Time for Groceries? Read this tips before heading over the store

I am trying to get smarter about saving so I am more conscious about my spending in even basic stuff. However, I realized, I need to be careful to sacrifice quality to save some money, especially since junk food prices are the cheapest comparing to vegetables and fresh fruits. I found this information regarding smart shopping that can actually save you money:

1. Splurge on nutrition: Consider it an investment in your future. Suggestion: pack as much nutrition as possible into the foods you buy.

2. Eat before you shop: You will spend more if you shop with a stimulated appetite.

3. Check yourself out: Checkout lines are stocked with high-calorie sweets.

4. Learn the lingo: 
 “Whole grain” means the grains used haven’t been stripped of their nutrients. “Multigrain” just means that multiple grains were used, but it says nothing of the level of refinement. Remember this when you're starting your day with a slice of toast.

5. Fewer ingredients means healthier food: When you must choose between two products and you’re stumped, just pick the one with the shorter list of ingredients. It’s almost always the right choice.

6. Work the edges: 
In general, the healthiest food in the supermarket is found along the walls. The dairy case, produce, and meats and seafood are all found in the outlying regions of the market, while the inner aisles tend to be dominated by things that come in boxes, bags, or cans. Most of this vast nutritional dead zone is composed of highly processed foods--and the less time you spend in there, the better.

7. Brew your own coffee: 
Instead of buying coffee from Starbucks, McDonald's, or the cafeteria at work, brewing your own coffee can save you over $800 a year!

8. Avoid quickies:
 Instead, be thoughtful in your planning--keep a magnet-based notepad on your fridge and make notes throughout the week about what you need.

9. Bulk up: 
Discount clubs are great cost-saving alternatives, even if you have to pay a fee to join. Focus on items that you use a lot and that won’t spoil, like paper products and frozen foods. Some shopping clubs also offer discounted gas.

10. Stop the retail therapy: 
Sadness increased the amount of money that shoppers are willing to spend, according to a 2008 study in Psychological Science. Study participants who watched a sad film were willing to spend 4 times as much money for a product as those who watched a neutral film about nature.