We all know supermarkets are big business. They're run to make a profit like every business, and to maximise profits some of the less efficient have to manipulate and exploit their customer to some degree. Here are some of the tricks your supermarket may be using and how you can turn these around to your advantage. After all, we *all* want to get more out of our hard earned money.

Wasting your time and money

The route you take through the store is the first way the supermarket manipulates you. They want you to walk the whole store, aisle by aisle, and be tempted to buy extra items that you inadvertently see on your journey. Bread and milk are almost always at opposite sides of the store, because these are the two most common items purchased.

How you can change this

Make a shopping list

If you don't make shopping lists, you must start now or be forever at the mercy of the supermarket psychologists. Keep a notepad near the fridge and add whatever item you need to buy as soon as you notice it running low.

Before you go shopping check through cupboards, fridge, and freezer for anything else you need to buy. Make a clear note of things you *don't* need that you might be tempted to pick up. Make a commitment to yourself to buy only those items on your list, with just a small leeway if you find a bargain or remember a genuine item you forgot to list. (More about bargains later.)

Get an aisle/store plan

Most supermarkets have a layout of their store in case you get lost - the most common items are listed alphabetically with their aisle number. Get one of these for every store you use regularly. One store I went to had a stack of complementary customer copies in easy view (good for them!), other stores seem more reluctant to share that information. I had one chain email me the plans for three of their stores, while a different chain grudgingly photocopied theirs for me when I threatened to throw a tantrum over the issue.

Your store plan will save you so much time that it's worth getting it. When you're ready to leave the house to shop, use your store plan to write the aisle number beside each item on your shopping list. I write the aisle number to the left of the item and circle the number to make it easier to see at a glance.

In the store, start at one end in the first or last aisle indicated on your list. Pick up each item listed in that aisle, then skip to the next indicated aisle. Train yourself to not go down aisles you don't have on your list. Why should you? You're trying to save time here.

When you have just a few items to pick up, popping into aisles 9, 5, and 1, and then checking out, will be where you're really saving time. How many times have you wandered the store aimlessly when you needed just a couple of things? Don't fall for it.

Specials and bargains

Then there are the sale items. How can you resist something that's marked down? You don't. If the item is something you do use, get it if it's cheaper - but only if it's able to be stored, or if you will use it soon if it's perishable.

The best way to deal with sales is to subscribe to the store's sales newsletter or pick up their junk mail flyer if you don't get this delivered to your mail box. Read this at home and look for the items you usually buy. Do you need that item? Can you store it if you don't need it just yet?

How much is the saving? Get out your calculator. If you can't remember normal prices, next time you're in the supermarket, write down the normal prices of the expensive items you buy that you want to get on special. In our household, we try to buy things like cereal, coffee, tinned tuna, and loo paper on special because the savings over time are significant.

Add the sale items to your list with their aisle number, and note the sale price on your list.

Don't get caught. Sometimes the supermarket will move the sale items (usually to display stands) and put a similar item in its place - a smaller box, for example, at full price. The price looks cheaper than normal, so customers who don't check carefully might toss it in the trolley thinking it's the sale item.

Having the brand name, price, and weight or volume written on your list lets you check quickly and easily.

Targeting kids and parents

It's almost too obvious nowadays. Colourful kid-attracting goodies are everywhere in the supermarket, at child eye-level. Either don't take the kids with you to the supermarket, or train them to help you with your supermarket fight back game. You'll be surprised at how strict kids can be if you give them the right motivation and understanding of the problem.

Bread, meat, and vegetables

These staples may actually be cheaper and better quality if you buy them from an independent bakery, butcher, or greengrocer. It's worth checking in your area.

In Australia, tabloid news stories have uncovered some supermarkets who cold store their fruit and vegetables for excess periods, so the produce on the shelves may not always be fresh. Other tabloid stories revealed supermarkets and some butchers doctoring meat with sulphur dioxide in order to make old meat look fresher. Factory-produced bread sold in some supermarkets was found to contain preservatives so that the loaves that didn't sell for more than a week were still viable as "fresh" bread.

Sulphur dioxide can cause night terrors in children, while some preservatives in bread can cause hyperactivity or allergies.

Weigh up the extra time and energy you need to use to go to these different shops against the possible benefits, which include better quality produce and supporting your local small business. Remember you've already saved some time by no longer wandering every aisle in the supermarket.

Content copyright © Elsa Neal, 2007-2009. All rights reserved.