savings – so go ahead and grab 10 or 50! Just make sure you buy enough to last until the next sale.
2. Purex Laundry Detergent- Food is not  the only item to purchase to beat inflation. In my household we go through this stuff like candy. Every month or so it will go on sale for 2 for $5.00 with a regular price or $3.99. That is a 37% savings – not bad at all. Purchase enough to last you until it or another brand is on sale for a similar price – at least 6 weeks worth.

Many Americans go to the grocery store every week or so to do shopping and pay little attention to what is on sale. They typically buy a certain brand of peanut butter, bread, and orange juice regardless of price. They also typically buy only enough to last until the next week. This is a tremendous waste of money. Just a little time and effort could reap huge savings as well as increase the amount of food available in your pantry.

Coupons:

Most grocery stores, Wal-Marts, as well as wholesale clubs except coupons. Coupons typically are inserted into the local Sunday paper. Coupons are very valuable – more than you might think. Let me explain.

Let’s take one of our examples from above – the Campbell’s Soup. Every few weeks – especially in the Fall and Winter – there will be .40 cent coupons for Campbell’s in the paper. This .40 cent coupon can be used if you purchase at least 4 cans. Cutting coupons and using them on items that are on sale is a great way to increase to another level of savings.

Let’s look at the math:

- Campbell’s Soup on sale for .50 cents per can. Buy 4 cans for $2.00.   Savings approx $2.00

- Use your .40 cent coupon on the same 4 cans reduces your total out of pocket cost to $1.60 – or .40 cents per can. That is a total of 60% savings.

Here is the kicker…….

Many grocery stores will double the value of any coupon with a face value of .99 cents or less. With this in mind – one final look at the math for Campbell’s Soup:

• Original Price(per can):  .99 cents
• Price on Sale (per can):  .50 cents
• Price on Sale with coupon (per can): .30 cents  [$2.00 for 4 cans on sale - .80 cents from doubled .40 cent coupon]

.30 cents for a can of soup. Why not drop a $10.00 bill and get more than 30 cans?

Of course – in order to take advantage of these opportunities you need to buy multiple Sunday papers to get several of each coupon. My recommendation is to cut pretty much every coupon – because you never know when something will go on sale and using the coupons you might be able to get it for FREE.

One other way of getting coupons is buying them directly online via CouponClippers. This is a coupon cutting service and their rates are very inexpensive. I place orders with them every 2-3 weeks to supplement my newspaper buying. They really help me take advantage or some sales.

Bottom Line –

The bottom line is things are going up in price. Period. To increase your buying power you can use these techniques. All it takes is a little time and effort.

Rourke

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