Want to get smarter with your grocery shopping?  Here are some tips that might help you out:

1.  Hate crowds and lines? Shop at dinnertime or later (5-9pm).  Only 4% of shoppers scan the aisles between 9pm and 8am.  And the least-crowded day of the week in a grocery store is Wednesday.

2.  Reach to the back for the milk.  Everyone does.

3.  That star fruit has been here a lot longer than the broccoli.  Familiar produce turns over more quickly than exotic things.

4.  I'm not just selling groceries, I'm selling real estate.  Look high and low - literally - for good values from smaller manufacturers who cannot afford to stock their products in the eye-level sweet spot.

5.  We're marketing to your kids too.  That's why they put the rainbow-colored cereals and other kid-attracting products at their eye level.

6.  Be wary of "specials."  When people see signs with numbers like 8 for $10 they buy 30-100% more than they otherwise might have.

7.  The baby formula is locked up because thieves resell it on the black market.  Same for the cough and cold medicines, razor blades, smoking products, and batteries.

8.  You will toss 12% of what you buy.


Source:  Reader's Digest