<p><img class=" wp-image-4053 aligncenter" src="https://carolinacrossroads.news/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/gordon-t-long-2019-themes-shoppers-300x180.jpg" alt="" width="495" height="297" /></p>
<p><strong>Are you paying twice as much for groceries as you should?</strong> It's easier than you think to cut your bill in half. Here's how one shopper does it:</p>
<ul>
	<li>I <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Never</span> shop in Laurinburg/Scotland County. Prices here are budget busters. No exceptions, not even Wal-Mart.</li>
	<li>I <span style="text-decoration: underline;">shop once a month</span>. This forces me to be disciplined, organized and to plan ahead. I Have a large refrigerator (with no freezer), a separate chest freezer and a storage area with shelves.</li>
	<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Go prepared</span>. I take an Excel spreadsheet that I made which shows exactly what I'm going to buy at each of the two stores I shop. My list is generated based on last months purchases, plus any changes I want to make this trip, and allows me to compare prices right on the spot. If you just grab stuff on the go off the shelf, your budget plans are 100% doomed to failure.</li>
	<li>Always <span style="text-decoration: underline;">check ingredients</span>. Junk food, sodas, energy drinks, cheap beer, cheap bread, snacks and other packaged garbage provide empty calories and chemicals which make you fat, stupid, lethargic, unhealthy and broke.</li>
	<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stay away from prepared and frozen meals</span>. They're expensive and loaded with stuff your body doesn't want.</li>
	<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Canned goods are cheap</span> and contain relatively healthy ingredients.</li>
	<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Shop online</span> whenever possible, but take the time to learn your way around. 20% of my grocery and virtually 100% of my pharmacy purchases are now made online. I use ebay, Alibaba and AliExpress mostly because Amazon is too expensive and tries to make it as difficult as possible to comparison shop.</li>
	<li>I <span style="text-decoration: underline;">shop in Rockingham</span>. It's a little further but well worth the trip. I go to <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Aldi</span> first because they are the cheapest <span style="text-decoration: underline;">by far</span> and purchase most stuff there. I take my own <span style="text-decoration: underline;">reusable boxes</span> which makes checkout a snap. I would go to Lidl (which is right next door) second, but I've learned not to bother. They're cheap but carry too much esoteric stuff I don't need. I go to Wal-Mart last to pick up a few items like produce, canned olives and Pom juice that Aldi doesn't carry. Wal-Mart's Rockingham prices are lower than Laurinburg, but they still can't compete with Aldi.</li>
	<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Join Costco Wholesale</span> in Charlotte and buy stuff in bulk. Join with a friend if possible. Costco is especially great for canned goods, mayo, toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, etc. I stock up about once a year and come back loaded to the gills.</li>
	<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stay as far away from the Medical/Big Pharma Industry</span> as possible. They're main purpose appears to be prescribing expensive drugs, many of which have terrible side effects.</li>
	<li>Never forget... Nobody cares about you but you. In the end, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">You are in charge of your health and finances</span>.         </li>
</ul>
<p>I'm saving thousands of dollars, eating healthier and feeling than ever. <strong>Here's what got me started:</strong>  </p>
<p>Scotland County, North Carolina business owners are toughing it out, but negative population demographics, exploding property taxes, government subsidized competition, the Internet and neighbouring counties willing to offer better services at lower prices are stiff headwinds to buck.</p>
<p>Even local used car dealers, which had been considered largely immune from current trends, are experiencing erosion as buyers increasingly go online (in some cases to dealers hundreds of miles away) for the largest selection, best pricing and lowest cost financing. Online dealers generally guarantee their vehicles to be exactly as advertised and often offer free delivery right to your door. This trend, while still in its infancy, is moving fast and is about to shake things up big time.</p>
<p>I used to spend over $2,000 every month shopping in Scotland County. Today, I don't spend a dime. I haven't shopped in the county for over two years now because I found many businesses were simply not doing their best to help their customers, themselves or their community.</p>
<p>Despite Laurinburg citizens being up in arms over the city spending millions of dollars it didn't have on an extravagant new 'Williamsburg' style municipal complex it didn't need, most businesses chose to remain silent as this disaster played out. The money squandered on this worthless project meant already hard pressed customers would now have even less money to spend at local business for the next <span style="text-decoration: underline;">forty</span> years while this boondoggle's bonds were being paid off. Unfortunately, none of this seemed to matter to the local business community.</p>
<p>If the business community doesn't care about its customers, let alone itself, I figured. why should I care about them? If the business community now thinks higher property taxes, higher sales taxes and more taxpayer funded crap like 'Art Parks', art studios with coffee shops (albeit owned by 'select' private individuals and NGO's) are going to turn things around, they are truly delusional.</p>
<p>Rotten apples spoil the entire barrel. Our family used to do business with a local Laurinburg machine shop. They were absolutely great. Their pricing was fair, they were creative, hard working, on time and never said No to any project we brought them. Unfortunately, once we stopped shopping in Scotland County, it no longer made sense to travel there. We needed to find a new machine shop in Rockingham and we did, and this wasn't the only good local Laurinburg business that lost our trade forever.</p>
<p>This is what happens when local business leaders stand by and watch as their customers are abused and bled out by high taxes, a government operated Chamber of Commerce and a parasitic Ruling Elite class bent on feathering their own nests.</p>
<p>Once we stopped shopping in Scotland County, it didn't take long to discover that even Wal-Mart pricing is lower in neighbouring counties, and Wal-Mart can't even begin to match Aldi and Lidl's rock bottom prices. We now save 50% on our grocery bill alone by shopping outside Scotland County, which more than makes up for any extra gasoline and vehicle wear and tear. This allows us to have a nice, relaxing sit down lunch for free while still leaving plenty of money in our pockets for other things. Who said there was no free lunch?</p>
<p>Things are never going back to the good ole days when local businesses had customers by the balls, and it's going to get even tougher for businesses that refuse to understand what's happening and adapt. Scotland County shoppers now have plenty of options to get virtually everything they want and need for less from neighbouring counties and online.</p>
<p>CCN pays close attention to rapidly changing economic, social and political trends. Here's a video from one of our favourite financial gurus Gordon T. Long. We hope you find it helpful.</p>
<p>Best wishes on your money saving adventure!</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<center><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CEvckj8hmKc" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></center>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333;"><em><strong>Sources:</strong></em></span><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/GordonTLong" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="color: #0000ff;">Gordon T. Long</span></a></p>
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