I’ve compiled a list of tips for saving money on groceries that I’ve learnt over the years:
Become familiar with the shops in your area: Aldi is great for staple foods! Also I’ve found that almost always the quality and taste of cheaper brands and home brands is as good or close to name brands!
Always write a shopping list before going to the supermarket. This reduces impulse-buying, as the aim is to buy only things on the list!
Create a meal plan from the catalogue, and from there create a shopping list of ingredients you’ll need. This aims to reduce food wastage (and absolutely works in our household)!
Be a bit flexible. For instance, if you have lamb chops as one of your meals but when you arrive to the meat section beef steaks have been reduced (those magical stickers!!), then consider beef steaks for that meal instead.
Think lower shelves! For ages I was buying Coles brand diced tomatoes thinking they were cheapest, however one day I discovered on the very bottom shelf there were home brand diced tomatoes which were even cheaper again! (We don’t have Aldi where we currently live). Since then I’ve found this a great way to save money on groceries with a number of tinned foods and even pasta!
Bulk buy when items are on sale, if you have room. Meat is always cheaper in bulk packs if you have the freezer space to divide it up and freeze in separate bags. Also when going to the deli, say chicken breasts are on special, I ask for a total of 6 breasts but only 2 per bag, that way it saves time when I get home as I can just freeze it straight away rather than dividing it up. If you shop for meat at a local butcher, it may pay to do this with all of your meat. Want to cut your grocery costs? Consider a meat subscription box—it’s a convenient way to save time and keep expenses in check.
Consider your frequent shopper cards (for example Everyday Rewards & Flybuys). They work really well for our family because I activate the bonus points via email, which add up really quickly! On average, we’ll receive $30 a month in credit for groceries. It may not seem a huge amount, but that’s a box of nappies to us, so we’re not complaining!!
Be aware of your store policies & check your receipt! Several times a month I find that whilst I’ve purchased items that were on sale or reduced they’ve not scanned at the sale price. For instance, at Coles & Woolworths, if you find an item has scanned at a higher amount, take your receipt straight to the service desk and they will refund you in full AND you keep the item (in the case of multiple of the same items purchased the first will be refunded and you’ll be refunded the difference for the remainder).
Don’t shop on an empty stomach. Seriously, it’s true! I also avoid shopping when I’m in the sugar-craving mode each month: not only for the other shopper’s safety, but also because I’ll end up buying 10 different naughty foods I then have to eat and feel guilty about it! 😉
Check the unit prices, not individual prices. Chip packets and cereal boxes have stayed the same size over the years whilst the actual quantity has dwindled…the unit prices making comparing value for money much easier!
And lastly, our local Woolies has a basket of free fruit for kids, so I usually make shopping time around morning tea time and they eat an apple each while I madly throw the shopping in before they’re finished haha. It just works out that way, but I guess you could look at it as saving money too! 😉
Grocery shopping is an important part of managing a household and budget!
If you have any novel ways of saving money on groceries, we’d really love to hear your ideas below!
Sara Evans is mum to two beautiful boys under the age of four. After the birth of her first son, she transitioned to working from home as a freelance writer. However, Sara's main passion is sharing with other busy Australian mums on MumsDelivery.
