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.

What is my passion? When I first asked this question I knew it was health and fitness. For years I have shared my experiences and knowledge with my friends and family, sometimes co-workers and even strangers. Over the last several months I have been contemplating this ambition for the health and fitness lifestyle. Even going so for as to write these ideas out and share them with perfect strangers. After reviewing these articles it became obvious. The topics that I focused on were; increasing motivation, setting and achieving goals and improving personal performance. The topics were about self improvement and I was using health and fitness as examples.

Well what is my real passion then? Health and fitness is only a small part self development, a small part of the picture. Self improvement is; The improvement of ones status, position, education, etc., by ones own efforts. Improvement of ones condition. What I have been doing for years, what I have been sharing is my ambition for self improvement.

What can someone take away from exploring self development? Well recently I've discovered something about myself. My real passion lies in moving forward. Constantly learning and evolving. And while I learn and evolve my health and fitness continue to grow with me.

The truth is, having a desire to better yourself will effect all areas of your life. You will be motivated to achieve your goals. Self improvement can be about losing weight and exercising. It can also be learning how to manage your time and communicate with the people around you. It's about caring for yourself and accepting changes even if you think you don't need them.


Nobody is perfect. And as Socrates said "One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing." So why not try to learn what you can about yourself and the world around you. Develop a desire for personal development. And let that motivation carry you to new heights.

Goals, what are personal goals? Sure, you hear about them all the time but how many of us actually take the time to sit down and put them on paper, committing ourselves to them? Ask yourselves this; can you remember the last time you worked towards a clear and concise goal and know the moment that you actually accomplished it? No I'm not saying that this doesn't happen, nor am I saying it is rare, but I would like you to take the time to actually remember what it feels like to accomplish something we set out to do. Let's break down a simple process that you can implement today. Here is a road map to deciding what goals are right for you, setting for the short, medium and long term, and working towards accomplishing each.

What goals are right for you? Do you want to lose 50lbs, buy a new car or get a new job? Let's ask ourselves a few question which should help stimulate this process and get you on the way to a goal oriented life.

1. What do you want, specifically? - This is the first thing to ask yourself in your goal planning process. What is your vision? Your dream? Without being clear as to your explicit desires, no other steps can be taken, and no progress made.

2. Why do you want it (what value does it serve)? - The pivotal question in your goal setting process and a prime motivator. You must reflect on your values in order to answer it. What are my values? I can hear you asking. Well for right now lets say your values are what you value in life. For instance you may value free time or happiness. Does your desire reflect your values? If so, you've accomplished the second step and are on your way to goal setting success.

3. When do you want it? - Determining specific dates for completion of tasks is a crucial part of your goal setting procedure. Knowing that you have committed yourself to achieving a certain thing by a certain date will enable you to plan your time and thus maximize your efforts.

4. What will you give up or overcome to get it? - Confusion? Fear? Procrastination? Insecurity? Make sure you keep in mind why you want your goal. It will give you all the courage you need to push through your fears and move forward.

Long Term Goals or KEY Goals

Now that you have decided what is important to you lets start from the top and work our way down. Lets set a long term goal and call it our KEY goal. Make your KEY goal ambitious but attainable. Take a pen and piece of paper and answering the above 4 steps, decide on one KEY goal now.

Now remember in order to reach a key goal, you'll need to set interim goals – multiple short-term goals. Broken down into bite-sized pieces, the objectives are less intimidating. That is were our medium and short term goals come into play.

Medium Term

You have now created an overall KEY goal, a light at the end of the tunnel if you will, hopefully you have made it concrete by placing it on paper. Now how do you get there? A medium term goal is a good start. It is a stepping stone that you will have to cross in order to reach your destination. What do you need to accomplish prior to reaching your KEY goal? Write it down.

Short Term

Ok, now for the fun part. You are going to look at short term goals, these are goals that you can accomplish today or tomorrow or maybe even over the next couple of month. The trick is you need to pick goals that keep you moving in the right direction to accomplishing your medium term goals and then finally your KEY goals. You could make setting your KEY goal your first short term goal. But remember, goals can't be made too easy or they won't be worth working towards. I would like you to now list several short term goals you could start working towards today, keeping in mind what we talked about above.

Now that you looked at setting short medium and long term goals it is important to remember that once you complete your list it will continuously be evolving. Once you complete a short term goal you need to re-asses were you are on your journey and pick what to do next to help you get to your destination. Have fun with this and take pride in your accomplishments. You are ultimately the one who is in charge of your destiny so work hard and you will attain not only your goals, you will accomplish your dreams.