We all love a good Costco run, but research shows that shoppers spend around $1.75 per minute at the store. In the average 37-minute Costco trip, that adds up to $64.75, but many of us end up strolling the store for much longer, filling our carts and emptying our wallets.
The thing is, no matter where we shop, grocery prices are far from cheap and just keep climbing. The US Department of Agriculture predicts food prices overall will go up another 3% this year, so we’ll try just about anything to spend less at the supermarket, from coupons to rewards cards. One money-saving strategy getting attention on social media is“backwards shopping,” which starts before you leave the house.
How backwards shopping works:
- Instead of just making a list of what you think you need or wandering the aisles to see what appeals to you, the idea is to work with what you already have at home.
- You check the fridge, freezer and pantry to see what you loaded up on when it was on sale or during your last Costco visit.
- Then, you plan meals based on your inventory and only shop for items you need to finish off those meals.
- AI can help here, too. You enter all the things you have on hand and it will give a list of possible meals that you only have to buy minimal extra ingredients for.
Backwards shopping is one of the easiest ways to save on food shopping these days, according to Clay Cary, senior trends analyst and finance expert at CouponFollow. “It doesn’t require people to follow a strict budget or change where they shop,” he explains. “It simply makes them more mindful of the foods they already have at home that they already paid for.”
Source: NY Post