How we can best be savvy shoppers!

From the moment you step into any shop whether it’s a department store, pharmacy or supermarket, the shop floor has been designed in such a way to make you spend as much money as possible!

So when we think about managing our money, it’s always good to think about the spending tricks sometimes used by shops!

Many shops use different tricks to make us spend all our money on unnecessary things! For example,

• Think about when you see a “SALE” sign…What colour is it usually? Hopefully you’ll say BRIGHT RED! The colour RED is one of the most powerful colours, which stimulates your senses and raises your blood pressure.
• Think about when you go into your local superstore…where are those items that you need for everyday use, such as bread and milk? At the back of the store, that’s where! This is so customers will have to walk past all sorts of deals, which encourage unnecessary spending.
• Don’t go shopping when you’re hungry. This is a common tip, but it’s true: when you’re hungry, you want to buy all kinds of junk and therefore you’ll end up spending a lot more.
• “Does this smell funny to you?” – It’s an absolute pain when you buy something, only to go to the fridge the next day and find that it’s gone off! So always make sure you check the expiry dates before you buy. Sometimes supermarkets may move the older food to the front to ensure that people buy it!
• Have a budget! That means knowing how much you have to spend and sticking to that amount. If you don’t know how much you can spend, you’ll definitely spend too much.
• Eye-level is not the best level! Most of the money-making items in the supermarkets are placed at eye-level. In fact, it has been proven that shoppers tend to look from left to right rather than up and down aisles.

Do YOU have any other tips that will help us become more shopping-savvy? What other tricks do you think we should be aware of in order to make the most of our money when we are shopping around?

Warda Abdi

Money for Life Project Worker, Toynbee Hall