My best tips for shopping groceries

Either you hate it or you love it but we all have to do it, in some way. Here are my best tips for going grocery shopping:

• LOOK AT THE PRICE PER WEIGHT OR VOLUME If you want to know which product is the cheapest you have to look at the price per weight (Kg/Ounce/Litre) The price per weight/volume is the actual price.
  

• IDENTIFY YOUR "MUST HAVE's" AND YOU "NICE TO HAVE's" GROCERIES Think of basic groceries like your "Must Have's". It's groceries for everyday use that you never want to run out of and sometimes don't mind to buy in bulk. It's most likely dry-groceries like oats, rice, quinoa, lentils, beans and coffee. But it can also be potatoes, oat milk, butter and vegetables. The "Nice to Have's" are groceries that you want a certain brand of or with a special flavour, and you know that you won't be satisfied with any other than exactly the one you crave. These type of groceries are worth spending money on. If you make a grocery budget and watch the price per weight/volume on all your "Must Have" products, you can allow to treat yourself with these groceries.
  

• DO NOT GO GROCERY SHOPPING ON AN EMPTY STOMACH! You definitely do not want to be hungry when you go to the grocery store. It's never a good idea! Most likely you're not in a good mood and it's almost guaranteed that you will deviate from your originally shopping list. When you buy groceries based on emotion, you'll spend more than you had plan and it's most likely not healthy food. So try to plan ahead and avoid that situation.
  

• MAKE A SHOPPING LIST Make a shopping list, paper or digital, before you go to the grocery store. Write down what you need to purchase by making sure what you have or don't have in the fridge, freezer and pantry. What needs a refill? Write it down. Maybe you're going to make a new recipe? Do you have everything you'll need?
  

• BRING YOUR OWN SHOPPING BAGS! Here in Sweden grocery bags are expensive so you'll want to bring your own to the grocery store. It saves money and is good for the environment.
  

• INVEST IN A SHOPPING CART If you don't have a car you'll want to invest in a shopping cart. It makes it so much easier to shop on a larger scale and also you don't have to carry all the bags home. I'll link a good one here, if you don't have one. Your back will thank you! Remember to load heavy and cold products in the bottom of the cart to keep them cold all the way home.
  

• SHOP EVERY OTHER WEEK Do you go to the grocery store every other day? If you do, then stop that. Try shopping every other week instead. This doesn't mean that you can't go shopping on a Friday to buy some candy or snacks for the weekend. It just mean that it'll take longer before your groceries run out and you're more likely to save money when you shop on a larger scale, because you'll probably go to a bigger store which have better prices. If you buy groceries online you definitely want to buy in a lager scale, otherwise the home delivery won't be free of charge. Another reason is that you'll get monthly offers and discounts from your grocery store if you're a regular costumer there, which brings me to my last tip for this list:
  

• LOOK FOR DISCOUNTS Keep track of personal offers and discounts from your grocery store. Shop by season to get products with the best price.