Since there was all this talk this week about how apparently people here think that a little over $400 a month is a lot to pay on groceries I decided on the show to talk about ways to save money on just that.

For the most part I tried to discuss how I feel we need to understand how much we pay extra in order to get that small amount of convenience. To do this I mentioned points that many of you may remember such as how expensive those pre-cut fruit slices are. I used the pineapple example that you may remember here:

As well just to get the point across more, the other day as a I wrote before I noticed there were pre-cut watermelon for sale at the grocery store and the price difference is way more noticeable here:

Like when you look at that doesn’t it kind of make you want to cut the fruit yourself to save about five times the money? This is true for most other things too such as buying things like those warm up and it’s ready kind of meals. We all seem to find time to try and earn more money right? In many ways you can look at it too like with the watermelon example where with the savings you are getting it’s like you are paying yourself $20+ an hour to do it yourself.

I then talked about coupon sites and these were some Canadian based sites that I have found has a lot grocery coupons and as well household items that most people probably buy:

http://www.save.ca/
http://www.websaver.ca/
http://www.brandsaver.ca/

As well, I know a lot of people are simply too lazy to look at all the flyer and coupon deals themselves. So with that I shared a site called http://www.www.smartcanucks.ca/ which I have found has an active online community of grocery shoppers that try and find the best coupon and deals for your weekly shopping needs.

This is one of things that simply have to become a habit where you recognize how much is too much to be paying for something and at the dame time where to loo for the deals. So hopefully this helps to put people on the right track.

I was at the supermarket today and they had these large watermelons for sale. At the same time I was walking past the pre-cut fruit section and saw how those small package of watermelon were like the same price but you get so much less. Literally, if you simply bought a whole one and cut it yourself you could probably make like five boxes of them. The person I was with was then saying those were targeting people who simply don’t have the time to cut the stuff themselves.

While that is understandable to a certain extent, I was thinking to myself……how much labor is it really to cut something like a watermelon? The person then told me that for how much you save in this case he would find time to do it if he were one of those people who normally wouldn’t as people make too much money this way. That’s interesting I thought where if you think about the motivation to save money in this case isn’t so much about saving money but rather one feeling like they are being taken advantage of.

The more I think about it this can even be true with things like a real estate agent as many people tell me that they sell their own home not so much because of the potential financial savings but rather they can’t stand someone making so much for what seems to be so little effort. If that is the simple psychology to get people to try and do as much as they can themselves to save money I was thinking how watching documentaries or even instructional type of shows about various industries regularly can probably make people more savvy financially.

It almost sounds too simple but makes sense in many ways. Come to think of it, I have watched a lot informational kind of shows which were more about how certain industries work which indirectly made me more aware of what I buy and what is a reasonable price to pay. Maybe that will work for others as well.

Today I was reading various reports on how the average grocery bill here has gotten really high where on a average people pay about $415. This then brought up on how many people use price comparison sites to try and find the best deals. However, it was expressed that most people simply don’t have the time or patients to use these tools when it comes to their everyday needs.

I was kind of surprised by this as I personally find that I save so much time using price comparison tools. Even when it comes to groceries I would usually look at the price and ponder if I could find the item cheaper. Instead, I usually find that if you plan everything ahead of time and do your research with various sites as an example you can make it a lot cheaper and as well can pretty much go in and out of the store where you know exactly what to buy. Ultimately, that is time saved from having to visit multiple stores or say having to walk around the whole place to try and find the best deals.

People do it all the time for high ticketed items like a new TV, so why are things like your grocery needs any different? In some ways I think it goes back to the topic of many times where if it is a necessity we think that the price we pay is in a sense non negotiable. I find an easier way too is that if you think it is too much work to research it yourself there are usually a lot of different communities even online that you can visit where bargain hunters are fully willing to share the deals they find as well.

For example, I know one good practice that people use to save money is that they first look at the flyers that the stores put out. Afterwards, they specifically try and find coupons for those items in an effort to get the best deal as usually if the item is on sale then adding the coupon as well can often mean you are getting it for the cheapest as possible. Sometimes the coupon can even end up making it where you get the item for free too.

I think you will be presently surprised at how much you can save if you tried too even when it comes to your necessities like these.

I was talking to some people about the notion of needing a budget in order to keep your finances in good health. Basically, each month you should be writing down how much you have and how much you can allocate to certain things such as entertainment or essentials. The funny thing for myself is I personally don’t use a budget in that sense. Instead, I keep myself constantly in tune with how much I have and how much I am spending. With that it becomes like a challenge of sort where if I am going to take money out of an account then I always ask myself how fast can I replenish it without it harming the ability for the funds to grow. It really makes me think of my purchases and the future.

For example, I know a lot of people would think having zero dollars and no debt is the safe zone. However, to me for example $10,000 would be like a safe zone and it makes me want to at least maintain that number and make it go up. I guess another way to think about it is it’s kind of like food and your health. Some people would say you have to follow a strict diet plan if you want to keep the pounds under control and others would say you just need to be constantly knowledgeable and aware of what you are putting in your body. For me, being aware is more of my preference personally as with that it’s a lifestyle habit and not say a one time thing.

I have often heard the argument that going with being more aware route must be stressing as each day you are worrying about what to buy. It’s really not the case, for me anyways. It’s almost like my mind is accustomed to quickly going through an algorithm where I look at the product, the price, I start thinking about value such as if the item has ever gone cheaper, think about any goals I have in the future and whether or not this item will help me, etc. If it passes all these quick flash tests then I can start seriously thinking if I should spend the money.

To me it is no real difference than say people who wouldn’t eat a piece of fruit because it smells bad or has bruises all over. Basically, it’s not like you stand there for hours debating if you think it will be good for you or not. Instead, you have naturally learned that those are potential signs that the product isn’t that good and that putting it in your body can mean bad things later. In my opinion, having this same approach with money is the way to go in my view.

Today I watched a segment about a site called livebelowtheline.com where essentially people are trying to live on a mere budget of $1.75 a day as a way to create awareness about people who live in extreme poverty. From what I gather they try to challenge people to do this for about five days which means your total would be about $8.75.

While that sounds pretty extreme, I was thinking to myself for those people that are doing the challenge for longer than five days on why they aren’t opting to invest in like a plant that grows fruits or vegetables. For example, it seems like everyone is more caught up in trying to find the best deals from stores when growing the items yourself can be pretty straight forward and it will save you a ton of money. I remember for example my parents had these small plants in the backyard that grew cherry tomatoes and those things grew so darn fast.

I guess you could argue that for some plants they take weeks to grow anything which doesn’t do much good if you need the food today, but I guess like money it’s about investing in something that gives you constant returns on your investment. Like for those cherry tomatoes I believe buying a small pack of them would cost you around $2 to $3. If you bought one like every five days it wouldn’t be a bad idea to invest in like seeds or something where eventually your plant will start producing the tomatoes and you can start saving the $3 a week.

Ultimately I think the big takeaway in situations like this when it comes to food is that if you are on an extreme budget then one key is to find ways to take your dependency off a business as much as possible. I always saw things like going to a grocery store as essentially you paying for the convenience as opposed to it being the main way you must do things. Same thing when it comes to say hiring a professional in a lot of cases. It’s not that you have to necessarily use them but rather you are paying them for the convenience and efficiency of you not having to immensely study about a topic yourself.

Either way, interesting concept that if anything it should make you think that if you are one to always say you have no money for food maybe it’s time t see how others can do it with such a miniscule budget.