THE MOST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
-WHILE GROCERY SHOPPING-
3 GREAT TIPS

What do we want to accomplish?

Well I want to save money anyway I can. Why should I want to save money? Easy answer right, most sane people want to save their hard earned dollars. You might want to put more money towards retirement, or save for a much needed vacation or maybe you just need to buy a new living room set. Saving $100 dollars a month which is a smooth $1200 a year will go a long way in most households. Right now I’m about to show you a way to do this with little work. You just need to work give these tips a shot and you’ll be on your way to extra money each month.

Planning ahead.

First we all need to plan ahead. We need to make a weekly meal menu. This will not only prevent waste each and every week. Considering you won’t be buying things you don’t plan on eating. This will also prevent last minute eating out. And from a health perspective, we will be able to plan smart and healthy meals in advance. So when your flyer's arrive this week sit down, grab the ads from wherever you enjoy shopping and make a list of meals. Pay particular attention to what is on sale, this can save you a lot of money over the course of a year. Now decide on a specific day each week to go shopping. For simplicity I would recommend Saturday so you can plan you meals for the entire week beginning on Sunday. So when creating your menu lets say roast beef is on-sale (assuming you like roast beef) plan to have roast beef on Monday for supper, and roast beef sandwiches Tuesday at lunch. Carry on for each day of the week.

Using a shopping list

Second you need to learn how to shop with a list.The food on your shopping list should be structured around the menu you created for your week, if it’s not on the menu then don’t buy it. Most people will view a shopping list as a memory tool, so we don’t forget something while shopping. Lets change this view slightly. Although you don’t want to forget anything you also don’t want to be buying a bunch of stuff you don’t need. This is how you need to think about your shopping list, it's a tool to keep you on track, so you don’t buy things you don’t need. If it’s not on the list then don’t buy it. Maybe it's not a good idea to grab a new waffle iron just because it’s %20 percent off. But if you realize you forgot to add toilet paper to your list, maybe you should make an exception, it’s a matter of wants and needs. A list helps us avoid compulsions. Sticking to your list will save you from being lured in by the advertising. Who wants to spend money on things they don’t really need.

Getting bang for your buck

Third lets explore some methods of cutting cost while at the grocery store. Lets take a look at Tylenol aka acetaminophen. How many of you have purchased Tylenol before? Why not buy generic acetaminophen instead? You are purchasing the exact same product either way. Why do we pay for a brand name? This same example can be used all over a grocery store. Buy the private label brands like Compliments and President’s Choice. Once upon a time these were considered cheap imitations, but now they are less expensive and the quality sometimes surpasses that of the national brands. You may spend the small amount of time to become an informed consumer now, but it will be well worth it if it saves you hundreds or possibly thousands of dollars in the long run.

Start Saving!

Hopefully you can use these methods in the future to save money. We looked at how effective meal planning can cut waste and help us a guide for grocery day. We looked at how to make a grocery list using our menu and finally we touched on how to save money buying generic brands. If you were to use just one of these tips I’m sure you would end up saving more money shopping than the majority of the general public. If you used all 3 I’m sure you would be amongst the small group of individuals who saves hundreds of wasted dollars each year shopping for groceries.

Today I will take a look at the average persons progression through a fitness program, from the overabundance of dedication in the beginning right up to the ultimate failure due to lack of motivation a few months down the road. Let's explore the truth of what really happens.

Remember last new years when you made the decision to start that fitness program? You decided to start eating well on Monday morning and had a deep desire to make it to the gym at least 3 times that first week. After a few days your off to a great start! Two weeks in your seeing some result and you motivation spikes, you hit it even harder, doubling your efforts. Your now cruising into the fourth week and you decide to throw caution to the wind and eat fast food for lunch, heck you deserve it right? You can make it up with an extra thirty minutes on the treadmill. The next week you miss going to the gym because of family or work commitments. No big deal right? Well maybe not if we are mentally prepared, but most of us are just not aware that truth is this is when our motivation falters, this is when failure begins to set in. How then can we then create motivation over the long term.

3 ELEMENTS OF MOTIVATION

Goals-Most importantly, goals focus our efforts, goals give us a clear direction. Creating short and long term goals is our first key to developing motivation.

Intensity-Is the amount of effort we put forth in order to achieve our goals. Without clear goals this intensity will be misguided or possibly even non-existent.

Persistence-Finally we have persistence which we can look at as how long we can sustain the effort of accomplishing what we set out to do. Having the persistence to reach short term goals will obviously be much easier than reaching our long term ambitions. This is why when we accomplish our short term goals we will need to replace them with new ones. Each time this is accomplished we will ultimately be brought one step closer to our fitness objectives.

With a lack of any of the above 3 elements you will also experience a lack of motivation which unfortunately leads to failure. When we fail a few months down the road on our way to a better level of fitness it is most likely attributed to neglecting one of the elements which fosters motivation. So we need to ensure all of these elements are met and nurtured. Remember,the above components are important not only to achieve your fitness goals but also in your day to day life. Motivation is one of the main keys to performance.

In future article we will look at how we can create focused goals and how to reach the next level in intensity and persistence. Stay tuned.