Self-checkout, cut calories and costs

Potato chips are my weakness, and if I’m honest, chocolate is too. So, when I’m in the supermarket checkout line, I have to apply every ounce of willpower to avoid stocking up on sugary, fatty snacks—and the snacks often win.

But that means that I lose—money. Picking up a chocolate candy bar and a 12-ounce cola in the checkout line adds over 700 calories to your cart, and several extra dollars to your grocery tab. A recent Consumer Reports survey found that a chilled 20-ounce Coke was $1.49 at the register of Stop & Shop, while in the grocery aisle, a six-pack of slightly smaller bottles cost $3.33 on sale.

Save money and avoid temptation altogether by heading straight for the self check-out line. You’ll find fewer snacks, if any, and because of the shorter wait time, you’ll have less time to contemplate a snack attack. A 2007 study by retail consulting firm IHL Group found that impulse purchases among women dropped by 32.1 percent and 16.7 percent among men when self-checkout was used instead of a staffed checkout line. The study also suggests that a woman could lose up to 4.1 pounds a year by resisting the urge to purchase checkout items, and men could lose 3.1 pounds.

—Ginger Skinner

Read more ways to save at the supermarket, and see our tips on how to reduce your salt and sugar intake.

Comments

[peter hhh]

Ironic since the self-check out was also meant to save the store some money by not hiring more cashiers.