Are you guilty of having one of these habits?

It doesn’t matter whether you go to the supermarket a couple of times a week to get some bits and bobs or you do all of your groceries for the entire week on Saturday. These bad habits will probably be familiar to all of us. We often can’t help it or do anything about it, but it’s good to be aware of it anyway.

You might just be able to unlearn some of these bad supermarket habits.

Poor balance

With all of those great offers in the supermarkets we always think we’re making the best and cheapest choices. This often isn’t the case, though, because supermarkets tend to put their ‘unhealthy’ products like snacks and soft drinks on offer. Before you know it, your pantry is chock full of foods and drinks you don’t need. It’s much better to only buy products on offer that you use on a daily basis. Products like your favourite breakfast cereal or peanut butter. Also invest in quality products like extra virgin olive oil, tastier cheese and better (organic) meat.

Expensive premium brands

Here’s a marketing trick that works more often than not: you buy food with your eyes. Does the packaging look pretty and is the product made by a well-known premium brand? Chances are you you’ll be buying it. Try to look past the pretty packaging and the well-known brands and go shopping at a budget supermarket. Don’t make your choices based on the packaging. You’ll notice you’re still buying quality products, but you’re paying a lot less for them.

Out of season

Do you make your decisions in the supermarket based on what you feel like eating? Those delicious blueberries that aren’t in season but that you can’t not buy because they’re so tasty. Or that new type of chocolate bar that’s making your mouth water just thinking about it and you have to try. The answer to this bad habit is: ‘enjoy in moderation’. Try to eat along with the seasons, meaning you buy as few products that are out of season as possible. This isn’t just better for the environment, it will also save you a lot of money. You can set yourself certain goals, for example that you can only buy one new snack in the supermarket a week.

Wrong time of day

Why does it always seem like everybody is in your way when you’re shopping for groceries? It’s probably because you’re doing your shopping at an unhandy time. Most people do their groceries after work, which seems like a good, efficient idea, but it actually causes quite a bit of frustration. A good tip is to check Google before you go to the supermarket. Google shows you an overview of the peak hours of a business. That way, you can do your shopping when it’s a little less busy in the supermarket.

We expect you might have recognised some of these habits. Go to the next page to read about the last few bad supermarket habits!

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