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-- Do you shop "sales" you see in a circular?
-- Do you shop based on meals you've planned for the coming week(s)?
-- Do you have a list?
-- Or do you do some, or none of these?
I feel like I "should" shop by sale circular deals.
But I also think that is a process that would end up with me buying more, just because I'd see a sale and think, "oh, XYZ is on sale. I can get some of that." When in reality I wasn't even thinking about that item.
For me if I just go in to get what I myself had wanted to get....I'll buy less. Not that there won't be a little bit of impulse buying...but less of it.
I buy fresh produce when I need it, I will buy things like pork or chicken on sale, & then freeze them in meal size bags, so I always have things we eat, in the freezer, no paying full price. I get some items like frozen fish as Costco.
I went through a very short phase, where "I shopped the sales."
In one shopping trip I was going to four and five grocery stores....darn near all afternoon.
Sometimes I'd go to a store for only two items.
That lasted about four weeks.
Then I said to myself..."this is crazy."
I rarely buy more than $20 worth of stuff in any given trip to the supermarket. I only buy enough to have the makings of two or three meals. Keeping too much food in the house encourages me to make a pig out of myself. If I see something on sale that I already buy/like, I will usually buy that, but I don't live and die by the weekly sales flyers; I rarely even read them.
I buy a lot of the same things over and over, so I've gotten to know where I can find those items at the best price. And I'm pretty good at just buying what I came for and not adding on impulse buys.
I'm not one of these people who has to be catered to by employees at the supermarket, or needs to shop in an upscale/luxurious store to get some kind of satisfaction. Just supply the things I like at the prices I'm willing to pay and it's all good, as far as I'm concerned.
Living 25 min out, I shop every few weeks so end up with big purchases. No sales searching but if something I use a lot is on sale then I might buy several.
No meal plans....buy by list and then shop outer perimeter of store to avoid processed foods. Convenience foods...salad bar, olive bar, prepared deli Amish coleslaw, r. chicken, deli turkey.
I do some of everything. I have a list of things which I need, always buy whatever I can, want that's on sale, and throw some things in the cart just because I crave them.
Since I now am only shopping for myself, my strategy has changed some. A cleanout of storage and freezers revealed over-buying and stock rotation problems. Organization at home and the concept of keeping a "par" stock is key to not ending up with five bottles of mustard because I only see the nearly empty one.
Most weeks I will only shop at Sav-a-lot or Aldi, and about once a month hit Publix or other stores that stock what those two don't. I know the pricing of items in my head, so keep enough stock at home that I skip buying when stores jack up a price on a particular item.
As soon as I unload, EVERYTHING gets a date written on it in magic marker. Oldest gets used first.
"Sales" are tricky. An item has to have a normally high markup for most retailers to place it on sale. Stores like S-A-L and Aldi have fewer sales, and those can be loss leaders like $1/gal milk. I loathe the Publix circulars, which often don't price items, but use terms like "two for the price of one" or "$2 off" Coupons were great in the 1970s and 1980s. I don't even open coupon circulars anymore.
I'm a "stupid" shopper, meaning I am lazy and don't take the time to clip coupons to save money even though I would benefit from the savings. I make my list through my Alexa App (Echo devices in the house) so that has totally automated my list making.
I go to BJ's for certain bulk items where I know I'm saving money. Other than that I go to Shaws mainly, and at times Big Y or Stop & Shop, all within several miles from my house. I do grab things not on the list when I see something that hits me.
People laugh at me because I'm a guy and I do all the shopping in the family. It's easier now that I'm 58 and the kids are long out of the house. But I buy everything - groceries, clothes for me (and wife), etc.
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If I see something on sale that I already buy/like, I will usually buy that, but I don't live and die by the weekly sales flyers; I rarely even read them. 
