The tips below will help you avoid wasting money the next time you go shopping. >> Untapped apps. With Google Shopper or ShopSavvy, you can scan an item’s bar code with your phone’s camera and view a list of prices for the same product at other stores. (One ShopSavvy user says he saved $1,000 with the app last year.) Or look for discounts at the store you’re visiting or at nearby competitors with free, location-based apps, such as ShopKick and Yowza. Check your phone’s app market or store to find other money-saving apps.
>> Unclipped coupons. A typical “couponer” saves $50 on groceries and $25 on drugstore purchases per week, estimates Stephanie Nelson, of CouponMom.com, and savings increase when coupons are coupled with sales and rebates. Navigating the scores of coupon websites can be daunting, though. Try Coupons.com, CouponMom.com or RetailMeNot.com. Smartphone users can also download coupon apps, such as Coupon Sherpa, which calls up discount barcodes on the iPhone or iPod Touch. If all else fails, simply ask at the register if there’s a discount for your purchase.
>> High-priced gourmet and organic groceries. At upscale supermarkets, you pay extra for ambience. To see how much, we shopped for the same grocery cart of food at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. Our basket included one gallon of milk, a rib-eye steak, extra-virgin olive oil, blueberries, cage-free eggs, a pineapple, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, hot dogs, a baguette and vanilla ice cream. At Whole Foods, the total came to $67.60; at Trader Joe’s, the bill was $52.63 — some 22 percent less. Also, before you pay more for organic produce, consult the Environmental Working Group’s list of the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 (www.ewg.org) as a guide to which fruits and vegetables tend to contain worrisome levels of pesticides, and which don’t. Topping the group’s clean list are onions, avocados, sweet corn and pineapple. On the dirty list: celery, peaches, strawberries and apples.
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