Speed Up Your Shopping With These Grocery Store Line Hacks

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Grocery shopping can be a slow process, especially when it comes to the wait at checkout.

But personal finance expert Shani Curry St. Vil says a little strategy can get you through the line faster.

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"There's so many people that just hate standing in line," St. Vil said.

If you have just a few items, it might be quicker to get in line behind a fellow shopper with a full cart, rather than an express lane with several shoppers, CBS' Jamie Yuccas reported.

"Maybe there are three, four, five of you standing in a line and you all have about five, six, eight items," St. Vil said. "Then she's having to stop, then you're getting you debit card, and then you're moving through, and then you're checking your receipt, and then you're bagging you."

The day of the week and the time of day you shop can also be important.

"Research is showing that if you go on a Wednesday, you are going to fare a little bit better," St. Vil said.

And head to the grocery store at dinner time.

"All the people that you would normally be competing with to get out of the checkout line -- they're home, they're eating," St. Vil said. "Great time to shop.

St. Vil says you can also speed up the process by lining up your groceries for the cashier.

"You can turn all the bar codes heading toward the scanner, so when the cashier gets ready to check you out she can see where your bar code is, and that can give the opportunity to move just a little bit faster," St. Vil said.

And if you do get stuck in a long line, it's usually not quite as bad as it seems. Researchers say people overestimate how long they actually wait by 36 percent.