5 Ways Grocery Stores Trick You into Spending More

Ever have that feeling, after you’ve left the grocery store, that you’ve somehow blown your budget and gotten more stuff than you originally planned on getting? The truth is that the supermarket itself can take a lot of the blame for this kind of occurrence. Let’s take a look at some of the ways that supermarkets trick you into saving more on a normal basis:

10 for $10

In most cases, you can take advantage of the “10 for $10” price without buying 10 of whatever the item is. But even though this is the case, a recent New York Times survey found that people were more likely to buy more items when they see 10 for $10 deals vs. 5 for $5 and 1 for $1. This may be because the larger number tricks your brain into thinking you’re getting a better bargain. But keep in mind that you may not be saving if you won’t be able to use all the items you buy.

Pre-Cut Veggies and Fruits

These may look pretty and convenient in their attractive packaging, but don’t be fooled. You’ll end up paying for the convenience of having your produced chopped, sliced or diced for you.

Consumer Reports found that pre-cut veggies and fruits can be a lot more expensive than the whole items. The team noted that a $1.50 six-ounce bag of shredded carrots costs about five times more than a similar amount of whole carrots.

Not to mention, these pre-cut veggies and fruits go bad faster than their whole counterparts.

So take the extra 5 minutes (tops) that it will take you to cut that produce on your own. Your wallet will thank you.

Growing Carts

You’re not imagining it; carts are growing at the grocery store. Grocers figure that the larger the cart, the more likely you are to fill that cart with stuff. A great way to fight against this psychological trick is to try to shop with just a hand basket if possible. When that basket starts getting heavy, you’ll start weighing (pun intended) your options with more scrutiny. You’ll really think about whether you need something as opposed to just throwing items in your easily-pushable cart.

Find more tricks that you can be aware of over at SavvySugar’s 5 Supermarket Tricks to Get You to Spend More.