Shopping strategy

To the trained eye, a grocery store is a labyrinth meant to trip smart shoppers on their way to the ultimate goal: sticking to only what they need and what fits their budget.

Finding deals and hidden savings doesn’t have to mean packing your wallet or purse full of coupons, or sacrificing food quality or nutrition, says Alice Henneman, a registered dietitian and extension educator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Henneman recently published her list of tips that can save consumers big bucks.

Her advice, coupled with an understanding of how grocery stores work to make you impulse-buy, can help save bucks as food prices swell.

To start

Some of Henneman’s advice is common sense: keep a grocery list, avoid shopping when hungry and stay away from those enticing goodies that stare at you in the checkout aisle. That includes the magazines full of celebrity gossip and diet fads.

We’ve all had the experience of, “I know I only needed a gallon of milk, but I didn’t realize that I also needed a bag of cookies, muffins and a pint of Chubby Hubby ice cream. Oh! Madonna and Guy Ritchie are headed to Splitsville? I must read on.”

Keeping a grocery list makes sense because it forces you to think only of what you need before getting to the store.

Plus, it means saving gas money from extra shopping trips for forgotten items.

Try keeping a running list of groceries you need at home and update it as you run out of things. On the day you’re ready to go shopping, add the rest of your meal items to the list. It might help to take the list to work, too.

The next step to grocery savings, Henneman says, is in the garbage.

What spoiled food items do you throw away?

Each half-eaten container of smelly leftovers or half-used bag of soggy fresh herbs will lose you money. Avoid tossing these foods by planning ahead. If wilted lettuce is a problem, plan salads for earlier in the week; if that casserole gets tossed after a few days, make less next time, or turn the leftovers into a new dish.

Many dishes, like soups, are easy to freeze, which takes care of leftovers and saves you a meal in the future. For herbs, try freezing them in ice cube trays. Later, you can melt them into dishes as you need them.

Other ideas:

• Coupons: The basic coupon rule of thumb is to use only those for foods you would normally eat. Try planning your meals around what’s on sale or what you have a coupon for. Don’t forget to check the back of your grocery receipt for even more deals.

• Staple foods: Invest in staple foods like flour, butter, cereal and olive oil when they are on sale. Before buying in bulk, do the math to see if it’s really a good savings: Are two packages in a smaller size cheaper?

• Before investing in a new food, buy a smaller package to make sure you and your family enjoy it.

• Store brands: Shopping for generic brands typically is a money saver. Check the ingredients for items like medicine or processed food against their name-brand companions. You’ll often find they are exactly the same and don’t taste much different.

• Discount bins: Grocery stores keep many sale items in discount carts or shelves throughout the store. These are often unpopular items that need to be cleared out. Take the time to sort through the discount bins for good deals on all kinds of food and kitchen products.

• Expiration dates: While expiration dates are confusing and sometimes don’t tell us much, don’t buy a perishable food that will expire before you can use it up.

Discount meat bins offer 50 percent or 70 percent off all sorts of meat that is nearing its expiration date. Smart shoppers regularly raid the discount meat bins, using the foods immediately or freezing them for later use.

• Convenience foods: Buying items like baby spinach or other salad greens pre-washed and prepackaged is convenient, but costly. If you have the time, buy the foods in bulk and do your own chopping and washing.

Loss leaders

Grocery stores entice customers with loss leaders, or items sold at or below the wholesale price the grocer paid for the merchandise. These zero-profit items are the bait that grocers hope will lead to more purchases, according to “Frugal Living for Dummies,” at www.dummies .com. Look for them advertised on the front and back pages of ad sections or splashed across signs or boards throughout the store.

Loss leaders work as a marketing tool because they often lead to impulse buys, Dummies says.

The key to taking advantage of the loss leaders without letting them take advantage of your wallet, according to Dummies, is to shop at different stores for the savings, but keep your blinders on toward impulse buys.

Working the shelves

The first thing shoppers should do when entering a grocery store is check the bulletin boards or display ads located near the shopping carts, says Jackie Martini, store director for the north Bend Albertsons.

These displays typically include rebates or other extra deals that exist in the store.

“Usually, where there’s any type of big promotion, it will hit you right when you come in,” Martini said. Make sure to pay attention to the displays that offer deep discounts, and always read the fine print.

“That’s where you can really educate yourself on how the sales work,” Martini said. That means a two-for-one deal could apply to multiple types of products, offering shoppers more options.

If you’ve ever walked into your neighborhood grocery store to find that the aisles have been changed around, you witnessed a grocery store gimmick, according to Dummies.

Grocers know that shoppers develop tunnel vision when they’ve visited a store regularly. They know exactly where to find the items they need, getting them out of the store in a hurry.

When the aisles are changed or the store is remodeled, however, shoppers are forced to look around more carefully, which means they are more likely to find products they wouldn’t otherwise notice or buy.

The key to working around this, according to Dummies, is to stick to your shopping list. Hunt for your loss leaders first, and then get the remainder of your items.

When it comes to actually selecting an item, many shoppers will noticed that the most expensive, name-brand and brightly packaged products are at eye level for the average person.

For the best deals, look in the more awkward places: high and low on the shelves, which will hold the generic, store brand and lower-priced items.

The maze

Much as the shelves are meant to throw the most expensive items in shoppers’ faces, so too is the grocery store designed to put expensive temptations between you and your necessities.

Most stores have the same floor plan, according to Dummies: Commonly purchased items like produce, bread, dairy and meat products are along the edges of the store or up against the walls. Product marketers know that if you must walk to the back or corner of the store, you are more likely to see displays of goodies and items ripe for impulse purchasing.

If you can, plan your shopping trip around the perimeter of the store, Dummies suggests, where the more healthy foods are kept. Then, make a quick, single trip down the following aisles: freezer, pasta, baking and cereal.

Don’t waste savings

Now that you’ve beat the grocery store labyrinth and gained extra savings from smart shopping, avoid the temptation to spend your savings. Haven’t you read enough about Britney Spears?

Getting a great deal isn’t an excuse for splurging elsewhere.