As convenience is a major selling point these days - you've probably noticed that grocery stores are using this tactic more and more - to entice consumers into spending more money - they take full advantage too - as armed with the knowledge that people would much rather make all their purchases in one place - rather than run from store to store to pick up a single light bulb or a few office supplies - even if those products could be bought cheaper by doing that - these goods are usually well marked up. There are however -although the list of overpriced “ convenience “goods now commonly sold in grocery stores is ever growing - some that really are best avoided and especially if trying to stick to a budget - so for those that aren't aware of them - here are a few overpriced items - that you might just want to skip buying Log In especially as the savings made - would very definitely free up some money - that could be put to better use elsewhere. Either way whether or not you buy these items - have you too noticed - that the number of overpriced “ convenience “ goods now available in grocery stores is gradually increasing ?
I mainly do my grocery and other household shopping at Walmart Supercenter, or occasionally, Super Target, but I do sometimes run to Kroger in the middle of the month, and I couldn't believe how expensive the shampoo was there. I've also noticed the same thing about the batteries, and hold off until I am at Walmart for those, as well. Hair color is slightly more expensive also, and in addition, the selection is smaller, and they rarely have my color. I don't buy much cereal, but when I do, I buy it at Walmart, and it's usually generic. The mark up is way too high, as stated in the article you posted. I agree that many of the bakery items are overpriced, but I do occasionally splurge on a donut at Kroger, which is only usually $.59, or if I'm at or near HEB, I definitely pick up a few muffins, because they have the best ones. Target carries my favorite bagels, so if I'm nearby, I will pay $.99 apiece for them, rather than driving across town to the shop that makes them. I love looking to see what others are buying, and I'm surprised how many people buy convenience items mentioned, such as the precut meat, cheese, vegetables and fruit. The prices are often outrageous when compared to the full items that you can simply slice or chop at home, and I prefer to buy the items whole and wash and cut them myself.
Not long ago, I was on a mad mission to find witch hazel for my face. After checking a few drug stores, I found a bottle and it was inexpensive but I wanted pads also. I couldn't find witch hazel pads but decided to take some cotton discs, soak them in witch hazel and store in a zippered sandwich bad. This works out and saves me from having to give Amazon more of my money.
Most of the commonly overpriced items, like lightbulbs and batteries, I buy in bulk from amazon. I am often guilty of buying a cold 16oz soda at the checkout though when I could have bought a 2-liter bottle for the same amount.
I've noticed some chains of grocery stores, such as Giant Eagle, in our area have been greatly expanding their bath/toiletries/personal care sections. The larger Giant Eagle flagship stores now, called "Market District" have a full fledged "Spa" section towards the end of the store with bulk barrels of bath salts, hand crafted soaps and other (obviously overpriced) stuff. It's like a mini Bath & Body Works in the grocery store itself. I avoid that section at all costs. I refuse to pay like $8-$10 a piece for items that I can get for $1-$2 elsewhere which are just as good. $8 for a tube of lip balm? No thanks. I wouldn't even think of buying stuff like batteries, electronic accessories, cookware, small appliances or other non grocery related items at a grocery store either. You know full well that stuff is marked up out the wazoo for the sake of "convenience". You could swing by Big Lots or Dollar General or Dollar Tree and save yourself a ton by purchasing those items there instead. As for the bakery section, I agree you can certainly save a lot simply making the cakes yourself. In fact most grocery stores these days have $1 aisles, which often feature off brand $1 cake mixes and frostings. Nobody would know the difference to be honest, if you used one of these vs. the brand names. In fact, that's probably what the in store bakery uses. Breads on the other hand though, I found wound up costing me more when I tried to make them at home. Admittedly I am terrible at making bread from scratch, so I had a lot of batches I had to toss out along the way. All that flour, yeast, milk and butter start to add up, to the point where it makes more sense to just buy a 99 cent loaf of Italian bread than spend all day in a kitchen trying to make your own.
I see one common element to most of these, and it's something I have been talking about for a long time now. It's added value to goods. What I mean by added value is when the manufacturer does a few extra steps and charges you more. Cutting, slicing dicing ect is a popular one. If you have more money then time, then it makes sense to buy these "pre done" goods. But if you are like me, I have extra time to chop veggies, cheese meats ect. These are easy tasks that anyone can do to same money. BUT be careful, just like @ohiotom76 says sometimes DIY is more expensive.
I actually disagree with a couple of these. I haven't actually paid for name-brand cheerios (or other cereals) in a long time. They go on sale more often than store brands, which is not at all, and there are ALWAYS coupons to pair with sales. Name brand cereal is one of the best deals going if you know how to play your sales right. Same with laundry detergent and personal care items, though, I must admit that these run cheapest at drug stores if you are watching the sales. Again, personal care items and most cleaners are currently the LOWEST part of my weekly grocery budget. Many are free, often, and some are even money makers after sales + coupons + rewards.
I get name brand cereals for free with coupons all of the time! I find that convenience items are the items that I skip more often, but it depends. Do I really want to save 10 cents or do I want to spend 10 minutes chopping olives? You have to weigh your time vs your money too!
