Gain grocery shopping smarts: Tips to save
Mark Green
Issue date: 1/7/09 Section: Lifestyles
For many students, entering college also means leaving their parents' home behind and taking on all sorts of new responsibilities, like laundry, bill-paying, cleaning and, of course, buying and cooking their own food.
When living with parents, grocery shopping is something that is easy to take for granted since parents make the lists, clip the coupons, buy the food and ensure the fridge and cabinets are always well stocked.
Leaving home means most students are suddenly in charge of doing all of these things, and the prospect can seem a little overwhelming. So much so, that it seems very few students follow traditional guidelines for smart shopping.
"It's very rare that I see a college student with a grocery list," said Doug Bullock, a cashier of 11 years at Harmons, 1189 E. 700 South.
Roommates Lyndsey Ravsten, a freshman elementary education major from Logan, and Kylie Jensen, a freshman dental hygiene major from Sandy, said they never use coupons.
"We're not really good shoppers, but we comparison shop at the store," Jensen said.
Time is a big factor that determines the types of food students buy.
"I don't have a lot of time to think about food," said Amanda Killeen, a senior biology major from St. George, "so I need some stuff I can just have ready, things that I can just cut up and grab."
Bullock said he sees most college students shopping late at night, and the average shopping cart for a college student is full of meals that are fast and cheap.
"You see a lot of prepared food with the college students or things that are quick like sandwich meat, macaroni & cheese and Top Ramen," he said.
This kind of shopping is high on the list of shopping experts' things to avoid.
Web sites like www.couponing.about.
or www.thefrugalshopper.
com have common shopping tips that are common to all of these Web sites.
Students should eat before they go shopping as shopping on an empty stomach leads to impulse buying, and impulse buying usually leads to higher grocery bills and less nutritional foods.
When living with parents, grocery shopping is something that is easy to take for granted since parents make the lists, clip the coupons, buy the food and ensure the fridge and cabinets are always well stocked.
Leaving home means most students are suddenly in charge of doing all of these things, and the prospect can seem a little overwhelming. So much so, that it seems very few students follow traditional guidelines for smart shopping.
"It's very rare that I see a college student with a grocery list," said Doug Bullock, a cashier of 11 years at Harmons, 1189 E. 700 South.
Roommates Lyndsey Ravsten, a freshman elementary education major from Logan, and Kylie Jensen, a freshman dental hygiene major from Sandy, said they never use coupons.
"We're not really good shoppers, but we comparison shop at the store," Jensen said.
Time is a big factor that determines the types of food students buy.
"I don't have a lot of time to think about food," said Amanda Killeen, a senior biology major from St. George, "so I need some stuff I can just have ready, things that I can just cut up and grab."
Bullock said he sees most college students shopping late at night, and the average shopping cart for a college student is full of meals that are fast and cheap.
"You see a lot of prepared food with the college students or things that are quick like sandwich meat, macaroni & cheese and Top Ramen," he said.
This kind of shopping is high on the list of shopping experts' things to avoid.
Web sites like www.couponing.about.
or www.thefrugalshopper.
com have common shopping tips that are common to all of these Web sites.
Students should eat before they go shopping as shopping on an empty stomach leads to impulse buying, and impulse buying usually leads to higher grocery bills and less nutritional foods.