Family and Consumer Sciences
Maryland Cooperative Extension Service

The Consumer's Almanac
Consumer Credit Education Foundation
Washington, DC

Low-Cost Shopping and Healthy Eating

• Buy in quantity and freeze meats, bread, and butter.

• Avoid costly convenience foods that are precooked, presweetened, spiced, instant, or individually packed.

• Encourage children to help with cooking. If they helped make it, they'll probably eat it.

• Eat before shopping to avoid impulse buying. Make a shopping list and stick to it.

• Buy nutritious snacks for children such as apples, oranges, bananas, carrots, celery, raisins, peanut butter, and popcorn. They are healthier and cheaper than most sweets.

• For a sweet tooth, buy graham crackers, animal crackers, or gingersnaps.

• Encourage children to drink more water by giving them their own water bottles.

• Use coupons only for items you normally purchase.

• Shop on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings for the shortest lines.

• Shop at discount food warehouses and buy in bulk. If your household is small, shop with a friend and share purchases.

• Shop at discount food warehouses and buy in bulk. If your household is small, shop with a friend and share purchases.

General Shopping

Most retailers hold winter sales around the holidays. Prices are reduced to bring consumers back into the store after the holiday-spending period. Also, it pays to be knowledgeable about the item or service you're about to purchase.

Take the time to polish your comparison shopping skills:

• Read the information on the label.

• Understand the maintenance requirements.

• Pay attention to differences in quality.

• Make a purchasing decision after you've researched the item.

Internet Shopping

The world has become your personal in-home shopping mall. You need to be cautious when buying online.

• Do not disclose your personal Internet password.

• Think twice before giving out your social security number over the Internet.

• Shop with companies you know and trust.

• Use a secure browser that complies with industry standards, like Secure Hypertext Protocol (S-HTT) or Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).

FCS Webmaster