Most people overspend on groceries not because food is expensive, but because they shop without structure. The supermarket is engineered to extract money from you. Here is how to stop letting it.

Shop with a list, never without one. Impulse purchases account for 40–60% of unplanned grocery spend. Write the list before you leave, organized by store section, and do not deviate.

Buy the store brand on everything that isn’t fresh. Canned tomatoes, dried pasta, olive oil, frozen vegetables — the house brand is manufactured in the same facilities as the premium label. You are paying for packaging.