Increase up to three efficiencies.

Expert shoppers employ a number of techniques in order to save time, money, and even the environment while they are shopping for groceries. Since most of these techniques are so common sense and simple, you may have overlooked utilizing them on your grocery shopping expeditions.

How to save time:

There are two popular techniques that professional shoppers use to be more efficient with their time:

• Make a grocery list beforehand that is arranged by aisle.
• Park your shopping cart at the end of each aisle.

Make a grocery list beforehand that is arranged by aisle.

Most people make a grocery list before they go to the store; however, by the time you've worked your way up and down the aisles and gotten to the other side of the store, you realize the last two items on your list are way back over on the 2nd aisle. The simple remedy: take 30 extra seconds to put your list in order and save yourself a few minutes of retracing your steps. Among its many other uses, I use the ToDo app on my iTouch to create and sort grocery lists. I set my master list to repeat weekly so that it remembers the usual items and with some simple modifications I can have my entire shopping list arranged by aisle in a matter of seconds.

Park your shopping cart at the end of each aisle.

Not only does it speed up your trips down the aisles, it also helps alleviate some of the difficulties with shopping carts. Don't you hate it when someone is walking his cart down the center of the aisle and you can't get around him? Or when someone else parks her cart on one side of the aisle and then stands between it and the opposite side of the aisle? The simple remedy: park your cart at the end of the aisle, walk down the aisle and grab the items you need, return to your cart, and move on to the next aisle. (Tip: if you need to go down two aisles that are back-to-back and you don't need many items on each aisle, just round the corner at the opposite end of the aisle and pick up the remainder of your items as you return to your cart.)

How to save money:

There are a number of simple techniques that professional shoppers use to be more efficient with their money:

• Amazon Groceries
• Coupons and Weekly Ads
• The Deal behind the Deal

Amazon Groceries

Most people can save money by shopping at bulk discount stores like Costco or Sam's Club or by shopping at the infamous Wal-Mart (if you don't mind giving your money to China in the process). But have you ever considered trying to get that bulk discount while staying at home and having it delivered to you for free? Look no further:

• Amazon Groceries

They're reliable, have great discounts, and give you the opportunity to save even more money by scheduling your groceries to be automatically delivered to your door at any time interval that is convenient for you. In my experience some of the best items to get through Amazon Groceries are things that I can easily predict when I'll need more (like breakfast foods, toiletries, and laundry supplies) or bulk items (like snacks and desserts) that will definitely get eaten in a short amount of time.

Coupons and Weekly Ads

Nearly every grocery store advertises their weekly specials in a handout provided at the entrance of their stores. However, now that we're in the age of the Internet, you're almost certain to find these weekly ads posted online. If you were to take an extra 5 - 10 minutes to scan over these ads before you decide what you're going to cook each week, you could easily save at least $200 a year. On top of weekly ads you can also make use of coupons; you know, those little things with "25 cents off" marked on them. Even if you use only 2 - 4 coupons a week you'll be saving at least $50 a year.

Combine the savings from these two simple and common sense techniques and you're looking at a very nice hunk of change in your pocket each year. The more people you're buying groceries for the larger the savings each week. A family of four could be looking at a very nice, new piece of technology in their living room every single year if they utilize these savings.

The Deal behind the Deal

Supermarkets are tricksters in their advertising and try to mislead you into buying more groceries than you actually need. Consider the "buy 3 for $6" deal. Most people have the "buy 2 get 1 free" mentality and think that they actually have to buy 3 products in order to get the $6 price tag. However, for the vast majority of supermarkets this deal actually means that each product costs $2 no matter how many you buy. Thus, if you only wanted one box of cereal and the deal is "buy 3 for $6", go ahead and buy just one box because you will still get the deal price. (Note: test this out at your supermarket first and check your receipt to see if you got the deal price.)

How to save the environment:

Let's be honest, is a one-time purchase of a few reusable grocery [tote] bags really going to break the bank? Stop procrastinating and buy them. The environment thanks you.

Oh, and don't forget...

Remember to park in the back of the parking lot when you arrive at the grocery store. Every extra step you take is helping you Walk Your Butt Off Using Hidden Time in Your Routine.

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