Are you often lured in by great deals, only to get home and wish you hadn’t gone over your grocery budget? Sometimes saving money on a deal isn’t worth it if you’ll go over budget! Be sure to ask yourself these important questions next time you’re considering buying a good deal at the grocery store.
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Someone on Instagram recently messaged me and asked, “Would you buy 34 of something if it’s a good deal?”
My honest opinion is that getting a good deal should never become an obsession to the point that you’re buying something just because it’s a good deal, even when it’s something you don’t need. So it got me thinking about what my parameters are for deciding to purchase a good deal.
When I’m at the store and I find a great deal, I ask myself these 3 questions:
1. Is it actually a good deal?
Just because something is 50% off doesn’t mean it’s actually a really great deal.
You could go broke taking advantage of bargain bins, clearance stickers, and BOGO deals — when a lot of times they aren’t even great deals!
I always try to ask myself if it’s actually a good deal that meets my price point.
I have a mental price list of what I’ve paid for certain items in the past. So when I see a good deal, I typically think about if I’ve ever gotten it for less and how much I typically pay for that item.
2. Will we use it?
The next thing I ask myself is whether we’ll use or and if we’ll like it as a family. If the answer is no to either of these, then it doesn’t matter how good of a deal it is!
It’s not worth buying and it’s not a good deal for your family if you’re not going to ever use it!
I also like to think about how we’ll use it. I like to think about how it will complete a meal, if it will pair well with other foods in our pantry, if it will be useful, what we’ll serve it with, if it’s freezable or shelf stable to use later, and if we’ll be able to use it before it expires.
These are all really important factors to consider, so that you know you’ll use the item and it won’t go to waste!
I know it probably seems weird to save this question for the end, but there’s a reason I save this question for last.
If I’ve already decided it’s something we’ll use and it’s a really good deal, then sometimes I will switch around some things in the budget to make room for it.
For example, let’s say I see a really amazing deal on cantaloupe, but grapes are also on sale. Cantaloupe will stretch further and I’ll be over budget if I buy the grapes and cantaloupe, so I decide to put the grapes back.
So often if I find a replacement that’s less expensive, I’ll swap it out to make it fit the budget.
After asking myself these questions, I usually pass up a lot of good deals in the store because it’s not a good deal for our family.
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How do you decide if a good grocery deal is worth buying? I’d love to hear in the comments!
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