SavvySugar

5 Tips For Grocery Shopping With Kids

Rebecca M Gruber — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:01:15 PDT

As if mama didn't have enough to worry about when walking the grocery aisles – organic produce, food dyes, and the dirty dozen produce items to name a few – she can now add the store's grocery carts to their list. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 24,200 tots had to be treated in emergency rooms due to injuries involving falls from shopping carts. From cart related accidents to whining kids, a visit to the supermarket is never quite a walk in the park. Check out these five tips for shopping for food with your tykes in tow.

How Much Do You Spend on Groceries a Month?

SavvySugar — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 05:00:36 PDT

Food is an essential part of our lives. As an avid foodie, I wholeheartedly stand by that statement. I love cooking at home, and sometimes groceries can get quite pricey, especially if you're going organic. I'm wondering - how much do you spend on supermarket shopping a month?

Do You Eat Grocery Food Samples?

SavvySugar — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 06:00:10 PDT

I always see people take some bites of a sample at a supermarket, then walk away without buying anything. When you don't have any intention of buying the delectable products, do you still take a bite of their samples?

Bargaining Your Way at the Farmers Market

SavvySugar — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 10:00:00 PDT

I recently decided to take a quick look at a nearby farmers market without the intention of buying anything. It's been a while since I've checked it out, and I'm the type of person that loves browsing the supermarket and flipping through recipe books to look at food. I like to call it food window shopping.

While browsing, I chanced upon a German bakery stall and started drooling over this goat cheese and chorizo quiche. It was $4.25 and I didn't bring enough cash because I didn't think I was going to buy anything. I was honest with the seller and told him all I had in my wallet was $3 and we struck a deal.

Prices are set in supermarkets and you can't exactly start haggling with the Whole Foods salesperson, but it's definitely done in farmers markets. Would you bargain at a farmers market?

Five Ways to Maximize Your Grocery Shopping

babysugar — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:00:00 PDT

A trip to the supermarket isn't usually on a lil one's list of favorite activities. Aisles filled with goodies that mom won't add to the cart is quite a tease. While we all do not have the luxury of babysitting services at our local grocery stores, we can create our own activities to occupy our tots that help them build important learning skills while allowing us to get our errand done. Check out these five ways to incorporate learning into an everyday errand.

Organize Your Health

FitSugar — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:30:00 PDT

On the road to becoming the healthy, happy you, it pays to be organized. Keeping a mental list of all your various projects can be overwhelming. There is just no way to remember all those things you need and want to do.

Many of us use day planners for work, so why not use a planner as a tool for your personal life as well? I came across these from lobotoMe.com. Talk about organization! They make notepads for everything.

My favorite is the Feed ME meal planning to do list. It's a pad of 50 sheets ($8) and helps you plan out your meals for an entire week. On the right-hand side, there is a preprinted grocery list so you can keep track of all of the ingredients you need so you are organized when you go to the grocery store. This way you don't wander into the cookie and chip aisle, and hopefully the organized list keeps you from having to make multiple trips back to the store for forgotten ingredients.

I also like the organizeME Weekly Planner ($16 per pad of 60). It's a way to organize all the chores and errands you need to get done in each day, and a way to remember to take care of yourself too. It has a spot to write down what healthy dinner, exercise, and "me time" you have planned Monday through Sunday. It even has a little spot on the bottom to check off when you've had your 8 glasses of water a day. These sheets can tear off and fold to fit in most daily planners.

Taking care of yourself is something you need to do everyday, and sometimes you need to plan for it in advance. I'm all for anything that can make eating healthy, getting exercise, and staying stress-free easier. There's a lot to keep track of, and these day planners can help keep you on track.

12 Things You Should Never Buy Full-Price

Business Insider — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:15:25 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Business Insider story here on Savvy!

With the Internet, helpful mobile phone apps, and retailers scrambling to keep consumers in their shops, there's no need to pay full-price for much of anything these days.

To give you a boost, we tapped a few savvy shoppers for their tips on all the ways you can save.

Theater tickets

"One of the greatest savings areas recently has been the theater ticket business," says Anna Aronovich, CEO of GovernmentAuctions.org.

Even if you're not going to be around NYC to score discount Broadway tickets this month, there are opportunities in nearly all cities to see shows on the cheap.

Some rewards programs like Optimum Rewards cost nothing to join and offer discounts on shows.

Beer

If you're looking to stock the fridge for your next poker night, don't hit the liquor store until you've checked out www.saveonbrew.com.

The company's been featured on a host of deals sites lately as one of the best ways to find discounts on brewski, says Jennifer Davidson, director of operations. (See some incredible uses for beer.)

Read on for more.

A Doctor Dishes: Which "Superfoods" Are Worth the Cost?

LearnVest — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:15:00 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

Most people you speak to these days are trying to stretch every dollar as far as possible - even the ones they spend buying apples and oranges.

Food prices are expected to increase yet again this year, and food manufacturers are making portions smaller without reducing prices. Not surprisingly, a recent Rasmussen poll found that 93 percent of adults report paying more for groceries now than they did a year ago.

So how can we supercharge our grocery dollars and get them to do overtime for us?

Yes, some foods are obviously a better nutritional deal than others (think apples vs. potato chips), but there’s another class of foods that blows the rest of the field away in terms of nutrients and health-protecting qualities: superfoods.

Superfoods can help prevent diabetes and heart disease, repair damage to your body’s cells, and more. But before you go piling them into your cart, know that some superfoods are better nutritional bargains than others. As a doctor and a mom, I’ve sleuthed out which ones are worth the extra cost in terms of their long-term health benefits. Below is the scoop on which ones may help you age better, ward off cancer, and more.

What to Know Before Buying Superfoods

Before we dive into what to buy, there are a few important things to remember about consuming these foods:

Eating foods fresh and in their natural state, especially fruits and vegetables (rather than in pill or powder supplement form), usually allows us to absorb the greatest amount of their nutrients. The way a superfood is processed or cooked can significantly lower its antioxidant content.
If the superfood can’t be eaten fresh, look for easy and appetizing recipes containing it. No matter how “super” a superfood may be, if you don’t know how to cook it, you’ll probably let it go to waste.

Are Superfoods "Good Buys" If I’m Shopping on a Budget?

Read on to find out.

Savvy Confessions: To Pay or Not to Pay

Savvy Community — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:05:53 PST

This reader posted in our anonymous Savvy Confessions group, asking if she should crash at her friend's for free. Do you have any advice for her?

I recently moved to a new city to job search. My friend offered her place for me to stay rent-free while I job search. I've been here for a month now and I've offered to pay for half the rent, but she insists that I don't. She's been so gracious to let me stay, and I do my best to try to cover costs where I can (groceries, buying her dinner, etc.) However, I still feel bad for not paying rent. While I really want to pay her part of the rent, it also really helps me cut costs not having to pay it since I'm still unemployed. Should I force her to take the rent or just tell her thank you for offering me her place to stay and pay it forward to her in the future?

Pose your own anonymous questions or off-load your work confessions by posting in the Savvy Confessions group, and I'll find the right expert to help you out.

I'm Asking: What's on Your Grocery List?

Emily Co — Thu, 05 May 2011 10:33:42 PDT

We always talk about saving money on groceries, but I'm wondering what are the common staples you reach for in the grocery store. I always get items like milk, eggs, bread, chicken, fish, bananas, oranges, and some fresh vegetables like broccoli, green beans, or lettuce. To satisfy my soda addiction, I occasionally buy some sparkling water, and once in a while I reach for some cheese! As you can see, I don't really buy processed meats or frozen foods.

I know all of us have different diets, but I'm interested to know what the typical grocery list looks like. What do you reach for when your browsing the aisles of your local grocery store? Don't be afraid to add your whole list!